Reference no: EM133714839

Assignment:

What will be the best reply to this ''For my cultural experience I attended a dinner with my boyfriend's close family friend Ernie (for privacy purposes I'll exclude a last name) who was in town for the weekend due to business meetings. Ernie told me about how while growing up his father was a head leader of the mason brotherhood and when new leadership of Fidel Castro who had grown up with his father began arising his father arranged for a private jet to pick up his family members along with members of other hierarchies and diplomats, so they were not killed for having different beliefs. They landed in Miami, became legal US citizens. Ernie was able to attend college and now owns a successful respiratory therapy company in south Florida.

For dinner Ernie taught me how to prepare ropa vieja which is a slow cooked beef dish prepared with other vegetables. While preparing the dish Ernie told me about how growing up, he believed that in masonry they respected those who fought for their freedom. His family also practiced catholic beliefs.

It surprised me how the dish prepared for dinner tasted in comparison to a typical American beef dish. There seemed to be much more flavor in my opinion. It also surprised me to hear about how Ernie and his family had to flee to America just for having different beliefs than the uprising leader. I currently work as a respiratory therapist, so I enjoyed discussing Ernie's business with him and his growing while in America.

After my discussions with Ernie, I feel that we did not have many similarities from our childhoods or cultures, but we did have similarities in terms of having a structured family that supported us and encouraged us to be better. Ernie and I also discussed the differences and similarities between a catholic christening and a baptism.

After completing my CQ assessment I tried to engage in my areas of weakness and put myself out of my comfort zone to help cook a Cuban meal and ask questions on Ernie's culture, childhood, and beliefs to get a better understanding of the similarities and differences between our cultures. From this experience I was able to expand my CQ knowledge and feel more comfortable with discussing the culture, asking questions, and discussing other religions. After learning about Ernie's childhood, I am thankful to have been raised with the freedom had in America and to learn about other countries rulings/ governments. It was hard to believe that his and his family's lives were at stakes for having different beliefs then a ruler. I have furthered my CQ knowledge by to learning about his Cuban culture/ catholic beliefs and telling him about mine and sharing our love of God. "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." (Romans 16:7).''