I turned 30 years old on June 23, 2010. As a tribute to my mother, with whom I’m having breakfast as most of you are reading this, I thought I’d post a the audio to a traditional Mexican song called “Las Mañanitas” that is customarily sung on birthdays in Mexico (and other Latin American countries) just before eating birthday cake, much like “Happy Birthday” is sung in English in the U.S.

When I was growing up, my mother would play this song very early in the morning on my birthday as the title of the song suggests in Spanish. The words make it even more symbolic if you care to read them. Google even has a new nifty translate feature if you don’t know Spanish (Hint: future blog post).

As I getting older, I’m not getting much wiser, but I AM learning to appreciate my culture much more and realizing how important it is to share it with those that know me “as an American,” but don’t quite know an entire side of my upbringing that has shaped who I am today.

Then again, I could just be looking for some street cred in cheering for Mexico during the World Cup. Either way, here it goes –