During this meeting with Jose I was squirming in my seat ready to leave for Thanksgiving. Because I couldn’t get Thanksgiving Break off of my mind, I decided to ask Jose how he was going to spend his Thanksgiving. It’s always interesting to hear how those that are not native to the United States interpret this tradition. Jose kind of shrugged his shoulders and said he probably wouldn’t do anything. This made me wonder how other cultures that do not have our same interpretation of Thanksgiving view it. I asked Jose how he felt about Thanksgiving, and I expected to hear that it was a discriminatory holiday that commemorated the European domination over Native Americans, simply because that’s a common criticism of Thanksgiving heard in the United States. However, Jose simply replied that he liked the tradition because it brought families together to spend time with each other and celebrate. I was so glad to hear that’s what the tradition projected to other cultures, because that’s exactly how I view Thanksgiving. I understand that the original tradition may have been rooted in racism, but today I think it has simply evolved into a way for families to get together and catch up.
Jose compared it to the Day of the Virgin in his country where people get together, and walk 5 miles to church in a procession of singing people. It is a day to give thanks to the Virgin, but also to gather with friends and family. Despite that fact that Thanksgiving is a secular holiday and the Day of the Virgin is clearly a religious one, Jose saw only the similarity of gathering with family and friends. I’m glad to hear this.
Jose and I also talked about the differences between the environmental values of the US and those of Venezuela. Jose told me that there are no hunting laws to protect the size of animal populations. Even deer are a scarce population in Venezuela. Jose also told me that the cities, houses, stores, and everything like that are crammed close together, so there seems to be little environmental conservation. This was a wake up that made me realize that the green madness we hear about all the time isn’t necessarily a global movement.
Meeting with Jose for these past eight weeks has been a great experience, and I’m glad had this opportunity. Since being at TCU, I feel like I have really learned how to view and be open to others’ worldviews. This was a great hands-on experience that helped me practice this skill. I definitely recommend continuing this program.
One thing I have enjoyed about my ESL experience is learning about other traditions and holidays that are valued outside the US. The Day of the Virgin sounds pretty cool and it does seem similar to thanksgiving. I find it fascinating to learn about what holidays other cultures value because there is so much out there to experience besides our own traditions in America.
ReplyDeleteI recently had the same experience-- My accompanist (who is also named Jose!) is from Costa Rica. I asked him if he had plans for the holiday, but I was subtly reminded that Thanksgiving is an American thing -which is true, but still a strange feeling to think about not celebrating it. It's funny how sometimes we forget about the hundreds of other cultures out there that are unlike ours.
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