My mother says I’m American. I was born in Miami, Florida, so she is technically correct. But like many other Latin Americans who grew in up the United States, I carry with me the values and traditions of my ancestors. So I’m Latin-American --I’m a mixture of my mother’s Cuban heritage and my father's Peruvian heritage. Thanks to them, my American upbringing had a pinch of Latin spice to it --like literal aji amarillo , or yellow pepper, with some sweets too like my favorite red guava jelly. But