American Culture - by Dana Schwab

Another observation I have made is that shirts with logos and things written in English are very popular here.  A few times I have asked my patients if they knew what their shirt sayings meant and they had no idea.  Many times they don´t make sense, but I would translate for them as best I could.  It amazes me that people would wear something on their shirts, advertising on their own body, and not even understand what it means.  If it´s in English though, it´s considered cool.

I grew up in a family that always supported me in whatever I wanted to do.  When I was little I was told that if I worked hard enough, I could do whatever I wanted to do.  I understand now though, that some of what I always thought was hard work, was actually a bit of privilege.  I am privileged because I live in the United States, I am white, I am an only child, and I have a very supportive family.  I´m starting to wonder how much this privilege contributed to my success.  The idea of being privileged because of being an American is new to me because of this Ecuadorian obsession and I wonder how much the privilege is because of the idealization.