British | Colombian

I was born and raised in San Francisco. My mother is Colombian, and my dad is mixed Scottish & English. They met on a blind date in the US, my mom had moved to the States as a teenager and lived in Florida which is very common. My dad was a hairdresser, he was there working, and they met through a mutual friend. 14 days later they were married. 
They settled in San Francisco and not long after I was born. When I was small I spoke Spanish which I don’t remember but my mom insists it’s true, when I was little I was very dark but then at about 7 years old I became very fair. There was an awkward time when people thought my mom was my nanny. 
My full name kind of defines how I feel about my heritage, both parts are so contrasting (first and last name) it is like how I connect with each culture. 
Because I was so light skinned when I grew up I would embrace being English rather than being Colombian, the surname would catch me out though. People would say that my name is a mouthful and I should change it, especially in the acting industry. But it is something that connects me to my heritage, so I could never change it. This is also very important for my son, even though he is a blonde hair, blue eyed child I want him to know he is mixed Colombian.

I don’t speak Spanish anymore, but I do understand it. Nowadays people tell me I’m not Colombian enough to be called a Colombian, I get labelled as Greek, Italian or even Irish. I used to joke about it, but it was always a little bit weird. Because I am fair skinned people do not like to identify me as mixed race either, I was only American. America to me is a melting pot of so many cultures and races. Coming to the UK people think it’s quite exotic that a Colombian woman married a British man, in the US its seen as quite negative. 
If I was to be reincarnated I would like my darker skin tone back, I feel like a part of me was erased.