Impressions of a New Culture

I was lucky enough to stay at a distant relative's home for about two weeks before I moved into the Bastille and I learned quite a bit at her place. Although she is Mexican she is now married to a French man who doesn't speak English or Spanish so I got to practice my French with them while at their home and at dinner. I also learned a lot about French homestyle. The Mexican traditional man is considered as the Macho Man, the bread winner if you will, and therefore the woman is responsible of taking care of the children and the household while the man is at work. In my own household in San Diego it is NOT rare for my dad to be cooking but it IS rare for him to be cleaning the kitchen and washing the dishes. I observed the family I stayed with and they shared all household duties. They both worked and both washed dishes, cooked, vacuumed, and went shopping for groceries. What seems so logical to me was also so strange to see in action.

I have moved into my room near the Bastille, which is a quarter of Paris in the 11th arrondissement. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements beginning with the very first one in the heart and center of Paris where the cathedral Notre Dame and the famous museum that houses the infamous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, La Joconde, or more famous among us Americans, the Mona Lisa rests, the Louvre. The arrondissements disperse in numerical order from the center and out in a snail like matter.



So technically speaking I'm relatively close to the center, meaning walking distance to the Notre Dame and many major historical buildings. Place de la Bastille, alone has very significant history in the French civilization. Here is where the Bastille prison stood and where the famous "storming of the Bastille" took place on 14 July 1789. Today this quarter hold lots of that remembrance of the past but has mixed it with the new and modern amenities such as shops like Sephora and American fast foods like McDonalds, Subway, and Starbucks. Not that this quarter doesn't hold the special French charm with its local small cafes and small alleys leading to more shops and street life, this quarter is the place to be for a student like me.

I started school today and I have to say I really didn't want to start yesterday but today I am happy to be back in school. I needed structure in my life once again. After a month of being in Paris I have come to realize quite a bit in the past month and I am happy to have school to clarify the cultural differences I had not noticed before. Deeper issues that circulate the French government on a daily basis are what have got me conflicted. For example the whole Burka business here in France. Before this trip I never realized the significance of this issue in France relative to the world and of the women subjected to wearing burkas. This issue made me realize that Paris isn't really this magical place where everything is peachy and keen. Real problems of security exist all over the world.

In San Diego I had never really noticed burkas out on the streets and I always thought that if the women decided to wear it, it was her choice and that choice should be respected. What I didn't realize was the significance of the burkas as an image and issue of oppression of the woman. The security of France is being compromised because of the burka because of France's president decision to prohibit women to be oppressed by being forced to wear the burka. That decision has provoked threats to the security of France. I would have never known the significance of a burka in San Diego.