Experience Being in the Minority
My daughter, Leila, told me last night that one of her friends asked her if we had cars in New Hampshire. I was surprised and asked her why someone would ask her that, isn't it obvious that America has plenty of cars? Leila said her friend was being facetious. She was making fun of some of the questions she encountered when she went to a summer camp in the States. When she told people she was from Colombia, they would ask her questions like-"Are there cars in Colombia? Do you live in a jungle? Do you have a house?"
After hearing about this, Leila said, "Mom, I apologized to her for all those dumb people that asked her those stupid questions. It was embarrassing to hear that people behaved that way." 
I told her that when I was growing up, and my peers found out I was born in Egypt, they would ask if I was born in a pyramid and I was also asked if we had cars in Egypt.(I thought Americans were especially dumb with the pyramid question because no one was ever born in a pyramid, they were built as tombs. But, I digress)
I was glad that my daughter, who has not had many opportunities to understand what it means to be in the minority, is having these discussions and experiences with her Colombian peers. She has been socializing with other teenagers on the weekends. They primarily speak in Spanish when they socialize, a few of Leila's friends will translate for her during the conversation and one will only speak to her in English. I was worried that she would not want to continue socializing with the group because she doesn't understand all that is being said. However, I am glad to say, that she is not deterred from hanging out with her friends. She enjoys their company and I also think she will learn Spanish much faster that way.