9 GreetingsⅠ

My name is Cristina. I was born in Mexico and came to the United States when I was three months old. Even though we lived in the United States, my parents raised my brother, my sisters, and me just as they had been raised in Mexico—with very strict rules. My parents taught us we should respect grandparents more than anyone in the world because grandparents had lived the longest. They had more knowledge about life, and no matter what they said, even if it didn't make sense, they were right. We were taught that to hug or kiss grandparents was disrespectful and that we should greet them by kissing their hands. When you are young, you think that everyone lives and thinks just like you do. Well, I soon found out this isn't true.

My best friend in third grade was the first close friend I had who was raised in the American way. This friend invited me to her birthday party. I was very excited because I had never been invited to a friend's birthday party before.

The day of the party came, and I was happy but at the same time very nervous. I thought of all the people who would be there. I wanted her family to like me. Slowly, I walked up to the house. Finally, I got to the door and rang the bell. My friend came running out with a big smile, telling me she was happy that I came. She let me in and introduced me to her parents. They smiled and said hello. Then she said, “Come here. I want you to meet my grandpa.”

I followed her into the living room where her grandfather was sitting.She introduced us and he reached out his hand.He was going to shake hands, but I thought he was expecting me to kiss his hand, so I did.

I noticed that he looked at me in a strange way,as if he didn't like what I had done. Everyone else in the room looked at me, and my friend started laughing. I was very confused. I didn't know what I had done wrong. I sat down and tried to figure out what happened. Just then, a little boy ran to my friend's grandfather and jumped on his lap. The little boy started to hug and kiss the grandfather. When I saw this, I got up and took the little boy by the hand and said, “No.”I guess I said it pretty loudly because the room became very silent and all eyes were on me.

The next day at school my friend asked me why I acted so strangely at her party. She asked me why I kissed her grandfather's hand and why I told the little boy to get away from his grandfather. I explained my customs to her and she explained hers to me. Fortunately, we stayed very good friends.