"Americas America?"

In chapter one of "The Americas: A Hemispheric History" I learned about how America was first looked at through the eyes of Europeans, Asians, and Native Americans. America was known as "the New World" which had many people wondering what America was all about. Many of us today don't know much about how America was discovered, most of us think that Colombus was the first man to ever step foot on America but way before Colombus discovered "the New World", Native Americans had set a life in America. I always found it interesting that many people don't know the real history behind America, and how Colombus and Native American founded this new world. Chapter one also discussed about how others define people who live in America. For example I was born in Nicaragua but I was raised in the Bay Area, but whenever I go back to Nicaragua to visit my family everyone in the small town where my family lives knows I'm from America and they refer me as an "american". Usually it doesnt offend me but sometimes many people jump into sterotyping and consider me as someone with alot of money, which is not the case. Chapter one was trying to help us understand how America is looked at sometimes and how it all got started. Even in the present time we always try to expand our culutre into America, which makes America so different. For example living in America has opened my mind and made me learn many new things about different culture and since its been going on for years now its become normal to us. Saint Patricks Day, 4th of July, or even Chinese New Year isnt part of my Nicaraguense culture but I still celebrate it because our country has opened up to so many culutres and its something to be very grateful of.