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Diving into New Cultures

I am nearing the end of my trip and am beginning to feel sentimental about leaving this wonderful little college town. Salamanca has been a blast thus far and I have met so many amazing people. Along the way there have been many critical incidents and learning curves that I had to adapt to as a foreigner. One recent incident that comes to mind was when I was with some friends at a restaurant getting dinner. It was around 6:00 and we wanted to order food. However, I knew that in Spanish culture they usually don’t eat until 8-9 at night, and some places often don’t serve food at 6. When my friends and I went to order, we got extremely strange looks and the waiter began to almost yell at us in Spanish. Eventually we figured out that we couldn’t get full meals until later, and could only order tapas to begin with. Leaving dinner, I felt both embarrassed and upset that we got yelled at by the waiter.

Upon analyzing this situation after, my friends and I came to the conclusion that the waiter was not yelling at us at all. In reality he was simply telling us when we could order food and how the process works. Spanish people tend to have bolder voices, and we affiliated his tone with anger, rather than teaching. This moment helped me realize that these awkward situations are never as bad as they seem, and that adapting to a culture is hard and will take time.

In general I have loved the Spanish way of life. They often sleep in, work in the afternoon, take a siesta, then get a late dinner and stay up with friends. The siesta portion of the day was definitely the strangest to get used to. I did not realize how serious of a time it was for locals. In Salamanca, the majority of stores will close down from 2-4 in order for the shopkeepers to have a siesta and lunch. This took some getting used to, as I had to make sure I never needed to go into any shops at this time. Eventually, I learned to adapt to this timeline and actually enjoy it. I am a night-owl who loves to take naps during the day, so my previous habits align well with the culture here. It is going to be a hard adjustment coming back, as I will not have time in my usual day for a 2 hour break. Overall, I am enjoying life here and have loved every experience so far.

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Final Reflection (Module #8)

I am so pleased with my Summer Abroad. I believe I met the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the summer, and, while it’s hard to put my finger on it, I think I’ve changed.

My first goal was to improve in my Russian-language skills. I noticed the most improvement in my “passive skills,” like listening and reading. However, I am certain I improved in my active skills, like speaking. Near the end of the trip, I felt like I could understand almost everything people would say to me in Russian. Although, I still sometimes have trouble articulating my thoughts in Russian in real-time. At this time, I can get my main points across. That’s fine by me; language acquisition is a marathon, not a sprint, and I am in it for the long-haul.

My second goal was to gain a greater understanding of Armenian history and culture. I was able to use a little of the Armenian language I learned while I was broad. I could tell it was appreciated, and I think they found my poor pronunciation endearing. I read a lot about the history of the country and talked with my professors and housing staff about the last thirty years in Armenia. I went on many excursions to museums and cultural sites with my program, and I even did some independent traveling to other cities and historic sites outside of Yerevan. The layers of history in Armenia are incredible.

My final goal was to get used to direct speech. I enjoyed it and found it somewhat empowering to speak frankly with people. Admittedly, I never got comfortable with bartering. But seeing the same vendors and smiling at the old women who cut me a deal on peppers my first week made me happy and feel more at home.

Spending time abroad in Armenia further reinforced my desire to study the Russian language and post-soviet world in graduate school. I’m looking forward to hunkering down and focusing even harder on my Russian language and history courses this fall. I feel even more serious and focused on my goals after my time abroad. Something about seeing how other people live makes you reflect on how you choose to live, and what’s important to you. My family has acknowledged a change in me, and I feel different too.

As icing on the cake, I was able to see four Notre Dame students and my former Fullbright TA in Armenia, Georgia, and Poland this summer. I feel exceptionally lucky to attend such a solid university and to befriend such quality people. I’m grateful to ND for bringing us together, and grateful to SLA for making it possible for us to learn and grow together abroad.  

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Individualism and Indulgence in Armenia (Module #7)

Armenia had much lower indulgence and individualism scores than the United States. Armenia’s individualism score was 22, and its indulgence score was 25. America’s scores were 91 and 68 for individualism and indulgence respectively.

While I didn’t have Hofstede’s framework for processing it, I first noticed Amenia’s more collective society through conversations with professors and noticing families on the street. Everyone seemed to highly value their families and would often talk about them in conversation. Conversations were less focused on one’s goals and successes, but on their community, friends, and family. They would go to lengths to make their friends and guests feel comfortable, even if it meant inconveniencing themselves. Families appeared to be multigenerational, a bit larger than most American families, and younger. The expectation is to marry younger than in America, and to start a family early.

Depending on one’s age or gender, there seemed to be clear expectations of what do to. Along these lines, I noticed work, and even school settings were gendered. We studied at a pedagogical institute, and the vast majority of students were women. Males and females fulfilled what we might consider stereotypical roles. Men are required to serve in the military after high school. In short, few individuals seemed to outwardly “break the mold.” Given the last 30 years in Armenia, many people have made or been expected to make tremendous sacrifices for their families and country.

Regarding indulgence, according to the Hofstede insights page, indulgence has to do with socialization. Armenia is identified as having a culture of restraint. As I mentioned above, few people outwardly “broke the mold.” That is perhaps because indulging in such behavior might be considered wrong. I noticed that the Armenians seemed more socially restrained than the Russians I met in Armenia. The Russian men and women seemed to go to bars more often, drink alcohol, and smoke more than the Armenians. Although Armenian males commonly smoked.  I noticed that fewer Armenian women would go to bars, drink, or smoke. I’ve even heard girls say that “Armenian women don’t smoke” as a point of pride. Interactions between men and women seemed more limited or regulated than in America. This sometimes led to miscommunications or barriers in meeting with our peer tutors for practice. In fact, it was sometimes difficult to meet with our peer tutors in cafes for practice… they disliked going to them!

In my estimate, Armenia’s lower individualism and indulgence scores make it a markedly more conservative society than the United States. The scores seem to reflect significant differences.

I think Hofstede’s model will be useful for future travel. I can try to use my experiences in countries with different scores to set expectations for interactions or modify my behavior. It may be useful to prepare for different situations (for instance being conscious of using formal/informal language with different people). I am looking forward to seeing the data on other countries I have been to!

Country comparison tool (hofstede-insights.com)

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Power Distance and Individualism in Guatemala

Using the Hofstede D6 model, I have been able to reflect on some of the most significant differences in various cultural dimensions in Guatemala. For this blog post, I have chosen to reflect on individualism and uncertainty avoidance between Guatemala and the U.S.

One of the first things I noticed in Guatemala was the country’s collectivist culture and strong family and community ties and values. Most people never move out of their parents home, even when they are married and have children, and if they do, they stay very close by. Both of my Spanish teachers who are women in their 30s and 40s live with their entire families. As such, families tend to live together in large compounds to accommodate everyone and there is very little personal choice in one’s actions as each decision affects the entire family. Large families that are close are regarded highly and are seen as desirable. On the bus, in the market, and in the streets I see countless mothers with their children taking them to work and on various errands and childcare is uncommon. Families work together to support one another and income is shared and everyone is responsible for everyone else. The other day I even witnessed a minor car accident in front of my bus stop that was surrounded by ten or so people and more cars kept coming to drop off additional people to the scene. It seemed as though the entire extended families, neighbors, and friends of the two cars in the accident had shown up to help.

For me, this type of ultra-collectivism seems a bit restrictive and certainly strange as it is not something I am used to. Coming from a small multicultural family that has been in the U.S. for several generations and being an only child, I have always been very individualistic in my beliefs and attitudes. I don’t call or visit home often, I seldomly talk to my parents, and I feel completely normal making big life decisions independently from my family or anyone else. While for example being a single 30 something year old that still lives at home in the U.S. would be looked down upon, in Guatemala it is common and celebrated as someone who has the right values and who cares for, supports, and is responsible for their family. I certainly don’t look down upon my teachers or other adults I know in Guatemala who still live at home because it is a completely different context than the norms and expectations in the U.S. Knowing that there exists a significant difference between Guatemala and the U.S. in this dimension of culture helps to provide more understanding of why family/community ties are so important and hold so much weight in Guatemala compared to the U.S.

When it comes to uncertainty avoidance, Guatemala has a score of 98 which means it is incredibly high in regards to trying to avoid uncertainty and ambiguity. This is clearly reflected in the country’s high affiliation with religion. 45% of the country is Catholic and another 42% is Protestant. The vast majority of the people I have met in Guatemala are religious. Religious rules and customs help Guatemalan explain the world around them, particularly when disaster strikes, and it often does, in a country filled with active volcanoes, frequent earthquakes, and now increased drought and heat waves due to Climate Change. In addition to Christian religious adherence, over 50% of Guatemalans have indigenous Mayan descent and Mayan traditions, rituals, and practices also help to make sense and give a reason to a wild and unpredictable world. At times, the Christian and the Mayan mix as in the example of Machimon, a Mayan “saint” who represents light and dark is often worshiped and given offerings to by Mayans and Christians alike. Venerated most during Holy Week, Guatemalans go to Machimon for miracles and good fortune. Machimon is just one of many traditions, rituals, and beliefs that orients Guatemalans and helps them make sense of the world. In general, traditional values and practices are held in high regard and are held to tightly. 

In the U.S. religion is still practiced by many but the country becomes more and more secular and atheist each year. In addition, because there is a vast mixture of cultures in the states and because many Americans are many generations removed from their initial family members who first immigrated to the country. As a result, traditions, rituals, beliefs, and faith exist but tend to have less of a stronghold on American culture as a whole. While Americans may tend to perceive Guatemalans as superstitious or overly reliant on religion/traditional practices, Guatemalans may perceive Americans as lacking faith and being devoid of belief of anything greater than themselves. 

The Hofstede D6 model is a useful tool to make sense of cultural differences that I have perceived but have been unable to label, quantify, or describe clearly. This exercise has been eye-opening in demonstrating that the differences I am perceiving are indeed real and are rooted in various dimensions of culture.