RUNNING HEAD: CULTURAL IMMERSION

Cultural Immersion Shawntia Williams Georgia State University: SW3000

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Abstract In this paper I will explore four cultural immersions. The four cultural immersions are Haiti, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico. The common factor that ties all four of these immersions together is tasting food. I will reflect on my prior knowledge if any on each immersion and my thoughts and feelings afterwards.

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Introduction A cultural immersion is an experience in which you interact and become knowledgeable about a culture other than your own. The reason for participating in these activities is to diversify yourself in multiple cultures and or environments to strengthen your awareness of others. I was required to participate in four cultural immersions. The first cultural immersion was learning about Haiti and its culture. The second cultural immersion was exploring the Dominican Republic. The third cultural immersion was interviewing Taleeya Jackson from Trinidad. My last cultural immersion was interviewing Noah Rodriguez. The one factor that ties all of my cultural immersions together is food. I have tasted a dish from each one of these cultures. Haiti Cultural Immersion Honestly I have not had had any prior interaction with Haiti and or Haitian individuals. My knowledge of Haiti consists of the world news updates on natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. One earthquake that stood out to me was the one that occurred in 2010. When this natural disaster stormed Haiti it took thousands of lives and left millions homeless. The other natural disaster was Hurricane Sandy which affected Haiti approximately a year ago. The hurricane left numerous individuals in disarray. During this cultural immersion I learned that Haiti is the pearl of the Caribbean. Haiti is also the first black nation to gain its independence. The official languages are Haitian Creole and French (Brown-Murray, 2010). French is considered the national language you learn in school as well as read in. Creole is considered a broken down language which is a mix of French, English, and Spanish. Haitians usually migrate to Canada after leaving Haiti. 95% of Haitians migrate to the province of Quebec and 95% of those settle in Montreal (Duguay, 2012). At this cultural immersion I interacted with individuals of Haitian decent. We laughed and talked about history, customs, clothing and food. After attending this part of the immersion I wanted to actually try a Haitian dish so I found C'est Si Bon Pastry & Restrant in Smyrna. The name of this restaurant means "It's so good." At the restaurant I had the pleasure of enjoying red snapper fish, onions, plantains, and rice. I didn't learn about this dish at the presentation. If I say so myself, it was an excellent dish seeing that I was trying something new. After completing this immersion I am left with a feeling of accomplishment. I had the opportunity to become educated on a new culture. I tried new foods with an open mind. This experience has made want to explore Haiti more. I also wouldn't mind trying some more delicious Haitian dishes. Dominican Republic Cultural Immersion Before completing this cultural immersion on the Dominican Republic I was not very familiar with this country. All I knew about was that it was a beautiful island that always had deals on living social. I also know about one of the famous baseball players Sammy Sosa. He was a right fielder and I learned this from watching sports with one of my older cousins. This cultural immersion has educated me on the geography and climate in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic also occupies the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. This country occupies the eastern two-thirds of the Hispaniola Island. Haiti sits off to the west, while the Caribbean Sea is to the south. The islands Atlantic shores are to the north. The island lies between Cuba and Puerto Rico, close to the US and along the major trade routes linking the Americas (Country Conditions, 2011). The Dominican Republic population is approximately

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eight million. The climate in the Dominican is considered tropical. I also didnt know that poverty was a major issue and or concern of this country. Even during the period of robust economic growth in the late 1990s and 20052007, little prosperity trickled down to those on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder (Dominican Republic, 2011). During this immersion I also learned about Dominican music and dance. The most known music associated with the Dominican Republican is meringue. Meringue can be identified by the unique beat which is 2/2 and 2/4 time. When doing the meringue men and woman hold in position where they can step to their side. Another form of meringue is figure meringue. This style of dance is when dancers make turns alone bit never lets go of their partners hand. Continuing this immersion I went to Versace's Dominican Restaurant in Duluth. At Versace's I tried a popular dish called mofongo. This dish consists of plantain, garlic, and chicharrones which are fried pork rinds. Looking at this dish it had the consistency of mashed patatos which was not what I was expecting. It actually tasted like flavorful mashed potatoes with crunchy pieces of pork rind. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting to taste but the taste I got wasn't it I can say that. After completing the cultural immersion with the Dominican Republic I have embraced another culture. I enjoyed this experience due to the friendly individuals I met excited to expose me to their culture. I am not a fan of mofongo but I am not against trying another dish form the Dominican Republic. I also would not mind taking a vacation to this country to explore it further. Trinidad Cultural Immersion Before I explored the cultural immersion of Trinidad and Tobago I was familiar about a few things for example the neighboring countries are Barbados, Venezuela, and Guyana. The capital of Trinidad is the Port of Spain. As it relates to Trinidad I will say I am a little culturally competent. I picked this immersion to expand my knowledge. I had no preconceived thoughts or feelings about this culture. For this immersion I interviewed a coworker Taleeya Jackson from Trinidad. Ms. Jackson first talked about how individuals always group Trinidad and Tobago together when in reality they are separate from each other. She also expressed that she does not remember any forms of oppression seeing that she migrated from Trinidad to New York City at such a young age. I asked Ms. Jackson about major customs and or traditions that her family still carries on even though they now live in the United States. She talked about Carnival, and J'Ouvert. Carnival occurs every in either February or March. Carnival is an annual celebration of life. This is where men and women dress up in nice costumes, masks, and or body paint. After dressing up they parade around the villages. Parading the villages is suppose to bring good fortune, remove problems, and acknowledges relatives that have passed. The Carnival these proponents create meets their current needs for self-expression (Green, 2007). J'Ouvert is a ritual that happens at 4 am the Monday that Carnival starts. This celebration explores more of the darker things throughout the island and history. Individuals dress up like monsters and demons as a form of expression. Ms. Jackson and I also enjoyed lunch at Tassa Rotti Shop in Marietta. This was a Caribbean buffet style restaurant. Where I order spinach, okra, and cocoanut which is mixed together and the Trinidadians call it callaloo. I also enjoyed oxtails rice and peas and rotti. Rotti looks like a rolled up tortilla shell or hot pocket. Rotti is a form of wrapped bread. This was an

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amazing experience because not only did I learn but I put some great food in my stomach. After completing this immersion I didn't only learn the basics of the culture but I learned about the customs and celebrations that individuals from Trinidad participate in. It was interesting to know that this culture celebrates life with the whole country as one. This reminds me of my American tradition of celebrating my birthday. This is a country that I would love to explore further along with the delicious food that I am still licking my fingers over. Puerto Rico Cultural Immersion Before completing this cultural immersion I knew that San Juan was the capital of Puerto Rico. No one needs a passport to travel to Puerto Rico because it is still considered a part of the United States. Other than what I stated above I was not that culturally competent on Puerto Rico. A stereotype that I had about this culture was that all individuals in this culture had to speak Spanish. In this cultural immersion I interviewed another colleague from my job whose native culture is Puerto Rico. This individuals name is Noah Rodriquez. In interviewing Mr. Rodriquez he expressed that he has no ties to his native heritage. His family is originally from San Juan Puerto Rico. When Mr. Rodriquez's grandmother, aunt and mother migrated to Brooklyn New York they lost speaking Spanish in the process. Spanish held a similar place in the United States due to the countries close proximity to Latin America and monolingual Spanish speaking (Lozano, 2013) So Mr. Rodriquez and his siblings are Americanized. He expressed that the only thing he is often is exposed is Spanish music he can't understand and few traditional food dishes. The only time he really acknowledges his culture is at the Puerto Rican day parade celebration. After work one afternoon Mr. Rodriquez invited me to his home to participate in making cultural dish with him and his younger sister. The dish we created was called pastilittos and the common name for it is empanada. An empanada is bread that is stuffed with ground beef, cheese, onion, and peppers if you like. Two important seasonings we used in creating this dish was Goya Adobo, and Goya Sazon. The empanada shells can be purchased at any grocery store that sells traditional Latino foods. The empanada shells can also be made from scratch but do to time constraints we brought a ten pack of the orange color empanada discs. We then thoroughly cooked the ground beef with onions draining the grease. After that we placed the shells on plate, we put a few spoonfuls of meat on the shell, added cheese, and then folded the shell closed and dropped in vegetable oil to fry. The finish product was a crispy golden orange empanada filled with a flavorful goodness. This dish reminds me of a Jamaican beef patty. One important lesson that I learned after doing this cultural immersion is never make assumptions about an individual and or culture. I used to have a stereotype which was all people whose native language is Spanish spoke Spanish. After interviewing Mr. Rodriquez I realized that is not the case at all. After forming this stereotype I am interested in educating others on the importance of not having preconceived thoughts or opinions of people. Conclusion After doing the cultural immersion with Haiti, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Puerto Rico I have learned a lot about each culture. I feel that these experiences have expanded my cultural competency to a whole new level. It has also opened me up to try new foods. There were three foods I enjoyed and one dish not so much. This experience also gave me a minute to not just focus on me but focus on others and learn more about them.

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