North America to South America

Most of my family is from up in Canada, and I realize when I am up there how much I miss our Texas culture, which is obviously vastly influenced by Hispanic culture. For instance, when I am up in Saskatchewan they think they are eating Mexican food and they literally call fajitas "Fa-gee-tahs" and jalapenos "Jah-lep-anos". Obviously, it doesn't taste very authentic either. But what is interesting is that that is how they truly think it is pronounced and that is the closest most of them have come to Hispanic culture. I think we take for granted the natural knowledge of the Hispanic culture that we already have just from being born in area with such a prominent Mexican and South American population. We know the correct way to pronounce most Spanish words, especially foods, just because we have grown up eating it and hearing it pronounced a certain way. Also, we often don't realize how frequently we say Spanish words in our everyday life, and a good example of this is the number of streets with Spanish names especially in San Antonio and Austin. We are fortunate to see some of their architecture, clothing, traditions, music and art everyday, and people a lot further north definitely do not and for the most part are completely naive about Hispanic culture.
In addition, when I visited China and Japan two years ago, the thing I missed the most about home was Mexican food!! It is moments and experiences like these that make us remember how important their culture is to ours and how influential it has become especially in Texas. This truly makes me appreciate the diversity that we get to encounter daily because it is definitely obvious when you visit other places that many cultures are completely homogenous, and I think they are truly missing out.