Culture is the Cubito Pollo tossed in the stew that fills hallacas. Cubitos enrich flavor and appreciate the sense of identification that is tied with culture. Culture brands our lives with a connection to a certain place, filled with certain type of people, and with certain beliefs that when woven together form our identity. It is an intangible societal resource that gives flavor to a community and extinguishes banality. The shared beliefs, tastes, and ideas tie any type of small, large, or diverse community together. Culture is imbedded in the way we carry out our lives, and people who can revere the spices that give taste to their community are united and resilient to circumstances that challenge the validity of their culture.
I was raised as a Spanish-speaking, gaita-singing, and salsa-dancing Venezuelan patriot. And I pride myself on roots. I speak Spanish in a way that is unique to my homeland, I feast on arepas daily, I can talk circles around politics like a good Venezuelan, and…show more content… We are going on almost ten years of religiously spending at least Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve together, and my indigenous roots have burgeoned through my connection with these people. We dine on hallacas, pan de jamón, and ensalada de frutas in every meal, and it is our culture that brings us together. We are not blood-related, rather culture-related. And each meal is also accompanied with the classic turkey with gravy, mashed sweet potatoes, and apple pie because moving to the states gave me an opportunity to branch out of my Venezuelan borders and splurge on the rich amalgamated American culture. Submersion in the melting pot has not blighted my connection to my Venezuelan roots. And that is what I love the most about growing up in a community that has a rich amalgamated culture, I never stopped living in either. I am simultaneously living in
