Racistas

I come from a big melting pot of cultures, and so it is very weird and perhaps even offensive to me when Manoli proudly lists off how everyone in her family and her husband's family is/was/has been/will be purely and only of Galician descent every. single. day.
They ask me TONS of questions literally every single day about black people and Asians and Islamic people and Mexicans and how we all react to them, as if they all come from different planets.
"Racist" is not the right word for these people, but they would certainly gasp if they saw a girl with a thing wrapped around her head whereas I would shout hello to the girl all the same.
I have noticed that the people here are very steady and set in their ways.
The parents want to keep their children inside their little eggshells and the kids are completely okay with staying in there.
Some kids are ashamed of their heritage, if they are different, they are uncomfortable.
Watch out for anybody not Galician. They will rob your wallet or purse or life.
"We like them, we aren't racist, but are their really Asians in your school?! Would you ACTUALLY marry a black person? Iria is SO worldly, I bet she'd have a black boyfriend! The Chinese ONLY eat rice. That's it. And they don't like us because they think we will steal their stuff. ALL Romanians will steal your belongings. Unless we are friends with them."
.....
Chuckle chuckle.
I hear this stuff mostly from my friends and Manoli, but in all honesty, most of them are just really curious. They don't see people of differences. Ever. So they are basically aliens.
They also think it very strange that we eat all different kinds of food. Iria had never tried Chinese food before our Portugal adventure and she's never had any kind of Mexican food and I don't even want to ask about Mediterranean food like grape leaves and hummus.
"There are no Chinese restaurants because Galician people like to know what they're eating!"
But don't worry guys, they eat French food and Italian food too.

This is all just a classic case of sheltering.
They all learn about the rest of the world, but through history and theory.
I learn about the rest of the world through my Korean, Lebanese, Islamic, Turkish, Argentinian, Polish, and German friends.

I had to say something, this kind of thing occurs every day here.
I never know how to react. I just smile, because it actually makes me feel really awkward.
My sister literally told me I have dirty blood because I'm "half Mexican and a mixture of a bunch of European things".
Draco Malfoy himself right here!!
So normal and innocent to think this way here, but so hilarious for me to look upon these naïve souls from an American point of view.
I'm proud of my little melting-pot country.
There is nothing wrong with it.
Well.
Despite our pot of cultures...
We are ridiculously nationalistic.
Do we seriously have to learn our own history EVERY YEAR OF OUR LIVES?
I suppose that nowhere is perfect.

Well, these is my profound/controversial/confusing thoughts for the now.