I lived in Latin America for awhile and over there the people tend to notice when a person gains or loses weight, even if it’s only a few pounds. Every time I went to the States and came back, they would immediately comment on how I had gotten fatter. This didn’t bother me too much because I’m the type of person that appreciates people’s honesty.

Some of you may already know this but every Latin American country’s culture can be different from another country’s culture.  So when I went to Venezuela, I couldn’t help but notice that the people there kept calling me “flaca” which means “skinny girl” in Spanish. After hearing it so many times, I started to think about it. “Wow, am I really that skinny that people are noticing it?”

I honestly started letting it go to my head a little bit. When people would say it, I was so flattered that I would uncontrollably let out this ridiculously goofy smile. I had seen how latins were so observant and had experienced how honest they were, so I thought why would they call me flaca if they didn’t think that I was truly skinny? In conclusion, I was convinced; I’M FLACA for once in my life! How exciting! 😀

Now in reality, I’m an average-sized American. I’m not skinny by any means nor am I fat but I, myself, would say I’m a chunky monkey.

So one day, my really good friend and I went to the market. It was filled with people, we weaved in and through the crowds. We came to this really large woman sitting on floor, making some bracelets to sell. We needed to get around her so my friend asked, “Excuse me flaca, can we get by?” This threw me off! WHAT!?!? My mind was racing. Why did he just call her flaca? She was the opposite of flaca, she was huge! He just lied to her. So I asked him, “Why did you just call her flaca? She’s not flaca!” and he responded, “What was I supposed to say? ‘Excuse me fatty, can we get through?’ I said it to make her feel good.” I looked at him and while laughing said, “You call me flaca! So, you just call me that to make me feel good?” He shrugged and kept walking.

Chelsey – WI