If a Cat Has Kittens in an Oven are they Biscuits?

PREFACE: I've been debating for a while if I should tackle this post or not. Yes, I did study issues of Nationalism while at American University, but if anything that has taught be just how complicated these issues can be. With that being said I've decided to go for it, but please take this only as an exercise in applying my studies to a real life situation and not a definition of my stance on issues of citizenship or related topics.

A few weeks back I went to an Irish themed bar in Madrid. These things are popular everywhere, but there is one in particular that we frequented when I was studying abroad. At Dubliner's one can speak English with most of the patrons, watch American sports like basketball and for an evening forget that you are in Spain. This particular time our group ended up talking to an individual named Pepe.

Pepe is from Barcelona but he has an American passport. Pepe's parents were studying Medicine at John's Hopkins when he was born and they lived in the US until Pepe was about five years old. Throughout the night Pepe continually told us that he was American too. I'm certain that he was saying it with the best of intentions; probably as a way of showing us that we had common ground and not in that he was claiming to be as American as us. But really, are there degrees to being American?

The way that US law is written means that anyone born on US soil is eligible for citizenship, but what does that mean in practice? I know that America is the great melting-pot (or some in the cross-cultural communications world prefer the salad-bowl analogy because the individual pieces can maintain their original forms rather than melting away in a pot...) and we are able to accept all types of people. Even though intellectually I knew Pepe was right I still found myself put-off by his claims to be American.

Never before have I struggled with a thought in the same way as that one. But honestly, he lived there for 5 years and then moved back to Spain with his Spanish family. I'm not certain that he had the common cultural experiences that define American life. Did he go trick-or-treating? Did he make hand turkeys for Thanksgiving? Does he know the basic rules to baseball or kickball?

When discussing issues of nationality and definitions of national heritage one has to consider the question of where do we get our nationality from. Does one belong to certain group because they were born in the "right" geographical location or do they belong because they inherited the "right" set of genes? Or does your belonging come from a shared heritage of experiences? Personally, I can't say if one definition is better than another. When twisted, any criteria can be used for good purposes or bad.

My experience with Pepe has forced me to evaluate just what I think it means to be an American. Technically, yes he can call himself American. But as someone who spent 23 years living in America and learning the subtle nuances of the culture I have a hard time seeing him equally as American as me. This probably has to do with the fact that he lived the majority of his formative years in Spain and inherently knows more about what it means to be Spanish than what it does to be American.

My view of issues of identity was also called into question when I had to referee a debate among some of my 4th graders. Many of the kids were ganging up on the new kids, Nicholas, saying that he wasn't really Madrileño because he was born outside of Spain and his dad is from Holland. I tried to explain to them that it is possible (especially in the European Union, with its fluid borders and all...) for someone to be born in one place but rightfully claim to be from another place.

I guess the bottom line is that my time here has challenged me to think about issues I'd never considered before. If anything, I will go home with more questions than answers but I think that is a good sign.