However, they made more sense when I considered how when the news from a country focuses on certain things, it follows that your impression of someone from that country would be based on those topics. I answered them honestly and with a slight tinge of humor, trying to portray that the American identity is far too vast to be narrowed into such small generalizations.
My experience in Mexico has been similar, but with much more pointed questions. I now faced questions specifically about being from Texas. For some context, Texas, as well as half of what is present-day America, used to be a part of Mexico. In the case of Texas specifically, the territory declared war on Mexico in 1835 and was an independent republic for nine years before joining the Union of the United States of America. During this revolution, there were many bloody battles, one of the most infamous being the Battle of the Alamo. Texan forces were massacred at the site, leading to cries of "Remember the Alamo!" being hailed as they ambushed Mexican forces at San Jacinto, the skirmish which would lead to the defeat of Mexican General Santa Anna and the ultimate victory of Texan independence.
When I learned about this story in my Texan education, it was always told so that the Texan forces avenged the fallen soldiers from the Alamo. Evidently, the Mexican side of the story is different. From the first time I revealed to others that I was from Texas, I was questioned over how it felt to be from a state that was stolen from Mexico. I quite honestly did not know how to react, especially given that sometimes it was asked in a joking-but-serious manner that would have been hard to respond to even if it were about a lighter subject.
