Tuesday, May 22nd 2012

My Quinceañera Lasted More than One Night and it was in New York

June 27, 2011 | Silvia Alegria [ 0 ]

Daniela Caro opted to celebrate for one week in the Big Apple with her family, far away from the stresses of planning a quince party.

The family of Daniela Caro are more the type to travel than to have lavish parties that imply throwing the house out the window. That is why, when the date neared for the little girl of the house to turn 15, the only question that needed to be answered was which location to choose for the trip. They had already been to Europe, and Latin America was already a known territory, so they picked the big city, the capital of the world – New York.

A couple of weeks after returning from her trip, Daniela does not doubt that it was the best decision that she could have made. “We spent a lot of family time and I enjoyed it like no other. In fact, I think I would like to live there when I finish my studies.”

The Temptation of the Big Apple

The sum of skyscrapers, gigantic egos and worldly luxuries eventually got stuck in her head. West Covina, where she has lived with her parents ever since she can remember, all of a sudden seemed very small to her. “It’s pretty, but it is missing the people along the streets, the taste of other cultures…I don’t know,” Daniela says without being able to express everything that she has inside.

Needless to say, she would miss her best friends, Linda and Victoria, with whom she spends most of her time with, although there is no room to spare when it comes to dreaming big. “There is nothing like the energy of New York, its rhythm, where all of the world is awake. Everything here is so calm and a little bit boring,” she dictates without embarrassment.

“In New York there is so much to do,” she sighs. “So many places to visit, restaurants, distinct museums. In West Covina, every weekend is the same.”

And out of everything that she visited, the grandest moment of the trip was her visit to the Empire State Building, “climbing to the top and seeing all of the city. It is spectacular,” she describes.

She extremely values the differences of cultures, the ones that she received since birth, being the daughter of an Argentine father and Mexican mother. That is why she speaks Spanish and travels to one of the two countries every two years, to visit her parents’ families. “I have a little bit more of an Argentine accent, but I like both of those places the same. Perhaps I would choose Argentina because I have more friends that are my age in Buenos Aires,” she explains.

She is not ruling out to one day live in a large city south of the border. “I think that I would adapt to living there because I am not extremely American. I have a lot of the Latino culture [in me]. “

Facing the Future

Her goal is to study psychology. Her mother started it years ago, but could not finish, so now she is the one that wants to achieve having that particular career in her family. “I have an interest in the way that other people think,” she argues.

Of the possible quinceañera party, she says they did not discuss it much. “I liked the idea of it being a longer type of celebration. A quinceañera only lasts one day, while mine lasted much longer than one night, and it was in New York. “

That is the reason she is not jealous of her other friends’ parties or quinceañeras. “It would not have mattered to me to have it, but I do not regret it at all for going to New York. I had a great time with my family and it is a memory that will last for a lifetime.”

In addition, many parties await her in the future. “I am sure that I will go to those types of celebrations and have a better time than the [birthday girls]. Almost always the guests have a better time than the protagonists. It is too stressful for them.”

At the moment, she is going on with her life as a teenager. She goes out with her friends every weekend, to the ubiquitous mall, the movie theaters, or hangs out at home. ”The important thing is that we are together.”

That keeps her away from another type of commitment that is more complex, that of having a boyfriend. “Of course there is always a boy that I find attractive, but I am not into that right now. I would rather be with my friends.”