Friday, July 12, 2013

My Family Culture

                “A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of [my] country.  The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees.”  My family and I have no say on our final destination, meaning we will go to the country chosen for us.  We were told to bring one change of clothes, and three items of our choosing.  The choice of the three items is one that is extremely difficult.  Over the years I have come to realize, my family culture is different from my personal culture.
                By the time our family moved to the US, everyone in the family was an adult.  My generation was in their teens.  As a result, my family culture is much more Haitian than my culture.  I was only twelve when I moved to New York so I have assimilated into American culture quite a bit; hence why choosing three items that represent my family culture is going to be tough.  As I reflected on it, I started to think about the things that are innate in all of us in the family (God, community service, goodness, helping others, staying abreast of global events, and some distinct aspects of our Haitian family culture). 
                When the time came, I chose a rosary, my cellular phone, and a Haitian flag.  I chose the rosary because I grew up believing it was a symbol of God.  As a Catholic, I use it to pray and praying is simply talking to God; I talk to God throughout the day.  My cellular phone was important to me because of the pictures stored in it and the fact that if phone services are available all over the world so wherever I end up I will still be connected to my family and the world via my phone.  I also chose a Haitian flag because now that I am in the process of becoming an American citizen it is a reminder of my home country.
                Upon arriving to my destination country, my family and I realized that the culture was one completely different from ours.  We were asked to leave two of the three items we chose to travel with and my anxiety level increased, I was devastated.   I chose to keep the rosary and I realized that God would most certainly keep me safe, I took a deep breath and handed my phone and the Haitian flag over.

                Of all the aspects of my family culture, I realized God is the most important to us.  He sees us through everything and has yet to disappoint me.

3 comments:

  1. It sounds like you have experienced being in another culture like in this assignment. I had difficulty with the assignment because I realized my family culture is much more than the things that might be used to represent it. I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to reading your other posts throughout the class.

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  2. Hi Annie,
    I could not imagine if ever a catastrophe would ever occur to me. It is experienced here in this country and other countries and I am fortunate to say I never had to experience up and leaving my life behind. This assignment really put things into perspective and I am glad we had to reflect on this and it really made me think twice of my life and what is really important to me. Thanks for sharing your story.

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  3. Terri and Charlotte,
    I have not experience my blog as literally as I described in my blog post but moving from Haiti to New York did have a tremendous impact on me as an individual and on my family culture. Change is very difficult and when it's a change you have no control over or input into, it is even more impacting. Thank you both for reading my post.
    Annie P.

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