Intercultural Paper
Comm 265
From Albuquerque to Las Cruces In the past year, the cultural experience that has had the most effect on my life is moving from Albuquerque to Las Cruces. Most people would not consider this a major cultural change. I didn’t think so at first either. However, when I moved to Las Cruces I noticed that Las Cruces was a small city, built around a family community. The small size of the city was hard to get used to and I noticed that most of the business are family owned and run which makes for an early night in this city, since everything closes no later then nine o’clock. Not only was the city itself different but the people who are natives to this city differed more from me then I expected. Before I left Albuquerque I was working at a restaurant called Gardunos. When I moved to Las Cruces I got another restaurant job at Chilito’s. The clientele that has come in to Chilito’s differs from that of Gardunos a lot. I noticed that there were more Mexicans that came into Chilito’s. There are more Mexicans that have businesses of their own in Las Cruces as well. I am from a Hispanic background, and truth be told, I did not really differentiate between Mexicans and Hispanics. However, now that I have been living in Las Cruces it has been a huge culture shock. Besides the food being different, I realized that Albuquerque is more culturally diverse then Las Cruces. Las Cruces has one main culture: Mexican culture. This can be seen in the food, the architecture and in social situations. I realized when I came down here that I really never knew what the true Mexican culture was like. The definition of culture is a complex system of symbolic resources, worldviews, values, and norms of appropriate enactment. One of the most important aspects of this definition is symbolic resources. This helps distinguish one culture from another based on universal agreement. One of the main symbols that has come to be associated with the Mexican Culture is the Catholic Faith.
From Albuquerque to Las Cruces In the past year, the cultural experience that has had the most effect on my life is moving from Albuquerque to Las Cruces. Most people would not consider this a major cultural change. I didn’t think so at first either. However, when I moved to Las Cruces I noticed that Las Cruces was a small city, built around a family community. The small size of the city was hard to get used to and I noticed that most of the business are family owned and run which makes for an early night in this city, since everything closes no later then nine o’clock. Not only was the city itself different but the people who are natives to this city differed more from me then I expected. Before I left Albuquerque I was working at a restaurant called Gardunos. When I moved to Las Cruces I got another restaurant job at Chilito’s. The clientele that has come in to Chilito’s differs from that of Gardunos a lot. I noticed that there were more Mexicans that came into Chilito’s. There are more Mexicans that have businesses of their own in Las Cruces as well. I am from a Hispanic background, and truth be told, I did not really differentiate between Mexicans and Hispanics. However, now that I have been living in Las Cruces it has been a huge culture shock. Besides the food being different, I realized that Albuquerque is more culturally diverse then Las Cruces. Las Cruces has one main culture: Mexican culture. This can be seen in the food, the architecture and in social situations. I realized when I came down here that I really never knew what the true Mexican culture was like. The definition of culture is a complex system of symbolic resources, worldviews, values, and norms of appropriate enactment. One of the most important aspects of this definition is symbolic resources. This helps distinguish one culture from another based on universal agreement. One of the main symbols that has come to be associated with the Mexican Culture is the Catholic Faith.