“Tira y Afloja” (Tug of War)

Being an immigrant is like living in a quiet tug of war. Like the rope pulled tight between two sides, you’re stretched between the place you came from and the place you’re trying to belong. The dominant culture pulls you to assimilate, to let go. But your heart remembers — you already had a culture, a language, a way of being that shaped you.

In that tension, something else is born. You don’t lose one side to keep the other — you carry both. And in that pull, you’re not torn — you’re made whole. Enriched by the weight of both worlds.