New Reads New Lessons SOLC2013#11

I started a new book recently, called "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman.  It's a book about a Hmong girl, whose family lives in America, who has epilepsy according to American doctors, but according to the Hmong's she was scared as a baby and her soul left her body, which now causes the episodes she has.  The book examines the clash between the two cultures, mainly between the doctors and her family.  The doctors are Western.  They have been to years of medical school and have endless resources to help them with whatever the encounter.  The Hmong's on the other hand come from Eastern Asia, and their medical knowledge is based on generations upon generations of home and spiritual remedies. Clearly, the two cultures are very different, and there being clashing cultures and a language barrier, there are many problems going on in the hospital.

I'm just about a third way into the book now, but I'm really interested in it.  Having lived in two different cultures now, it's pretty challenging to read this book.  I obviously haven't experienced Hmong culture, but the American inside of me trusts the doctors, while the exchange student inside of me understands the feeling of being different and not understanding everything around her; not wanting to consent to everything asked without fully understanding why something has to be a certain way.

I really enjoy learning about new cultures and my exchange has really opened my eyes to all the different types of people around me. I've learned that if you really look and try to compare a group of people, and you look past their physical appearance, and their nationality, religion and language, we're all pretty much the same.  In this book, the Hmong's and the doctors have the same exact goal- they just want this little girl to be healthy as quickly and as comfortably as possible.  Their colliding cultures prevent them from reaching this goal.

One of my main goals for my exchange is to learn a new culture, while also deepening my understanding of my own culture.  After I went to Spain, I came home with a deeper appreciation for my home, and a deeper feeling of patriotism towards my country.  Now that I've been in Turkey for so long, and have done my best to assimilate into the culture here, I'm curious of what I'll think about American culture when I return to the States.  I know that I will always have a home in Ohio, but I hope that at least one slice of my life will always remain here in Turkey.