Personal Narrative: My Peruvian Culture

What is culture? Culture includes languages, ideas, beliefs, customs, institutions, inventions, technology, and values. One may ask what do the people of the society wear? How do they prepare their food? What type of foods to the eat? What kind of work do they do? We are not born with any knowledge of a culture. This is something we learn throughout time and it makes up who and what you are as a person. There are many different cultures in the world today. But that is what makes our society unique. Culture is based on long standing traditions that have been passed on from one generation to another. The purpose of this paper is to compare language, health, and education of a Peruvian culture to the American lifestyle.

Culture is the overall moral belief, customs, language, and attitudes a person is brought and raised into. Daily, we are exposed to diverse and different cultures everyday which allow us to learn the different values and traditions each culture possess. The importance of observing and learning different customs is beneficial because it can help us better adapt and prevent misunderstandings when we communicate and interact with others. Hispanics and Americans are two huge cultures that have been sharing the same living space for years but are an example of two different civilizations. While both, Hispanics and Americans, share many similarities they both differ in recognition of religion, language,

Much to my own embarrassment, my Hispanic heritage had been a thing I hardly thought of. My Father left my family when I was young, and with him went the hopeful wisps I had of learning about myself. It’s not to say that I wasn’t aware that I was Hispanic, but rather, growing up in a mainly white household I didn’t think I had any right to claim my ethnicity. However, the more I look around me and learn about the community Hispanics have grown accustomed to, the more I find that I understand where I came from. To me, being Hispanic isn’t about what you were told when you were younger, or the traditions you grew up with. Rather, being Hispanic is about learning where you come from, and learning about those who share your same heritage. ‘Hispanic’

My grandmother was born in Guatemala into a struggling family of seven. In Guatemala, kids are often forced to leave school and start working to help provide for their family´s food and shelter. Similarly, my grandmother was not able to complete her education. Instead, she had to take care of her siblings, providing for their basic needs. As she grew up, she had three kids, including my father, and needed to find a way to give them a better life.

My Hispanic culture is exceedingly unique contrast to other cultures because we have countless of beliefs, holidays, lifestyles, etc. My world of Hispanic culture raised me to become an independent and determined person because being the first generation of a Hispanic family to attend college has my family beyond thrilled for me to put value to our heritage. Putting value in our heritage is a magnificent emotion because people anticipate Hispanics to fail; but, we prove them wrong when we accomplish our goals. The Hispanic culture’s strength is unbelievably astonishing because we are ambitious of our dreams and we don’t cease until we fulfill our wish. Including the Hispanic culture at University of Washington may open people’s mind that we

“Wow...there is no way you’re Latino. You’re way too white!” was the ignorant remark made by a one of my peers during my school’s annual Latin-American Fest. Initially, hearing this claim made me look into the mirror. I began to stroke my face and examine my physical features. Was this true? Was I not Latino enough? Did the amount of melanin or lack thereof deem me as Latino?

What is culture? Culture is the idea of what is wrong or right, the concept of what is acceptable within our society. Culture serves us as a guide, taking us to the "right way" and helping us to make sense of things that surrounds us. There are many different cultures around the world. A lot of them are similar in specific ways and others are just completely different, this difference explains why we think that people from different backgrounds are "weird".

Culture is our identity; it defines who a person is and contours the judgment of a person to a certain approach. My culture is the Hispanic culture. Our primary language of communication is Spanish which is taught to each child as a way of passing down the culture and heritage. In my culture, there is a strong value for the family; consequently, large, close-knit families live together. The family provides support, care, and helps solve interpersonal and personal problems including health issues.

Another big part of who people are culturally is shown through the food in that culture. At our Christmas Eve dinners there are multiple Hispanic dishes being served. Some of my favorites that are served at this time of the year are the homemade tamales my great grandma makes and menudo that my grandma makes. Every culture has different foods that define their culture. So these two dishes, the tamales and menudo, show who I am culturally. All of these things about my culture have had a major impact on who I am as a person. Family, tradition and food from my culture have meaning to me and show who I am

Recognize Nieves? No? Okay, how about Zacatecas? Still not ringing a bell? Okay, okay, Mexico? Yeah, I knew you’d know that one. Nieves, Zacatecas is within the Mexico borders. A humble place where I was born. Several circumstances started evolving where I was raised. And just like any other parents, mine got concerned which later resulted of us relocating to a safer environment. A place where death would visit frequently wasn’t a good place for a 1 year old kid. A town where the word trust was unknown. Leading to my parents decision of following the american dream.

Would you say that life has any sense? Or Is there an answer for everything in life? Three years ago I was completely messed up about this. Gustavo Adolfo Parra Chassaigne that’s how my parents called me and I was born in Maracay a little city next to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. I used to be the first student of all my high school, also one of the first in tennis of my state and everybody said that my family was “perfect”. So, What did happen to me?

Food is a part of my culture because my family, for the most part, is pretty healthy and we like traditional foods also. We have lutefisk for dinner on special holidays like Christmas I think it is terrible, but my family likes it. My grandpa always makes sausages for any Holiday and everyone knows he is going to bring them because he makes the best in the world I think. When I grow up I want to be a chef and most the time I make food for dinner. For Christmas last year my parents

The Flores are a family of five that lives in Los Angeles, California. Elizabeth,32,is the mother. Lily,14,is the daughter .Bridget,13,is the daughter. Alexis,13,is the daughter, Katherine,14,is the daughter.Elizabeth is employed at two jobs a cosmetologist and a in Los angeles california why she chose that job was because for one she have four kids two they both make good money and three she enjoy both of my jobs and what she will do.

In this assignment, the instructor Ms. Cross assigned us to do a virtual collage describing ourselves and our lives. In other words, to build a collage that depicts our self-concent. According to S. Verderber, Sellnow, and F. Verderber (2015), self-concept bases on “…the interpretations we make about our personal experiencesand how other react and respond to us”. (p.19.). In this collage I relate my personal experiences from when I lived in Venezuela,to my hobbies, my personality, my relationships, and my ambitions.

It was the last day of my trip, and while I was washing plates in my grandmother’s house, the sunlight was reflected on the plates to my eyes. The fear going through my veins, my mind confused with everything that have happened two weeks ago. Uncertainty of what event would destroy or rebuild my heart. What would happen next ?. The future is unpredictable, so far that is a concept that now I understand. Considering the time spent in my country Colombia , vacations, friends, and parties were the words that stay on my mind for the first two weeks, otherwise the next two weeks were not what I planned. Firstable I was not supposed to be there for these last two weeks, but I am grateful. “No puedes viajar hoy” were the words asserted by the airline