Romina's Rangoli

"Why don t you make some rangoli designs?" Leela suggested. Romina closed her eyes and pictured the intricate patterns and symmetrical designs she liked to draw on the sidewalk with colored chalks, or make by arranging different-colored flower petals on the front porch. Then she opened her eyes and shook her head. "No, Leela, I can t," she said. "Rangoli is from India. And half of our family is from Mexico." Romina's class is learning about immigrants, and she must make a project that represents the culture that her family comes from for the school open house next week. But Romina has a problem: her father is from India, and her mother is from Mexico. How can she come up with one project that represents both cultures? Each member of the family tries to help Romina with her dilemma by giving her information and ideas from each culture, but it is her neighbor, Mr. Gonzales, who inspires Romina to think of the perfect project. Using Mexican papel picado papercutting techniques, she creates an Indian rangoli floor design that she can bring school. The result is a beautiful and artistic blend of traditional arts that is both Indian and Mexican just like her.