Reflecting Puerto Rican Culture

There were two events that I attended which reflected the culture of Puerto Rican families. The first event I attended was the Puerto Rican festival in Charlotte, North Carolina. This festival was fun, crowded, and family oriented. It was held on behalf of the Puerto Rican Cultural Society. There were cars on display, a live band, and a lot of food for sale. First, I saw a lot of shirts with the colors red, white, and blue which are symbolic of their flag. Next, I noticed the majority of people were drinking out of a pineapple. I then learned this popular drink was a Pin͂a Colada. Then, I could hear the sound of a live band playing drums, guitars, and keyboards. The beat was up tempo and fun. However, I couldn’t understand because the songs were in Spanish. More important, for me I was very interested in tasting the food. I had the opportunity to eat rice and pigeon peas (arroz con gandules), Spanish fried chicken (chicharron de pollo), and something called yucca. …show more content…
For example, I expected the festival to be filled with food, games, music, and fun. From reading, my understanding is that Puerto Ricans are family oriented and love to have a good time. As for the food, it was exactly what I expected because some of their favorite dishes are chicken, and rice and beans which was served at almost every vendor. Another example, is although Spanish was the spoken language, they could speak fluent English as well. Krogstad and Gonzalez-Barrera (2015) discuss more than 62% of U.S. adult Hispanics speak English or are bilingual. As for my expectation for attending church, I must admit I didn’t know what to expect. From reading, I understood the majority of Puerto Ricans were Catholic and they pray to Saint Anthony. According to McGoldrick, Giordano, and Preto (2005) Puerto Ricans personalize their relationship with God through