"Eres tica?"

It's always interesting when someone is trying to figure out where I'm from. My English accent + Spanish accent + the way I look = confusion, but it usually is a good conversation starter. Someone this weekend asked me if I was Tica (eres tica? = are you costa rican?), what a compliment! Sometimes they ask, "de donde eres?" (where are you from?) and I say "los estados unidos" (the united states), then they ask quizzically, "si, pero sus padres?" (yes, but your parents?) and at this point I know they are trying to figure out my ethnicity. Then say I say, "si, mis padres son de India pero yo naci en los estados unidos." From here the conversation can take a few different paths, maybe they'll talk about Indian food/restaurants they've tried, dance, music someone else that they know that is indian, or if they know my academic background and why I'm here, they'll start with the ever pervasive stereotype, "Oh yeah, Indians are really smart right?" I try to then say, "Not really any smarter than any other group of people," and try to laugh it off, but I don't think they get it . .

There's a telenovella (soap opera) in spanish called 'India: una historia de Amor' (india: a story of love, love story) that takes place in the present, in India and Brazil. I did some reading on it and apparently it deals with the caste system, a love square (between Raj, Maya, Bahu and Duda) and arranged marriages, I'll give it a shot the next time its on. It won the 2009 International Emmy for Telenovellas. It will be interesting to see people in Indian clothes speaking Spanish!