real-life intercultural studies

The master's degree I am working on right now through Fuller Seminary is called "Intercultural Studies". I have loved all my classes so far, and the best part is that I feel like my whole life turns into one big intercultural studies project as Elvis and I mesh our different cultures and traditions and language and food. The spanglish thrown around our home and our Salvadoran/American style of life is a unique combination that I wouldn't change for the world! For example, Suzy wanted a bowl of grits last night for dinner (grits, cous-cous, corn on the cob, and cauliflower are her absolute faves at the moment) and then she ate a whole bowl full of guacamole. Grits and guacamole? Sure, why not? I love that she is a perfect mix of Salvadoran and southern. She says "ant" with the strongest southern accent "ain't", and then says "vaya pues" like any good Salvadoran would. I love it.

We are so used to our bi-cultural home and lifestyle, but we really had an intercultural experience last week, throwing in Taiwanese culture to the mix! There is a surprisingly large Taiwanese population here in El Salvador, and one really sweet family that lives just down the road. We walk over to their house several times a week to buy Taiwanese cookies and wantans, which Suzy loves. Their daughter, Wanchen, has become a good friend of mine and she comes over to the house regularly to practice her english. Last week, they invited our family over for lunch, and it was such a fun experience! For the first time in a long time, Elvis and I were in a new cultural setting in which neither one of us knew what the customs were or what were the polite things to do or not to do. If we are in the US, I can help Elvis with those cultural details, and in El Salvador, he helps me. But now both of us were in a new learning position! I really appreciated that Wanchen would explain to us their traditional way of doing things (putting on slippers before entering the house, praying for the meal, etc) and would tell us we could do it too if we would like to. They served us a yummy chow-mein dish and tempura plantains....it is fun to see how their traditional foods have been influenced by Salvadoran culture too- plantains were new to them in El Salvador. The most interesting thing was that we communicated in Spanish because it was the only language the majority could speak. Wanchen's mom does not speak Spanish, so they translated everything for her. Suzy loved playing with her mom even though they could not communicate, and she picked up a few chinese words. We have loved sharing with their family, exchanging little gifts every time we see each other (including some fish...Suzy's first pets!), and learning from their hospitality and inspiring perspective on life. Here is a picture of Wanchen and Suzy and I last night:



We're counting down the days until mom and dad get here....just one week away!!!!!!!!!!!