Christmas Eve...A Silent Night...Not here!

Sing with me - “Silent Night. Holy Night. All is calm, all is bright”

We had been told that on Christmas Eve at midnight there will be a ton of fireworks. We had no idea how true this would be. At midnight on Christmas Eve, we had just put our kids to bed and were trying to get them to sleep. Throughout the evening there had been a considerable amount of fireworks and we were already impressed. But we had no idea of what was to come.

At midnight Antigua exploded like we had not seen before. The sound of firecrackers was constant and loud for about 20-30 minutes. It sounded like they we being blown all around our house. In addition, families were launching displays into the sky. There were very impressive displays all over the city. Ben and Rick wished they could have been on the side of a mountain where they could view all of Antigua. We thought…how can we describe this? Possibly this is what is like if you are a kernel of corn waiting to be popped inside a microwave popcorn bag. Or maybe it is more similar to being in cabin with a tin roof in a hail storm with dynamite being blasted in all directions every other second or so. The noise was constant, loud and continued until about 12:30 a.m. at which point it “began” to lessen.

You may wonder…how did the kids go to sleep with all that noise? Well Ben, who didn’t get a nap in the afternoon, basically collapsed and once he is asleep, nothing can wake him up. Elena, on the other hand, slept quite well in the afternoon, and as a result had trouble getting to sleep. Elena has always hated loud noise. As a baby, she would cry at the sound of any loud noise. Even now she runs from vacuums [place your own comment here]. And at this moment, Elena was quite startled…okay…we all were with the exception of Ben who was fast asleep! Becky went in to be with Elena and Rick got to observe the celebration from our second story bedroom window.

By 2 a.m. the noise had lessened to a typical Guatemalan night (which does usually include some fireworks). We expect most Guatemalans were now inside their homes eating a meal or opening presents (this is typical). We slept well and woke up to a sleepy Antigua…actually quiet. We thought all was done…but then at 12 noon on Christmas Day, the fireworks began again. It wasn’t as strong the night before, but it made quite a contrast to sleepy quiet Antigua, just a few minutes earlier.

For the pyro’s who read this: Fireworks are quite cheap here. We are told that there are laws about fireworks. We bought a pretty nice amount of sparklers, firecrackers, volcanoes, and what we call snappers (throw them on the ground and they pop). In total, we spent about $5 on quite a bit. New Years is coming, maybe we will spend $10!

We considered this a cultural exercise. You know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. No animals were hurt that we are aware of and Ben still has 4 fingers……………and a thumb on each hand.

How American Are You?

One of our tasks during language school is to begin to understand the culture. Language is only one part of communication. In the blog we have shared some of our cultural learning. When we went through missionary training at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT, www.cit-online.org) we learned about the framework of cultures and how to enter a culture as a learner.

Adapting to a new culture is not easy. The word picture that sticks out in our mind is one of square pegs in round holes. At home our square shape fits pretty well into the square holes of American culture. But other cultures can be pictured as round. To fit into the round hole of a new culture, we need to loose our corners. Ouch! Ouch for us as we lose deeply engrained habits and values. Ouch to the people in the host culture as our pointy corners bump into them! Looking at our own culture objectively can help. We thought you might like to take a look at American culture with us. We have been reading a book called, "American Cultural Baggage" by Stan Nussbaum. Here are the author's Ten Commandments of American Culture:

1. You can't argue with success. (Be a success.)
2. Live and let live. (Be tolerant.)
3. Time flies when you are having fun. (Have lots of fun.)
4. Shop till you drop. (Be a smart shopper and a good consumer.)
5. Just do it. (We are people of action.)
6. You are only young once. (Do whatever you can while you have the chance.) Seize the day.
7. Enough is enough. (Stand up for your rights.)
8. Rules are made to be broken. (Think for yourself.)
9. Time is money. (Don't waste time.)
10. God helps those who help themselves. (Work hard.)

You may want to argue with some of these, but they do seem to fit our overall American culture. The author goes through them and other values using proverbs and sayings, explaining how these values play out so that a foreigner can understand them. He then discusses how these cultural beliefs can get Americans in trouble in other cultures.

Here are some examples of how proverbs may need to be rewritten in other cultures:

If you want something done right, do it yourself. "If you want something done right, get some friends to help you." (p. 74)

"If the shoe fits, wear it. If the shoe would fit (if an accusation is true), don't put your foot into it and let people see that it fits." (page 113)

"an Indian friend once remarked to me (Stan Nussbaum), 'For you Americans, a problem is something to solve. In India, a problem is something to live around.' " (p. 135)

Reading this book and living as a foreigner has challenged some of our thinking. Not just what we do or the reason we do it, but even deeper - the values that are so engrained we are often not aware of them until we experience conflict or stress because of them. While many of our values are based on God's word, there are others that are based on culture and in these values, we can be more flexible.

Want an interesting read? Pick it up. The book is not pro or anti- American culture. Possibly find an friend who has recently moved to the United States and ask him/her to read it as well. I think you would have some very interesting conversations!