The males in our family don't like apple pie. We aren't football fanatics, nor do we know Babe Ruth's real name much less his batting average. But we could name several American literary classic authors. We know Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. We like the "deezgusting Amehican fuud" also known as the hamburger. (Morning Star vegetarian of course) And I could also name most Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire classics. But we are not Americans.
We don't watch the NHL playoffs, drink Canadian beer, eat Canadian bacon or finish our every sentence with "Eh?" (We never say eh.) (I don't think I've ever met a Canadian that actually does finish ever sentence with "Eh". Only tourists. You can tell who's a tourist in Florida because they'll be wearing floppy hats, socks with sandals and have a huge camera around their necks. You can tell who's a tourist in Canada, because he'll be the one with about five "Eh's" in each sentence.) But we ice skate in the winter, eat a lot of maple syrup, and have a love-hate relationship with snow. But we are not Canadians.
We don't follow soccer state tournaments or participate in traditional activities such as the carnival or 'festas juninas'. Nor do we drink Brahma or Skol, or dance the capoeira and samba. But we have rice and beans on our holiday table, we celebrate the New Year's with merriment and agree it's a big deal, and have strong family ties. But, though our passports might disagree, we are not Brazilian.
Then what in heaven's name are we? We're a queer type you see, we're not an All-American family, nor an All-Canadian family, and still somehow we don't qualify as an All-Brazilian family either. How come? Well it (and by it I mean our family customs/traditions) has become too infiltrated by American-Canadian customs/traditions to be All-Brazilian. You see much of that in the Western Hemisphere. Not just the US is a "melting pot", but the whole New World! What is an American? A mixture of different cultures melted into one. What is a Canadian? A mixture of cultures frozen into one. What is a Brazilian? A mixture of different cultures partying into one. In our family, these three cultures have come together to make a beautiful mix of BraNadIcan traditions. You could also call it AmeZilAn or or or CanMerIlian....