Week 5; Jonathan Hilton

Week 5: Cultural Practices
Jonathan Hilton

Guatemalan flower petal arrangements
are used alongside U.S. ones.
This is "adaptation."

Igoa states on page 39 of The Inner World of the Immigrant Child that culture shock can be mitigated by holding on to certain cultural traditions and not assimilating too completely and too rapidly. In my work with immigrants from Guatemala in downtown Cincinnati, I see immigrants carrying their cultural practices with them into their daily lives all the time. Take, for instance, the Easter celebration of Guatemalan immigrants at my church. Although their "new" form of worship here in the United States (which is significantly more Protestant than they would have in their majority-Catholic Central American nation) has many liturgical differences, these immigrants have managed to integrate their own tradition of making flower petal arrangements around the altar into their new service. This level of cultural competence--combining elements from both cultures to form a unique cultural product--reflects the "adaptation" and "acceptance" levels of development relative to intercultural interactions (Vaughn 178):

But is this kind of connection to the homeland really enough for Guatemalan immigrant children? Does their ability to adapt to their surroundings increase in the presence of these kinds of cultural connections? My observation has shown that the immigrant children have indeed managed their cultural transition well. They have all come out of their "shells" and have passed through (and have completed) what Igoa refers to as the "Silent Stage" (page 38). Because they see that the members of the dominant culture around them have adapted and accepted their own cultural practices, these children interact freely with members of the dominant culture. Those between the ages of four and ten have no problem working with native English speakers to learn to speak and read English. The fact that members of the dominant culture in this environment make some attempt to speak Spanish to them--even if they only know a little--also seems important to them. Knowing that their home culture is respected helps provide them with what Igoa calls "a warm and nurturing environment" (page 38).

In other news, at WorldFest this week on campus (Thursday, April 28), I had another chance to see some immigrants--actually, Exchange Students in this case--in action working to share and preserve their culture. Using a thick brown paste, they painted Indian designs on the hands of students. I took a picture of my friend Alison getting her hand painted with this amazing floral design. Flower patterns seem to be a popular cultural item to preserve!