Arriving at a foreign country at the age of eleven years old was and exiting and yet intimidating experience. High buildings, wide roads, newer and nicer cars on the streets were some of the first things I noticed when I arrived to the city of Los Angeles CA. Living in a country where you were not born in could be difficult some times. Although Spanish is spoken at a grand scale in CA, it was difficult to communicate with and understand the teachers from my classes at the elementary level since all they spoke was English.
Los Angeles is a city of great diversity, therefore it is believed to be the perfect place for any person arriving from another country to not feel like a foreign, such believe could not be any further from the truth for a shy, quiet boy coming from a small city from Mexico. My cultural identity and how it differs to Muslims The cultural identity of a human being is of most importance to understand how a person perceives the world and how it interacts with the rest of the population. The identity of an individual is based on how it was raised and what type of environment and circumstances existed while growing up.
The cultural background is a central point in how a person is built, passed down by the parents of such individual. Principles, morals, and ideals are greatly influence by the culture we inherited from our ancestors. My cultural identity is of Mexican heritage, I am not only Mexican, but also born in Mexico. I am proud to be Mexican, proud to speak two languages and proud of my principles, passed on by my mother and Mexican ancestors. There are several things that describe the cultural identity of a Mexican.
The Essay on Discovering Our Identity Is Both Challenging And Ongoing
Finding ourselves can be a described as a difficult and never ending process. People can unearth new aspects of their identities every day, from new experiences and partaking in different activities with different people. An individual can spend their whole lives searching for answers about themselves and about their life. However, for some people, their identity comes more naturally. Discovering ...
The religion of Roman Catholicism, brought by the Spaniards to the indigenous people of Mexico before it was known as a nation. Mexican art and Mexican murals, commonly noticed when tourists visit cities located mostly in the southern part of Mexico. Architecture, greatly treasured by most Mexicans is full of variety, pyramids, cathedrals and governments buildings are commonly seen in some parts of Mexico. Many pyramids located in the southern part of the country were amazingly built by the indigenous many centuries ago. These structures are admired by millions of people who visit them every year.
Mexican cuisine, a very important part of the Mexicans culture. The traditional tamales, posole, and menudo cannot be missing during certain festivities. As important as cuisine, art, and the Spanish language are music and dance. Mariachi music, greatly influential in many different types of music in Mexico, is also known by most Latin America countries. Folk dance is also very popular throughout the county of Mexico. Exposing myself so closely to a different culture, as visiting a Muslim mosque is, was intriguing and exiting.
I believe there are more similarities than differences between my Mexican culture and that of Muslims. It is important to notice that Mexican can be referred as a race or culture whereas Muslim refers more to a religion, therefore I will focus on the religious aspect of the differences between my culture and Muslims. The Roman Catholic Church believes in the saints and centrally in Virgin Mary. It recognizes Jesus Christ as the son of God, yet, mainly directs their beliefs and prayers to Virgin Mary.
Islam on the other hand does not idolize saints, they mainly go to Allah when they pray and do not use structures or figurines representing the prophets they believe in as Catholics do. One of the main differences between the Islamic and the Catholic Church is how they perceive Jesus Christ. To the Islamic community, Jesus Christ is just another prophet, no different that Peter, Paul, or Moses. Jesus Christ is not seen as divine but just a messenger of God, they believe and accept He existed but He is lesser than Prophet Mohammed, who they see as Catholics see Jesus.
The Essay on Muslim Mosque vs Christian Basilica
There are many differences between the muslim and christian Basilica as well as many similarities. They also have so many things that make them unique in their own way. Taking a further look at each belief helps us have a clearer understanding of the Mosque and the Basilica. The word Islam is Arabic and means "submission to the will of God. " Islam teaches that one must submit to God in Arabic in ...
Description of culture visited Islam by definition means to surrender fully to the one and only God Allah. Muslims use the Qur,an as their guide in learning about Allah and the Prophet Mohammed. A Muslim could be anybody who believes in Allah and the Prophet Mohammed as his messenger. Men and women do not pray together, men gather in one place, usually at the front of the praying site and women pray at a different place behind them. They do it this way out of respect for women as Muslims believe women could be a distraction since men and women kneel several times during prayer.
It is a custom for Muslims to pray five times throughout the day, they believe this will help them stay away from doing unholy acts as they have to pray at a certain time regardless of where they are. If prayer is done five times during the day they will have thoughts of Allah which will help them stay away from committing sins. My expectations before visiting mosque During the last eleven years I have worked at the department of motor vehicles. I have met many people from different backgrounds and cultures.
While I worked at the Tempe office, I came across many people from the Middle East, mainly Arabs and people from Pakistan and India. It was through my dealings with Middle East people that I notice how friendly and accessible they are. It was then that an interest in finding more about this culture started. When I decided to visit a mosque as part this project I was not sure what to expect. My experience is divided in two, as I ended up visiting two different mosques. On Saturday January 24 around 12:45 pm I arrived at a mosque located in Chandler.
Before arriving at this site I expected to meet a lot of people, to learn about Islam through preaching, similar to a more traditional Christian church. I also thought that perhaps the members of this mosque would look at me in a strange way, since it would be noticeable that I did not belong to their church and was a non- Muslim. As I approached the front entrance of the mosque I notice shoes right before the front door. I proceeded to take off my shoes and went inside the mosque. When I entered the location of prayer I noticed if many, about ten people, some standing and others on their knees.
The Essay on American Beauty Women Men Sex
You American Beauty American Beauty You can never be too thin or too rich, said the Duchess of Windsor. She might have added "or too pretty.' What psychologists call the "attractiveness stereotype' is so strong that beauty is literally equated with goodness. Good-looking people are not only preferred for dates, friendships and jobs, they " re believed to have more intelligence and integrity. It ...
The silence was incredible, not a sound in the whole room where I was. My expectations were to be notice by someone even if to be looked at in a strange way. A few people came in, pray for a few minutes and then left. What could I possibly write about for my experience I thought; this does not give me enough material to complete my assignment I told myself. It was then that I followed someone outside the building and asked if there was another mosque where they would have an actual service since I wanted to interact with others and learned.
The person I spoke to introduced me to a couple of individuals who gladly conversed with me for about 40 minutes. We talked about the teachings of the Qur,an among other things. They referred me to another mosque where a yearly conference was taking place in Scottsdale. I left a few minutes later and drove my way up to this conference. When I arrived at this location my expectations were that women would have their heads covered up, would not wear makeup and men to be dressed in more traditional Islamic attire. To my surprise, only about half of the women had
their head covered up and most men were dressed in a more western style. Women were seated on one side of the room and men on the other while they had a section for families in the center. Suddenly, I saw a familiar face among everybody in the room; the man I spoke to at the other mosque approached me, greeted me and introduced me to someone seating near me. It was this person who took the time talk to me about Islamic beliefs to a great length. Contrary to my previous belief about how they treat or see women, I learned that they see women as equal to men and they have upmost respect for them.
Before talking and reading about Islamic principles I believed Islamic men saw women as inferior to men but came to realize I was wrong. It was also my expectation for most Islam followers in the mosque to be Arabs but I notice they were mostly from India or Pakistan. Another important discrepancy between what I expected and what occurred was that I thought they would not embraced me due to my different culture but I was welcomed and praised for seeking a better understanding and showing interest about Islam without anybody trying to convert me.
The Essay on Women In Islam
What do women and Islam have in common? Besides the stereotyped images that each suffers from individually, the status of women in Islam is one of the most extremely misunderstood and incorrectly portrayed things in western society. We can investigate why this is so later. First, a brief introduction to the actual status of women in Islam is in order. Before discussing issues pertinent to the ...
My feelings about my experience and what I learned When I was about to start my experience I felt exited but nervous at the same time. At one point, when I was being taught about Islam, it crossed my mind the possibility that I could believe what Islam stands for but the more it was explained to me, it came clear that my beliefs differ greatly from Islam principles. I remember a moment when I even felt a little nervous being with three strangers in the first mosque.
Everybody had left and I found myself surrounded by three Muslims, certain thoughts came to me about extremist groups and what they do to non believers. Immediately I calmed myself down and reminded me of the reason I was doing this and removed any unfounded thoughts from my mind. Mostly, I felt glad to have gone to a mosque and interact with people of a different culture and beliefs from mine. I intent to continue learning more about this culture and their religion, not out of interest to convert into Islam but to better understand people from this part of the world.
