Growing up I was
raised differently than most of my core group of friends. I was raised Jewish
and for 13 years, up until my Bar Mitzvah, we practiced this religion. It was
only after my Bar Mitzvah that my family stopped practicing Judaism and
religion was no longer a part of our lives. Since I have been in college I have
been exposed to many different religions practiced by my friends. This has
broadened my knowledge of different religions. Not only have I began to step
out of my comfort zone in learning about these different types of religions, it
has allowed me to become exposed to different cultures.
Culture can be defined as learned
beliefs, language, values, and patterns shared by a group of people (Martin and Nakayama, 2013 pg. 88). Culture
is seen as a community and fellowship. It also can be seen as a set of
traditions passed down from generation to generation. It is taught and learned
within the groups that share these values. In college, I met my friend Courtney
who began to share her faith with me.
She began to describe Christianity, more specifically her Lutheran
faith. As I listened, I learned that she shares common beliefs within her
church and other Luther churches. This particular culture displays different sets
of traditions that were created from the Holy Scriptures. In the beginning I did not understand most of
the ideas and beliefs she was describing, but after our discussion my cultural
lenses were widened.
References
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural
communication in contexts (6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
One of their biggest celebrated holidays is Cinco de Mayo. Which is the "Day of the Dead". This holiday commemorates the Mexican Army's victory over France at the battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. This holiday has also become widely celebrated in the United States, especially the areas with large Hispanic-American populations. Its celebrated with parades, music performances, and street festivals. 
The cultural group that I chose to research are Hispanics. Since they are the largest growing population in the United States I thought it would be beneficial. It is interesting to me as well because Mexico is connected to the United States yet has its own unique historical events that shape the culture of the country. One of the biggest historical events that shaped the Hispanic heritage was the Mexican Revolution. The Revolution was a conflict that spanned over two decades. After doing some research on the revolution I realized that there were many similarities to that of the conflict in Syria that is going on right now. It all started when the ruler Porfirio Diaz Mori took land away from the rural workers and farmers. Mori wanted to industrialize the country, so he needed the extra land to create roads, dams, and factories. 
