Culture Clash

Because culture is something universal (but very unique at the same time) there are infinite possibilities for culture clash to occur. The obvious example of this is studying abroad in a different country, but I've realized that there are other examples as well.

Yesterday evening Laura, Lisa, and I went downtown to get something to eat. When we were walking back toward the house we passed the Plaza de la Paz which is where the Basilica (the largest Catholic church in the city) is located. In front of the church was a group of people, dressed in indigenous costumes, dancing in the street accompanied by lots of drums. There was a crowd surrounding them and so we stopped and watched for a while. Laura asked someone standing next to us what the occasion was and he told us that it was the day of the Virgin of the Basilica. (Don't ask me what virgin; I still can't keep any of the Catholic saints straight.) We watched for a while and, during a pause in between dances, I heard the Basilica bells ringing and someone singing Catholic liturgy in Latin. Laura, Lisa, and I walked up the steps of the Basilica and slipped in the back of the church. It was packed full of people and they were all focused on an altar with a statue of the Virgin. In the church I could hear the drums from the street in the background.

It was such a weird experience because these two groups were celebrating the same thing but in two completely different ways. And, since you could hear the other group from wherever you were standing, it was hard to get the full effect of either one. To me it seemed like a rivalry between the two traditions and I wonder what it would have been like there had been a combination of the two instead of a competition...