I'm an American mom living in Spain. When we visit the US, my son is surprised by the 'fancy' cars and how sugary breakfast is.
03.10.2024 - 16:12
/ insider.com
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennison Grigsby, an American mom and yoga teacher who lives in Valencia, Spain. It's been edited for length and clarity.
My son Luca is almost 9. He's lived in Spain his whole life, but we've always traveled back to the States. His first trip was at 5 weeks old, and he's been going back and forth ever since.
He has 10 cousins there, along with lots of aunts, uncles, and my parents, so we visit at least once a year, sometimes twice. We spend a lot of family time together every other Christmas or during the summer. He has a strong connection with his family in the US, and he loves being both American and Spanish, though he definitely feels more connected to the Spanish culture.
Luca always remembers our previous trips. He has a great memory, but I think it's also because these trips are so impactful for him — he gets to travel and spend time with his cousins, which is really special since he doesn't have any in Spain. We talk about our family a lot and FaceTime with them often, so he never hesitates to dive right back into family time when we visit.
As he gets older, he notices different things each time we go back — things that catch his attention. He's always picking up on something new.
I remember when Luca was about 2 or 3, we were driving on the freeway in Los Angeles, and he was really confused by all the traffic — he kept asking, "Why aren't we going faster?" He was also surprised by how many big trucks were on the road, sharing the highway with us. He even asked, "Where are the buses?" since public transportation was almost nonexistent where we were in California.
Living in Spain, he's used to seeing buses in front of our house every day, and we often take the bus together. So, it was interesting for him to see how much driving we had to do in the US. He also wondered why we never walked anywhere.
Now that he's older, his interests have shifted. He's really into the cars themselves, especially the big SUVs and the fancy cars like Ford Mustangs, Porsches, and Ferraris, which are rare in Spain. He gets excited, noticing how many nice cars there are in the neighborhoods and on the freeway.
When we're in the US, Luca is always surprised by how much junk food and sugary breakfast options there are. He noticed that almost every day, we'd have things like pizza, burgers, quesadillas, or sandwiches, which is very different from our meals in Spain. He also loves that he can have pancakes, French toast, and doughnuts for breakfast there — things we don't have as much access to in Spain. But he doesn't feel as well eating like that for weeks at a time.
Luca's usual breakfast in Spain is fruit and sometimes cereal, but not the sugary kinds I had