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Language is only one part of communication. Geography, attitudes, and beliefs must also be understood for an accurate interpretation. When part of a language has no equivalent value in another language. I must process and describe the significance with context, which is the role of a cultural broker. That’s where empathy, meditation, and endurance skills excel.
Pedro Diaz – Linguist and Conference Interpreter
Conference Interpreter & Linguist
Cultural Broker Editor
Greetings my Name is Pedro I’m originally from the vibrant border city of El Paso Texas and currently find my self in the immense beauty in Atlantic coast of Ubatuba Sao Paulo. I started this blog to share what I have learned as a remote interpreter and what I have seen in my travels.
Conference Interpreter Pedro Diaz originally from El Paso Texas United States
A day in El Paso Mural by John M Valadez
Below you will see the Mural A day in El Paso that can be found inside the Richard C. White Federal building in El Paso Texas. Interpreting has opened a-lot of doors for me a one of them was my final training and observation in federal court procedures.
Chicano park in El Paso Texas under the spaghetti bowl.
Being called Chicano was a derogatory term for Mexicans born in the United States. When someone calls me Chicano, they tell me I’m not a “real” Mexican, and It gets under my skin because I love my culture. But like other derogatory names, the culture flips them and uses them as strength and pride. Yes, I’m Chicano and proud to be a mixture of two cultures. With wisdom, you understand that it doesn’t matter which country you were born in, it does not make you better than anyone else. You are a human being and the struggle to survive is real everywhere.
People who live in places like El Paso/ CD Juarez, Laredo/Nuevo Laredo, Brownsville/Matamoros, San Diego/Tijuana, and border cities have this experience more relevant to being from two places at once. You are constantly mixing languages and crossing the border to get work or leisure. Border cities are one big city with two styles, a bridge and a wall.
Being from the border being born a raised in El Paso TX, I have this thing that when I’m abroad I say that I’m from Mexico and technically that’s correct. Now that I’m living in Brazil, I find myself explaining to myself that I’m Mexican, but I was born in the United States it’s strange.
I meditate about people who weren’t raised at the border and how great it is to know with a definitive answer where they are from. Sometimes, I wish I was born and raised in an all-American city nowhere near the border or in a beautiful Mexican city near a beach, not Tijuana. I feel like I wouldn’t be explaining where I’m from to myself.
How do you know about your patriotism if you haven’t lived outside the country? I never felt very patriotic about being born in the US, and I was born on the 4th of July. I meditate on this and think is because I’m first generation American and I lived on the border. I always identified as a Mexican first; even at my birthday parties, it was carne asada tacos, and the music would be Spanish.
I have concluded, I was multicultural before I came to Brazil, you know this because I’m Mexican, but I’m writing in English. I’m a mix of cultures. I’m going to accept it as strength. I come from Mexico, and I was born in the United States and now live in Brazil.
Traveling to Mexico city
Going to Mexico City was an exhilarating experience because I went by myself for the first time, and big cities are intimidating. I have visited Mexico City three times now, and there’s a strong pull for me to return. I want to live and visit Mexico many more times. It is vastly satisfying for me to connect with my roots.
Getting a taste of where my ancestors came from, how the indigenous people lived before the Spanish came, and knowing I’m a mixture of indigenous and European blood, a Mestizo makes my trips to Mexico purposeful and filled with pride.
The Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is breathtaking. The stone carving chiseling skills are excellent highly level, super detailed work. It’s impressive to think that was done hundreds of years ago by a Mexican artist, well at that time they weren’t even Mexican there were just indigenous tribes living in what we call Mexico today. It’s essential for Chicanos to go visit these museums to learn because we are not taught any of this in American schools.
Talking about museums, Mexico City has countless museums to visit you can only do so much in a day. El Castillo De Chapultepec, Museum of Frida, Muralism of Diego Rivera, La Santa Muerte, and El Colegio de San Ildefonso, there is a vast of culture.
El Colegio de San Ildefonso was one of the most important educational institutions for the New Spain capital. That place has so much history I’m going to leave link here for you to investigate. http://www.sanildefonso.org.mx/index.php
For me, it was life-changing Diego Rivera muralism and the exposition of Russian-Mexican artist Vlady Vladímir Kibálchich Rusakov that stayed in my heart as inspiration to create my art and express myself through writing or illustration to do it and do it often.
Here is some my photography.
One important aspect of the Mexican spirit is the food. Mexican food is protected by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage – “Mexican cuisine is a comprehensive cultural model comprising farming, ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques, and ancestral community customs and manners.” – UNESCO site
It is difficult to have food competition because food is such an integral part of our life story and we all have biases. Traveling allows us to taste the diverse multitude of flavors the world has to offer. Food from El Paso TX tastes different than Ciudad Juarez and neighboring cities. It’s hard to say Mexican food is better than Italian; it’s two completely different experiences and flavors. I want to recommend one Mexican restaurant, Mi Compa Chava Mariscos It’s a seafood restaurant. They have some of my favorite food right now I can’t wait to go back. Link below :
https://www.instagram.com/micompachava/?hl=en
Traveling to Brasil
Traveling must be one best tools for education, you learn using all your senses. Your experiences becomes an education.
Traveling to Brazil changed the whole course of my life for good. It opened up another country, continent and many ways another world. It gave me a 180 degree perspective change on my geography and environment. My most of my life, I have lived in a medium-sized city in the mountains desert of West Texas, and in Brazil, I was able to live in the mega city of Sao Paulo and on its tropical coast. I’m forever thankful Brazil.
São Paulo
You first notice the high-rise buildings, businesses, and a dense population of cars and motorcycles in São Paulo. Another thing that you noticed is the graffiti/Pixo on the buildings. It can look grimacing, just like Gotham City. It’s impressive how they climb to tag/Pixo their name on the side of the buildings.
Some of the illustrations on the buildings are murals that belong in museums. That led me to street art and muralism in São Paulo, which you can find all over the city. The art that made the city less intimidating brought light to the city. I quickly connected that with all the art muralism in Mexico.
I got the art bug. I don’t know how long it took me, but I started taking art illustration and photography more seriously. It also taught me the importance of expressing myself through a medium; it’s fun and constructive.
Additionally, the entertainment in São Paulo is 2nd to none. In São Paulo you can find any type of music and the area where is famously known to have a good party is Vila Madalena. Street parties are essential to good nightlife SP, and I love that the party takes over the street at night.
Samba is a super powerful sound. It’s tropical, it’s African, it’s Latin, it’s in Portuguese, and it gets you in a dance circle. There’s one time I asked my then-girlfriend if the women close to the band were getting paid to dance and sing. That’s how clueless I was about the power of Samba. Brazilians have great rhythm and are talented musicians.
Another important aspect about SP other than art is that they are known for is money—the economic house of Latin America. You see this in Avenida Paulista and Ave. Faira Lima.
Mercado Municipal Pinheiros São Paulo Brasil by Artist Unknown
What I have learned is that Brazil is diverse in its geography and its people. Brazil has the most Japanese people outside of Japan. Brazil has the most African people outside African countries. Brazil has the most Lebanese people outside of Lebanon. Brazil has a lot of Italian people and, of course, Portuguese. That reminds me of what makes the US great is the diversity of immigrants from all over the world sharing and working together. Without diversity, the world would be boring.
What is a shared experience as human being?
One experience that is shared between all humans is pain. One example is Frida the Mexican painter who suffered through physical injuries and emotional betrayal. I faith, that we will use our courage and transform the pain into something constructive.
Cultural Broker 