Living a Life in Purple

LIVING A LIFE IN PURPLE

"When you live in a red country and then move to a blue country, you will never be able to go back. You can never be completely red again, and you will never be entirely blue. You will forever be purple."

  This is a quote I heard from a missionary back when I was in the 6th grade, and it has stuck with me ever since. I am living proof of this statement. For me, Texas was my "red country," and Honduras is my "blue country." I can never go back to just being a Texan, and I will never completely be a Honduran. I will forever be "purple." I live in a perpetual state of limbo, walking a line between the two.

  I will never be able to explain fully to my Honduran friends and people why it is that I talk the way I do, or why I love biscuits and gravy. I won't be able to explain in totality the love I have for the country, and the ways of the south, or why I use the words "y'all" and "fixin' to."

  Just like I will never be able to explain to my Texan friends why I have such an intense craving for baleadas and platano maduro. I won't be able to explain why Reggaeton music makes a "lily white boy" like me want to dance. I will always get looks when I speak spanish around my friends in the states, and I will always get looks from other latinos when I use slang words from Honduras like "pucha" and "canchita." 

  I can never go back to living the exact same way I used to before I moved out to Roatan. I will forever have a mixed culture in the way I live and speak. Any of my friends who moved to a different country will understand what I am saying.

  And you know what…I am ok with all of this. I love living this way. English will always be my go-to language, and I will always love BBQ and living in Texas. But wherever I go, Honduran food and the language will follow me. Living a life in purple is actually pretty cool…I encourage you to try it sometime.

Until next time,

-Tim Tito

(Native Texan and Catrachigringo in Training)