CULTURAL BIOGRAPHY OF

CLARA MATA
EDU 280-1001-1002
NAMES
I was baptized Clara Isabel Mata, both my first
and last names came from different saints. St.
Clare of Assisi and St. Isabel of France. My
parents name my sister and I after saint and
names in the Bible. My last name is a mixture
of Portuguese and Spanish with very different
translations. In Portuguese it can mean
“wood” or “forest”. As for what it means in
Spanish, it doesn't have a nice meaning, it
translates to “kill”. In the Mexican culture it is
a custom to call people by their middle name
instead of their first, so at home and by family
I am called Isabel.
ANCESTRY/ CULTURE

Both my father and mother are of Mexican

decent. They recently took one of the DNA
test and we found that my father is 85%
Central American, which is more than the
average Hispanic and very exciting to know.
My mother is also 70% Central American but
she also has good chunk from Spain and Italy
which she didn’t even know about. My family
is very proud to be Hispanic and we like to
celebrate the different holidays and festivals
like the Day of the Dead. We show our
culture by dressing in traditional wear and
decorate the house during certain festivals/
holidays.
FAMILY STRUCTURE

In my immediate family there are four of us,

my mother, father, my older sister and myself.
We grew up with my grandmother, my dads
mom, living on and off with us. Then later on
and in recent years my grandfather, my moms
father, lived with us until recently when he
moved out of the country. It has always been
that my parents would let a family members
live with us and I know that my sister and I
will continue with that. We are a very family
oriented, we see our cousins and aunts/
uncles as often as we can.
 RELIGION
My family is Catholic and so I was raised in it
as well. Both my sister and I were baptized,
we did our first communion and our
confirmation. I think that being Hispanic has a
great influence as to why my parents are
Catholic and why they passed it onto my
sister and I. In Mexico many of the
celebrations there are centered around
religion like the Day of the Dead and
especially during Christmas. They never
forced the religion on us but encouraged us.
We are all involved in the church in some
ways. My parents are in charge of the choir,
my sister volunteers as a catechism teacher,
and I am a coordinator for the youth group.
LINGUISTIC
English was the second language that I learned, the
first being Spanish. Both of ,y parents wanted my
sister and I to be fluent in both, they did not want us
to miss out on part of our culture and were thinking
how we could benefit knowing both. I didn't learn
English until I started elementary school, and I
remember being teased about having an accent but t
never bothered me. I’m proud that I know two
languages. My parents were very strict with my sister
and I when we started to learn English, they didn't
want us to forget Spanish, so they during the
summer we had to do one hour of Spanish and one
hour of English and would encourage us to watch tv
and movies in Spanish. When I was younger I hated it
because I didn't want to spend my summer doing
homework but now that I am a translator at the
school that I work for, I am extremely thankful.