In the essay "Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez, Julia describes her feelings about her family as a teenager. She explains that during her teenage years, she felt embarrassed and ashamed of her family's Spanish names and culture. She felt like an outsider among her American classmates, who often made fun of her and her siblings' names, which they found difficult to pronounce.
Julia felt like she had to choose between her Spanish heritage and her American identity. She writes, "I loved the sound of the names, but they got caught in my throat when I tried to say them to my Anglo friends. I wanted to fit in, and I knew that my Spanish name and my family's different way of life made that difficult."
At the same time, Julia also felt proud of her heritage and wanted to honor her family's traditions. She writes about her grandmother's stories of the Dominican Republic and her father's music, which filled her with a sense of pride and belonging. However, she struggled to reconcile this pride with the shame and embarrassment she felt in front of her American peers.
Overall, as a teenager, Julia had a complex mix of emotions about her family and her cultural identity. She felt torn between her Spanish heritage and her desire to fit in with her American peers, and she struggled to navigate this tension.