Hispanic Culture Research Paper

I am very interested in the Hispanic cultural. I have put a lot into getting to know this culture by visiting the Niagara cafe and talking to my friend Hugo who I have interviewed for this paper. He identifies as Mexican American, and is “hispanish and Latino” he says. This means he is ethnically and racially part of the Hispanic Community. “Only about 25 percent of Hispanic Americans use Hispanic or Latino to describe themselves” (page 217). Since Hugo mainly would say he is Mexican American, he would be considered more ethnically associated than racially associated. He does say he is Hispanic, which in the book on page 216 states, “Hispanics are partially an ethic minority group and partly a racial minority group”. The Latino part comes from …show more content…
American is plain and boring and all the same. Spanish is interesting and different. “The food is just so much better”, he says. I can even agree with this to some extent the food is amazing. It is such a different cultural that I want to know more about. There are some things I find different that I wouldn’t do that they do. Types of food that he enjoys are pastelitos, pozole, tamales, arroz, chivo, pernil, and even something called mole. Mole is a type of thick chocolate looking sauce that you eat with chicken. Pozole is a traditional soup from Mexico consisting of pork, beans and spices. A tamale is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa or dough, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping is discarded before eating. Arroz is just rice. Chivo is goat soup. Lastly pernil is pork shoulder. Now I enjoy Spanish food like Pastelitos and some other chickens from the Niagara cafe, but I think that is so odd some of the dishes. Those are some of this favorite dishes to eat though. He says its food like that makes it …show more content…
For Christmas, they start a celebration the night before and party all night long and go to bed at five am on Christmas day. They then wake up around noon eat breakfast and then open gifts. The traditional American gifts idea is still there. For New Year’s they party just like the rest of us but in the last minute before the ball drops they eat 12 grapes. I found this very interesting each grape represents one month of the year. They do this for their New Year’s resolution. On Easter they just eat and go to church. They don’t believe in the Easter bunny or searching to eggs and candy. The one holiday that is different very different between our two cultures is Halloween. They don’t actually celebrate it. Instead they celebrate the Day of the Dead on November 1st. This is a day dedicated to people who have passed away by honoring them. They set up an alter and put their favorite foods, objects and wine for adults and water or soda if it was a child. They gather together with the family and celebrate their loved ones life. It’s a joyous occasion instead of a time of morning, which it probably the best thing about this holiday. It’s so interesting to see how things are different. Some people may think that is weird but I find that so empowering and