Dominican Culture Vs American Culture Essay

In the world we live in, many people are blind to the cultures around them. Why learn about things that don’t have anything to do with us? What we fail to realize is that all of our cultures have many similarities as well as differences. This paper will be showing you the similarities and differences of culture between North America and the Spanish-speaking country “Spain”. Describing the comparisons in music, religious beliefs, and sports.

Haitian Vs Americans Culture According to Samuel Lagerlof “Culture is what remains when that which has been learned is entirely forgotten” (as cited in Usunied,1996, p.94). Every single country in the world possesses his own culture no culture is more important than another. They’re just different. However, Haiti’s culture differs from the United States in three major points; Values, religion, and norms.

Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies bears testament to the monopolizing effects of dictatorships on society through the story of the four Mirabal sisters, Las Mariposas. Each sister shows a different side of Dominican culture, and in turn, the government’s parasitic effect on it. Even the church is not spared from these horrors: whether the church was aided or suppressed was irrelevant to Trujillo; the government must impact every facet of Dominican life. Despite condemning Trujillo, and by extension authoritarian governments, to the farthest extent, Alvarez is careful to avoid deifying the Mirabal sisters, a practice which she sees as one the of main forces that keep dictators in power.

Non-material culture is the notions or ideas that shape our communities, family units, and society. It is the sense of duty that provides comfort to the young, elderly and infirm. Nonmaterial culture is the idiosyncrasies that define our neighborhoods and are unique to those groups of people. It is that silly song that we sing at every Christmas gathering and reminds us of holidays past. One of the values that I admire of Puerto Rican culture is the importance of family.

Catholicism is extremely dominant among Venezuelans; around ninety-six percent of citizens are Catholic. It arrived with Spanish colonization and conquest, and has since grown to the enormous following of today. Freedom of religion is guaranteed in Venezuela’s constitution, but many native practices have been lost to conversion, and the few remaining survive in remote rural areas. Other minor, yet growing, religions include Protestantism, Islam and Judaism which can be found Caracas and other large cities. While Christianity has a large presence in the United States, there are dozens of varying denominations including, but not limited to Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Evangelical and Mormon.

Las Vegas is where I was born and raised. That doesn’t mean that I just gave up on my Mexican culture. Like many others, I have a culture that is both American and Mexican. My culture has shaped my values, perceptions, and behaviors. The culture of my family, community, and society has made who I am as a person in numerous ways.

Although there are similarities between Mexican and American cultures based on Hofstede’s culture theory, culture differences are still exist between the two countries in terms of power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, and time management. Local employees tend to expect to be told what to do by supervisors and they try to manage a close long-term commitment to the organization (Hofstede Center, 2016). Often times, people promise that the tasks or assignments will be competed by a certain time, but their paces are usually slow. This is part of Mexican culture so the expats need to be better prepared and know what to expect (ExpatFocus, 2015). As the information we have collected, most Mexicans do speak some English, but Spanish is

The Studies in the Arts: Dominican Culture course examined multiple topic that relates to the culture of Dominican Republic, the political system during the past and the present, and all forms of music and sports that are popular in the country. The introduction to Antihaitianism in the Dominican Republic was first introduce at the beginning of the course. Antihaitianism is defined as the, “prejudice against, hatred of, or discrimination against Haitians and their language, culture, and race”. The two race have been in conflict due to sharing of the same island. For a long period of time, the Dominican army would kill the Haitians with weapons.

When I lived in Dominican Republic my childhood was the best. I was surrounded of my friends and cousins. I loved to play with them. When a woman got pregnant I always went to her house to help her. When the baby was born I passed the all day in that house with the baby.

According to Merrian Webster Dictionary, culture is a way of life and how we look at things (1828). It is easy to say that in this world divided by so many countries, it would be obvious that our cultures are different. From an American point of view, one of our neighboring countries that culture may seem so taboo to us is Haiti. Different is different but not like Haiti. From what they eat and how they work, makes up the cultural difference that we as Americans may seem as different.

My parents and I moved to the Dominican Republic when I was thirteen years old. Living there as a young American came with many challenges. One of the biggest threats against foreigners is violence. Within my first years of living in Dominican Republic, I had experienced two incidents at it firsthand. The first incident happen a week before school began, I was mugged by two assailants; man on a motorcycle and another man on foot.