contact zone
Brett Hinton
3/16/03
Per. 3
Gritter
Contact Zone
After conducting an interview with a few Hispanic Americans
from our very own Sunset High School, I have learned that there
are many differences between the Hispanic culture in America,
and my American culture, even if we live in the same place. The
American culture may alter their way of life, but they still
retain what is theirs.
The interview started out a little shaky because we were all a
little nervous, having never talked to the others before. We
had all noticed that our school breaks up into clicks depending
on cultural background, but I assumed that the only difference
between the Hispanic Americans at our school and myself was
language.
Language is a big difference, and an important one, because it
is hard to communicate with someone with whom you cannot speak.
Out of the four people we (Tarra and myself) talked to, only one
could speak English well enough to help us answer the questions
we asked them, Dave. Just from my experience with this
interview, I learned that being able to speak English well helps
you talk to people such as myself, but that has to carry over to
the rest of the American Culture too. It would be very
difficult to live somewhere where the “Native” people can’t
understand what you say.
Dave was also helpful in the way that he acted as the translator
for us, asking the others the questions we asked, only in
Spanish, then telling us their responses. So if you cannot
speak the language, it is very helpful to know someone who does
so they can help you along they way. Most of their responses
were a combination of all of their ideas, but numerous answers
came straight from Dave.
Many of the Spanish-speaking people who go to Sunset, or even
live in the United States, were born in the United States, but
all four of the people that we interviewed were born in Mexico.
Three of the four were born in Mexico City, Dave, the one who we
could speak to fairly easily, was from Acapulco. They did
things within our society, yet they still held onto their
Mexican culture very strongly. They said that our culture is
similar to theirs in many ways: They have jobs where they cook,
clean, and sell products, they celebrate holidays, such as
Christmas, Mexican Independence Day, and Day of the Dead, and
they go to school, always wishing they weren’t there, just like
American children. But they have many things that separate them
from us; their culture goes deeper, to their relatives and even
the spirits of the non-living.
Many families in Mexico and other Hispanic countries live around
or even with their extended families, and when they do not, they
still tend to have larger immediate families. Dave for example,
had two brothers and two sisters. This may seem strange to we
Americans, but in Hispanic cultures, family is very important,
the more the merrier.
When we asked them what kinds of holidays they celebrated, they
said that one very important holiday is the Day of the Dead.
For this holiday, the spirits of relatives who have passed on
are remembered and given offerings of food. In America, when
people pass away, we hold a funeral, and some tend to forget
about the dead, because to us, death brings sadness and sorrow,
but to Hispanic cultures, death is just a part of life.
Family is a big part of their culture to this very day, but in
the United States, family means very little in the long run,
it’s all about success and money. Sure money is important in
Mexico, but as Dave said, “Mexico would be richer, but the
government takes the money.” Most of Mexico is very poor, and
the parts that are not poor are just as polluted and dirty.
Coming to America must be a large change, but to many, it is
necessary. One way that people in Mexico can make better money
is by having a job in which you need to speak English. Dave
said that that is the main reason that he is here, to learn
English so when he goes back to Mexico he can make more money
and be more successful.
“What do they do for fun?” I wondered. I thought they must just
hang out, speak Spanish and play soccer. But that’s only
because I am a naive American. Dave told us that they do much
of the same stuff that we do for fun, hang out with friends, go
to movies, talk on the phone, and yes they do play soccer.
But all of that fun makes you hungry, and while they are here
they have to eat. I thought that they would eat many meals at
home, traditional Mexican food, but Dave told me that they eat
out a lot too, just like us. We asked them if they had the same
fast food places in Mexico as we do here, and he said they did
but there were some differences. He said that the hamburgers at
places such as McDonald’s, were bigger and better in Mexico, but
of course better is all a matter of opinion. They also,
surprising to me, like Taco Bell. This seems like something
that they would think is just a bad, cheap version of something
that to them is traditional, but I guess that we Americans are
lucky to have something that is good, cheap, and up to the
standards of someone who knows.
There are many things I learned from this interviewing
experience, McDonald’s tastes better in Mexico, knowing English
is important everywhere, but mainly, I learned that even if
culture is different, people are people, no matter skin color,
language, or race.
