Is what I’m doing cultural appropriation?

First off I want to start by saying I am a cisgendered white male. Both of my parents are retired but worked in helping professions, for the less fortunate. I am born and raised in NYC, but live on Long Island now. I work in a safety net hospital and a lot of my patients that I work with on a daily basis speak Spanish. I have always enjoyed taking Spanish classes since high school, and have always tried to find ways to get better speaking fluently. Lately, one of my coworkers who is from PR has been “taking me under his wing” and helping me get better talking to patients and using medical terms. He’s been telling me that my grammar and vocabulary can use some work which will happen over time, but for the most part, my comprehension is on point! He would quiz me on what the patient said after we talk to them and I’d be able to answer correctly 9/10 times!

Here’s my real question. Since I’ve been working with him, I’ve found myself really getting in touch with PR culture. A lot more Spanish TikTok’s are coming up on my for you page, I’ve been listening to a lot of reguetón music, I’ve been eating a lot more Latin food, etc. My team at work is organizing our Christmas party, and since I made the turkey for thanksgiving, they asked if I could make the main dish again. I asked if they would be interested in pernil, or classic glazed ham and they scoffed at me! When I asked why, they laughed and said it was funny that I said pernil with a Spanish accent instead of the white way (per-kneel). They have also said things in passing like “so are you basically Puerto Rican now?”, like I’m doing something wrong with the way I’m acting. I honestly just like cooking and I’m always looking for new dishes to try.

At the end of the day, I’ve always acknowledged other cultures and embraced them with open arms. I feel that since I can more or less speak the language, it’s easier for me to understand people. This truly just started with me wanting to speak to and help my Spanish speaking patients better, but if it’s offensive to the Latinx community, I can always tone it down.

So I ask again, am I appropriating Latin culture, or just enthusiastically embracing it? I welcome all feedback and can answer any questions.