My last name, Peluzzo, sounds like the word "pelusa", which roughly translates from Spanish to the word “fluff”. Growing up in a hispanic family and living in Mexico City for most of my life granted me the divine nickname "Pelusa". Why would someone call me fluff? Well, my hair. Ever since I can remember people have associated my hair with my last name. There have been several times in which I’ve been asked if my last name, Peluzzo, was due to my curly hair; as if last names were a matter of choice. Everytime I met someone new they would hear my last name and say “Peluzzo, like 'pelusa'” while pointing at my hair with a smug look on their face. At first I would feel offended because, well, I see my hair as prettier than a piece of fluff, but now I have finally embraced the "pelusa" I hold on my head.

Always in my face, fluffing up, and out of control. A unique physical attribute that makes me stick out in the crowd, as my mom would say. Debatable, as my hair has always been a big insecurity of mine due to that fact that I am the only "Pelusa" in my entire family. My mom coming from an Argentinian background, has straight thick hair. My dad, being Puerto Rican, with an Italian and Spanish background, had beautiful straight hair before he turned bald. Not to mention my sister’s beautiful thick straight hair.

Where I got my curly hair from? No one knows, but after many years of taming my "pelusa" I now appreciate it. Sort of.