For this assignment, I decided to ask my friend “Sam” for help. She is of the African-American culture and was born and raised here. However, her family was born and raised in Africa. I have known Sam for over 10 years now, we first met in school as we were both new to the area. To my surprise we also discovered that we shared the same neighborhood and closer than we expected, right in front of my home. That was more than enough reason for my siblings and me to become friends with her. Although, we share different cultures, we discovered that we had much more in common than we thought and that is how we have managed to remain friends through the years. Her family has a very heavy accent from their birthplace but they still manage to speak and
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However, my Mexican side of the family is a perfect example of collectivism(pg.300). It has improved from the past, but in Mexico it is not so much about doing what you want, but listening to what your parents want for you. You make decisions as a family and not on your own. It has to be the best decision for the family as a whole and not for yourself. Hispanic families are very united and it is a strong bond that is hard to break. Most Hispanic people stay at their parent’s side till marriage. Sam’s family is united like mine but they respect each other’s decisions. We discuss things as a family but not formally like Sam’s family in the living room. We splurge out comments and things we would like to do in random moments because of fear of them not approving what we want. My parents were born here in America, so my life was a mixture of Mexico/Cuba/American values. I did not have it as hard as grandparents and such in regards to obeying the strict norms. The most shocking thing that was one of the biggest differences between our cultures was the marriage ordeal. In my cultures, America, Cuba, and Mexico we do not practice polygamy. Marriage is a thing of two people, and not a situation where you have multiple wives. So that was something that I actually learned from this. I knew my friend had many siblings but not from different women, within the same time span. Basically, if he had three wives at a given moment they could all be pregnant at the same time. It was not difficult to communicate with Sam’s family because they are very respectful and gave me the freedom to confidently speak and ask
However, my Mexican side of the family is a perfect example of collectivism(pg.300). It has improved from the past, but in Mexico it is not so much about doing what you want, but listening to what your parents want for you. You make decisions as a family and not on your own. It has to be the best decision for the family as a whole and not for yourself. Hispanic families are very united and it is a strong bond that is hard to break. Most Hispanic people stay at their parent’s side till marriage. Sam’s family is united like mine but they respect each other’s decisions. We discuss things as a family but not formally like Sam’s family in the living room. We splurge out comments and things we would like to do in random moments because of fear of them not approving what we want. My parents were born here in America, so my life was a mixture of Mexico/Cuba/American values. I did not have it as hard as grandparents and such in regards to obeying the strict norms. The most shocking thing that was one of the biggest differences between our cultures was the marriage ordeal. In my cultures, America, Cuba, and Mexico we do not practice polygamy. Marriage is a thing of two people, and not a situation where you have multiple wives. So that was something that I actually learned from this. I knew my friend had many siblings but not from different women, within the same time span. Basically, if he had three wives at a given moment they could all be pregnant at the same time. It was not difficult to communicate with Sam’s family because they are very respectful and gave me the freedom to confidently speak and ask