"That's a statue of Buddha," I replied. He looked at me like, "Huh?"
I told him that Buddha is kind of like a God in the Buddhist religion, which is common in China. Buddhists worship Buddha.
My nephew looked at me with wide eyes and whispered, "We're not supposed to worship idols."
I said with slight smile, "In our religion, we don't. But other religions in the world do."
Then he asked about Buddha's fat chest and stomach... :)
About a week before this Buddha encounter, I came across an article in Parents magazine about an ethnic pot luck lunch. As I read the story of a lady who decided to have her guests bring their favorite ethnic dish instead of "typical" pot luck dishes, my mouth watered reading the recipes and looking at the photos of the food (I ripped out the recipes and will soon try them).
This led me to reflect on my un-ethnic upbringing. I was born, raised, and lived my whole life in Utah, where the majority of people (including myself) are part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or Mormons)--whether religiously or socially. It's definitely the predominant religion and culture in most parts of Utah.
Sam was also raised in Utah. Both of our families eat the same kinds of food, generally, and experience the same kind of experiences. There is nothing wrong with how we were raised. I don't have any regrets or qualms with being raised in such an atmosphere, in fact I'm grateful to both my family and Sam's. And obviously we like it enough, because we're still here, raising our own family.
Our religion believes and teaches that "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privelege, let them worship how, where or what they may." (Article of Faith, #11)
But I must admit that due to where I grew up, I know very little of other religions. I remember writing a paper on Islam and Muslims in the 6th grade; others in my class reported on Buddhism and Hinduism. In my 10th grade Honors English class we read The Promise and studied Judaism--I even went with a group of friends to a service at a Jewish Synagogue for extra credit (thanks for that experience, Julianne). But other than these short units in 6th and 10th grade, I have received no formal education on religions of the world.
I'd like to say I know more about cultures and religions of the world. Of their food and dress and informalities and formalities. But I don't.
About a year ago, I made a goal to try a new meal at least every month to expand our dinner meal selection. After reading the article from Parents and explaining to my nephew who Buddha is, I think I'm going to expand that goal to include at least one new ethnic meal or dish every month along with learning about the culture and predominant religion of where that food comes from.
Because, let's be honest, I feel very much uncultured.
6 comments:
I love it... the goal, the honesty, the learning. What a fun new tradition!
I love your goal. It was a unique experience for me to grow up in a place where the Church was definitely a minority, and then to come to Utah and witness the differences. It never hurts to learn about other cultures, and I think it helps us respect them. Some of our favorite ethnic foods are Japanese (of course), which is really quite simple, basic cooking, and Thai, particularly Phad Thai.... mmmm. I hope you share some of your good recipes and ideas with us as you go through your food journey!
My brother-in-law's dad was raised Jewish. He went to a Hebrew school and everything. Even though he is now LDS, they still celebrate Passover and Hanukkah in the more traditional Jewish sense. We've been going for the passed few years, and really enjoy the food, culture, and education behind it. You guys should definitely come :) They're used to visitors on those occasions. It would be fun!
I love it! We (Usborne books) has an AWESOME cookbook called "Children's World Cookbook" It has just a couple recipes from each culture or region it talks about, but it also has internet links to learn more about the culture and the food. I absolutely LOVE IT!!! find it on my website (www.myubam.com/x2040) and I'll show it to you sometime.
(sorry for the solisitation, but I thought you might like it)
Obviously Jared isn't much more cultured even though he has spent most of his life in places other than Utah! We had some great experiences in Iowa though like going to a Jewish bar mitzvah. He must remember it a little because he was talking to me about it not that long ago.
If you need any good Peruvian recipes, I have a few. I think that is probably considered ethnic food. Since I'm married to a Peruvian-American, we eat ethnic food all the time. :-) Also there's a new show on Food Network called Aarti Party about how to infuse Indian flavors into American recipes. It sounds interesting and yummy! :-)
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