The experience to be around different cultures influenced me in many ways. For five years of my developing life (12-16) I lived on the Northwest Side of Chicago, which is called Humboldt Park. Humboldt Park is a multicultural neighborhood, mostly dominated by Latinos. Where I resided was 3240 West Evergreen Avenue in the heart and soul of Humboldt Park. My first week there in Humboldt was a worst, I hated it. This was my first time ever living in a place where I saw more than Black and White people were. Now I was seeing African Americans and Latinos.
I couldn’t stand anything about this neighborhood from the people, the city, and just my family for moving up here. A month later I started school at James Russell Lowell Elementary School which is one thing I did not want to do. I thought either I was going to get beaten up, or get lost in this huge school. I was scared believe you me I was scared, but I kept my fear inside of me and made it into a smile. By the end of the day I had made one friend. Desiree Dread, one of my best friends whom is African American.
As I continued to attend Lowell by the end of my grammar school years, I had eight new friends. Four of my friends were African American and the other four were Latino. My main reason for this short story of my life is to tell you the way that the Latino and also my own culture have affected me. By living in Humboldt Park for five years of my life, I have learned that every culture has their own unique foods, religion, language, traditions, and background. Before I moved to Chicago from Ludowici I thought that there were only two races, black and white. After two months of living in Chicago I found that there were more than three nationalities but thousands. My four Latino friends taught me everything there was to know about the Puerto Rican culture and Mexican culture.
The Essay on American and Latino cultures
What did I think the differences between American and Latino cultures are? For me personally, I don’t have any kind of experience with Latino people and Latino culture, but I had several thoughts about the Latino culture that I got from the media. About relationships in Latino culture, I always thought that relationships outside marriage are not acceptable especially for women, and of course ...
I learned how to dance, cook, what are some of their traditions, how important their daughters sweet sixteen is to them, and of course how to speak Spanish. One thing that I really do enjoy about the Latino culture is the music. After six years of coming in contact with this culture, I can write and speak in Spanish, sing in Spanish, dance in Spanish, I have the courage to teach young kids how to speak Spanish, and look at other cultures in a totally different way. I not only take pride in my own culture as an African American but also in other cultures besides the Hispanic culture. I also study the Croats culture and the Italian culture. Studying foreign languages is a subject that I truly enjoy learning.
I have also considered studying abroad to better myself in the Latin language, but the cost was over my limit. I will consider foreign languages as one of my many majors when I do attend college, and I hope that my future career leads me into this field.
