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Listening to other cultural presentations allowed me not only to learn more about Persian and Hebrew cultures, but also to notice some similarities between these two and Hindi culture.

Namely, I’ve learned that in Iran and Afghanistan people consume a lot of dairy, and sweet tea for breakfast and ice or vegetables for lunch. In India it is similar as they drink chai or milk for breakfast, and rice is a popular dish for lunch. Also, I found out that in these two Farsi speaking cultures people consume food that is high in fat. This makes sense due to geographical environments Iran and Afghanistan are located in. Dry and hot weather requires people to consume a lot food that will enable them to save energy much longer.

Considering Farsi speaking societies, I realized that Persian weddings are very similar to Indian weddings. This is in terms of the amount of people invited, rituals before and after the wedding ceremony. One interesting thing I was surprised with was the fact that a bride choses which present she wants to receive from the groom and his family. It is different in Indian society where the bride has to pay a dowry to the groom and his family.

An interesting observation I made was that in Farsi dost means “I love you”, while in Hindi it means “friend”. In some way I can understand the similarities between these two words, but I wonder if these two languages influenced one another in regards to this word.

On the other hand, I knew nothing about Jewish communities in Asia. I am glad Lily explained differences between Jewish communities around the world. I also never knew that Judaism was passed on by father, but by mother. India also has a significant population of Jewish people in Cochin. During my stay in India I visited this city, but I had no idea about large Jewish community present there.

Jewish weddings have many traditions and must include certain practices which follow Jewish law. Traditionally and historically a Jewish wedding included two stages the first stage was the kiddushin, meaning betrothal, and the nissuin, which is the marriage.

There are quite a few steps to a Jewish wedding. First, before the wedding ceremony, the marriage contract, or ketubah, must be signed in the presence of two witnesses. The wedding contract outline all the obligations the husband has to his wife. These marriage contracts are often written on elaborately illuminated manuscripts. The marriage contract, or at least parts of it, is then read aloud at the start of the ceremony, under the chuppah, as a was to both separate and transition from the engagement to the marriage ceremony. The chuppah is a wedding canopy and is meant to symbolize the home that the couple will build together. Another tradition that is still kept in many communities today is that of the unterfirers. This is the practice of the two fathers leading the groom down the aisle, and the two mothers leading the bride. During the ceremony there are also the seven blessings, and the breaking of the glass at the end of the ceremony. The seven blessings, or sheva brachot, are seven blessings that are recited by either the rabbi or selected honored guests. Being selected to recite a blessing is considered a great honor. After these blessings are delivered the groom drinks wine from a cup, and then the bride drinks from the same cup. At the end of the ceremony, the groom crushes the wine glass by stomping on it, and the guests shout 'Mazel Tov' to congratulate the new couple.

There are many other traditions though that have either been forgotten or adopted. After the wedding meal is finished, and the Birkat Hamazon, grace after meals, has been said, there is the tradition of the bride and groom each taking a glass of wine and pouring it into a third glass to symbolize their union and the creation of their new, combined, life. This tradition has become more uncommon, as has the yichud, which was the Ashkenazi practice of leaving the bride and groom alone for 10-20 minutes directly after the wedding ceremony to complete the wedding ceremony. There is also the common practice of lifting the bride and groom in chairs during the reception, and dancing around with them. This practice is a more contemporary addition. It is possible to place it in with the various traditional dances of Jewish weddings, such as the hora, mitzvah tantz, the gladdening of the bride, or the mizinke.

No matter whether a family is reformed, conservative, orthodox, ashkenazi, or sephardi, Jewish wedding traditions are abundant, and you can be sure, that many will be included in the wedding ceremony.

After learning about how many different Jewish ethnic division there were while researching my cultural project, I decided to do some further research on the Jewish ethnic divisions and subcultures of south and east Asia. In south and East Asia there are many different Jewish ethnic divisions. Among these groups are the Bene Israel, Cochin, Paradesi, Nasranis, Bagdhadi, Bnei Menashe, and Bnei Ephraim Jewish people who settled in various parts of India at various times. Most of these groups have migrated to Israel, though there are still some to be found in India. You also have the Pakistani Jews of Pakistan. There are some small Jewish communities in Krea and Japan, as well. Finally. In China there are many small groups of Jewish people, but the largest Jewish ethnic division in China are the groups of Kaifeng Jews.

I found the history of the Kaifeng Jews to be the most interesting, and so I decided to look into it a bit more for this culture post. The Kaifeng Jews were a small community of Jewish people who lived in Kaifeng in the Henan province of China. The Kaifeng Jewish community is believed to have been established sometime during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and have continued until the late nineteenth century. Today there are not many Jews in China but may of those who are have begun to reclaim there Jewish heritage and some have are once again claiming the title of Kaifeng Jews.

One of the most interesting thing I found in their history was the story that during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), a ming emperor gave seven surnames to the Jewish people, which are Ai, Shi, Gao, Jin, Li, Zhang, and Zhao. I found this interesting because in western societies there are some traditional Jewish names that are quite distinctive, such as Himmelfarb, Kaufman, and Steinberg. In fact, there many traditional surnames which end in either -stein or -berg. 

Not many people know about the Jewish divisions in south and eastern Asia, and I found learning about them very interesting.

I really enjoyed working with Shir this semester as I learned Hebrew. working with a language partner was definitely the most helpful aspect while learning this language. The materials available at the Global Studio were not that helpful to me. I found that by working with a language partner, picking topics to talk about, and creating vocabulary lists relevant to these topics I was able to learn more , and learn more efficiently. Shir was also helpful with grammatical and usage corrections, which much of the time I am a stickler for. a book or computer program can't really fix the way you are speaking, the pronunciation, or the wrong tense or gender of the word the way a human can, because they do not realize that you are making a mistake, or that you intended to say something different. Also, when talking with a person face to face, I feel that I process language differently. I search for the words I know in order to say something, because I am responding to someone's comment or question then work of their answers to gain new vocabulary, whereas with a book you can look up new words and figure out what you want to say. But, with a book these words will not stick as well, because you are not reusing them or actively associating them with conversation, statements, and as parts of your vocabulary. I found having a language partner the most useful tool available as part of the self-directed languages.

Shalom Rav Translation

The document attached to this blog post has a translation of the lyrics of my favorite Hebrew song. Shalom Rav is a song and a prayer that I learned in kindergarten.I've loved this song because of it's beautiful tune. I have been hearing it for years, and I've always understood that in context the song is about healing and peace, but I haven't been able to understand the individual words of the song. On of my goals for the semester was to understand the words to this prayer, so that the next time I hear it in temple I can truly understand it and appreciate it. I've put the words into an order to make sense, rather than a literal and direct translation. Also the words that are in brackets are words inferred in the message of the sentence, but not actually said in the lyrics.

I watched a clip of sesame street that was entirely in Hebrew. In Israel Sesame Street is also known as Shalom Sesame. What I understood from this episode was that grover was trying to learn how you are supposed to greet different people base on various factors such as age, time of day, and formality. I did not understand every word in this episode, but I found it easy to pick up the general gist of it. While listening I recognized the phrase בוקר טוב (Boker tov) which means 'good morning', but at some point people started responding בוקר אור (Boker or). I had never heard this second phrase before, so I decided to look it up. When some one say Boker Tove, or good morning, to you, you can either respond with the same phrase, or you can respond with Boker Or which directly translates to 'Morning (of) Light'. When you respond Boker Or you are in essence saying something along the lines of 'may you have a day of light' and such. To me this seems like it would be a way to greet someone you know well or care about greatly, because rather than just saying good morning back, you are saying that but also wishing them a light filled day.

This is an example of my Hebrew writing. Here I used the script rather than print lettering.

I found Nikolina's culture project on Rikshawalas very interesting. It was very interesting to look at the ideas of taxis, transportation, and one's interaction with them and the driver's as aspects of culture. I thought it was very original to look at the subculture of rickshaws. I thought Nikolina did a very good job giving a brief overview of the Rickshaw culture, explaining how one would go about getting and riding in a rickshaw, and giving us a brief vocabulary that relates to a rickshaw ride. 

Laila's presentation on food made me hungry to say the least. I did not realize how many different foods there were that were traditionally attached to the cultures associated with the Persian language. I also really enjoyed that Laila not only taught us relevant language, and the names of some of the more popular foods, but that she also taught us how to write these words and foods.

I did not get to see all of Danielle's presentation because I had to get to my next class though. What I got from the parts of her project that I did see, is that Persian engagements are weddings are both lengthy and intricate processes. There are so many aspects to consider when finding a spouse and planning a wedding. I really wish I had been able to see the rest of her cultural project presentation because it seemed very interesting. 

Proverbs in Hindi:

अब पछ्ताए होत क्या जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत
(No use crying over spilled milk)

अंत भला तो सब भला
(All is well that ends well)

दूर के ढोल सुहावने लगते हैं
(The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence)

अपना वहि जॊ आवे काम्
(A friend in need is a friend indeed)

आमदनी अठन्नी और खर्चा रुपैया

(Income is half rupee and expenses are a full rupee)

One of my learning goals for the semester was to learn Hindi proverbs. The reason why I chose these five proverbs is because they also exist in English and Serbian. Even though I did not focus on reading and writing in Hindi script during the semester, I am able to read and write these proverbs. 

The third proverb is a universal one, but the reason why I wanted o include it was because one of my favorite Bollywood movies is called Three Idiots.In this movie the main song is called All is well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-LltgOtFSg

Aal Izzz Well

Murgi kya jaane aande ka kya hoga
Aree life milegi ya tawee pe
fry hoga
Koi na jaane apna future kya hoga

Honth ghuma
Seeti bajaa
Seeti bajaa ke bol
Bhaiyaa aal izz well

Aree bhaiyaa all izz well
Aree chachu aal izz well
Aree bhaiyaa all izz well

Majority of Indians still follow arranged marriage system, which might seem impractical to the western world. Spending time in India, I was able to learn that this way of marriage is the most preferred choice in Indian families. Indian families give a lot of importance to family relationship and protection. As marriage is considered one of the most important steps in life, as an act of family love it is carefully thought out and planned. Living in India for almost five months I learned about advantages and disadvantages of this practice. Even though I can say that I still do not agree with the idea of arranged marriages, meeting people and hearing their life stories enabled me to understand the reason for this practice. 

One of the main goals of arranged marriages is to ensure the separation between upper and lower casts in the society. It was important to keep the wealth within the family and the upper cast was strongly encouraged to make arrangements within their cast. Also, arranged marriages are often seen as a way to promote class system and are the best way to take dowry. Dowry system is very old and its purpose is to provide for the woman in case something unfortunate happens with husband such as divorce or death. Therefore, it all started as an honorable way to protect the bride and give her security. Sadly, today dowry system turns into bride-price system, where a good dowry size ensures a good match for a girl and her family. 

Closely related to arranged marriages are child marriages. In the past it was a common practice for parents to arrange marriage for their children during their childhood. This was a way to ensure that children will marry a person from the same cast and same economic status. It was also a way to prevent their children to fall in love or search for someone else, as from their early age they knew whom to marry. Those who would find their own mates would be threaten by parents, so the easiest way would be to accept the family choice in order not to invite shame for the family. Today child marriages are abolished by the law, but parents still do have a huge influence. 

Nowadays, once marriage is arranged two people are allowed to meet and get to know each other before the wedding day. However, it is important to notice that in India marriage is not only between a bride and groom, but rather between their families. This is because Indians mainly live in joint families and wives come to live with husbands’ family. By marriage woman enters into bondage, and her freedom is often limited. 

Sarees come in variety of colors, patterns, designs, and materials. Also the price for sarees can be from US $5 to a few thousand US$. The price range depends upon material and designer. Choosing a color for your saree often depends upon the occasion. For weddings, brides usually wear red or hot pink saree with many golden color details attached to it.

Most of Indian women wear sarees. My host mother needed a couple minutes to fix it and look amazing! Trying it for the first time was not easy. It took me more than ten minutes, and in the end I needed someone to help me out with putting it on. However, just like anything else I needed a bit of practice and after a few times I became more faster and more comfortable with putting it on. I am not an expert, but am able to fix it for myself.

Wearing a saree is as comfortable as wearing a dress. The only difference is putting it on and making sure it does not unfold. Indian women wear it throughout the year, since the temperatures never get too low. The photo below is taken in a saree shop at the local market in Udaipur, Rajasthan. 

Coming from a developing country, I was sure my cultural shock will not be as great as when I came to study in the US. However, I was wrong. My home country might be considered a developing country, but it is definitely better off in terms of poverty than India. Yes, it was the huge amount of poverty present everywhere which was the first shocking thing after my arrival. Just seeing poor people living on the streets, having nothing to wear, or eat, with children playing around and begging for money is the hardest thing to deal with. Living in a luxury hotel for a week in Jaipur, and having a poor family living outside my window made me wonder and think about the chance in life I have compared to them. This is the main reason why I decided to include the picture Taj Mahal in this post. Taj Mahal represents the beauty and wealth and roofs of homes where the poor live.

The contrast on this picture also represents the beauty in variety that India offers. Not only in terms of wealth distribution, but also the cultural wealth this country has. Going the local market I was able to learn about different tradition from other parts of India. Clothing for example varies from state to state in India. I find it very interesting that there are 18 official languages in India, and that some people from the same country are unable to understand each other, unless they speak a common language.

Another thing I learned is how warm and welcoming Indian people are. Everywhere I went people were willing to talk to me, listen to me, and invite me to their homes. However, sometimes this welcoming behavior would become overwhelming, and I realized that this is another cultural difference I have with Indians. It is nice to feel accepted and appreciated, but at the same time, it is hard to get used to the lack of personal space I am used to having (even though Bosnian people are pretty similar to Indians in terms of personal space). As the picture depicts it, crowds and lack of space are nothing unusual in India. People are not physically close to each other, but also are very close in terms of “human relationships”. Neighbors spend time with one other and help each other. I like this close interaction between people present in Indian culture, as I think “westerners” often have no time for other people, or for relaxed social gatherings in the way Indians do.

A cultural difference I had a harder time adjusting myself to is the male-female relation in India. Taj Mahal was built by the emperor Sahan Jahn in memory of his wife.  Therefore, Taj Mahal can be seen as a symbol of a woman who is isolated in the society. Women do not have a lot of choice, and their lives change entirely once they get married. Arranged marriages still take place. In many traditions in India a woman cannot talk to all the members of her husband’s family and is in many ways often isolated and separated. That is the reason why I view a woman as Taj Mahal who is a part of the scenery, but at the same time is not entirely included in it.

TukTuk.pptx

I really enjoyed the culture shock video. I found it really interesting, because we heard things about American culture that aren't really though about by natives everyday. 

It was coo, hearing about the different social aspects that are different between other cultures and ours. for instance, I had never thought that the way we greet each other in passing could be so confusing to others. What I found most interesting though, were the differences in educational systems and practices. I took it for granted that when you were writing a paper you were supposed to create a thesis and analyze the article, book, or issue that is your topic. In elementary school we are taught to write book reports, then as we get older and progress in school we are taught different methods of analysis to utilize while writing papers and reports. I had never thought that in other cultures this may be different. Hearing one person tell of the first time he had to analyze a book in a paper was interesting. It was part of our enculturation to develop opinions about something, and to think that this is an aspect of culture shock for someone was very interesting. This idea made me revisit our discussion on collectivist and individualist cultures, and think about how the formation of an opinion can be affected by which idea of self the culture promotes. 

The Sephardi Ashkenazi Split

For my cultural project I decided to explore the split between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi Jews. I had always known that there were differences between these two sub-cultures, and that they identified largely with different geographic locales. However, I had never realized before, how many differences there were between these two subcultures, nor that there were so many other Jewish subcultures besides Ashkenazi and Sephardi. The most interesting thing I learned during this project was about the various Jewish subcultures located throughout Asia. I had never learned a lot about Asia before, and I had never even heard about Asian Jewish cultures.  I truly enjoyed looking into the history of these groups and learning about how there traditions, history, and experiences were different from western groups of Jews. 

For my sources I used information gained from an interview with my Rabbi as well as:

History of Hebrew

This PowerPoint reviews a brief history of the hebrew language. It explores and sums up the various periods of transition that Hebrew went through. It also looks at some of the different current alphabets, and the different forms and populations of Hebrew spoken today.

In this article culture is explained as it relates to the scale of individualism and collectivism. I really enjoyed this article because it not only corresponded with my language learning and cultural understanding of my target language, but it also corresponded with some of my other classes, such as sociology and anthropology. Now in this article collectivism and individualism are explained as being the two poles--or extremes--at the end of the scale, and most culture fall in between them. The individualistic culture focuses more on the identity, needs and subsistence of the self, while the collectivistic culture focuses on those of the primary or immediate group, such as one's family, or a group one is greatly invested in. I've learned through this article and my other courses how important it is to look at all aspects of a culture, and not label them using a general term. most cultures fall somewhere between the two ends of this scale meaning that they adopt a subtle mixture of both collectivistic and individualistic ideals. This attitude translates to a few other aspects talked about in this article. Monochronic and polychronic ideas, internal versus external beliefs, and direct and indirect communication.

This article talks about how different people and different cultures relate monochronic and polychronic perceptions of time, external and internal views on the locus of control, and directness or indirectness of communication in a culture. In this article each one of these aspects is tied largely to either the idea of an individualistic culture, or that of a collectivistic culture. However, when you think about how most cultures fall in between these two definitions, you also have to think that as it relate to these other cultural and communicative factors, cultures must adopt a majority of their practice from one idea, yet traces of its opposite must likely be evident in small parts of each culture.

When I took a psychology class we touched on the various areas and parts of the brains and how they connected to various mental and physical tasks. We touched briefly on how they brain learned and processed language, and of course touched on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, Broca's area, and Wernicke's area. I don't think I realized at the time how many different areas of the brain were involved in language, though. I also found it interesting to learn about these different aspects of language and then how they apply to learning and speaking foreign languages.

I found the section on slips of the tongue very interesting. I know I make then often enough, and I found it interesting to think about how they might happen in other languages. It is intriguing to think about how the slips we make in English may never be made in a different language, because the the similarities between words and phrases would be different, thereby affecting the sounds, syllables, words, and units of grammar differently.

Language%20Partner%20Reflections.docx

I found the following news article in the Hindi Bhaskar newspaper.  The original article can be found at <http://www.bhaskar.com/article/RAJ-JAI-the-lives-of-the-students-took-the-exam-stress-2635739.html?C3-JAI>

I wrote on my learning plan that I hoped to translate an article about immigration to America.  However, I could not find such an article written in Hindi.  Therefore, I chose to find an article that had something to do with education, since learning about education was my primary goal this semester.  I found reading newspaper articles to be a much more approachable and reasonable task this semester than I did last semester, so I was pleased with my reading progress.

I was very happy with my comprehension of the article. I was largely able to understand the events described in the article (many of which seem completely irrelevant to the point of it).  My vocabulary was sufficient enough to allow decent understanding and I also learned several new words that the article used repeatedly, such as exam, stress, police, and investigating.  I got together with my old Hindi partner, Prayas, for assistance with parts of the article that I found more difficult.  Prayas especially assisted me with unfamiliar verbs and with recognizing which words were actually proper nouns for places or people's names.  Sometimes it is difficult for me to distinguish between unknown vocabulary and names; Hindi does not use capital letters like English does, which I think adds to the confusion.  

The sad events in the article are, unfortunately, extremely relevant to Indian education today. Extreme stress is a growing issue for Indian students, as more and more young people compete for a limited number of degrees and jobs.  The stress has led to a large number of suicides in recent years, especially among university age students.  It inspired one of India's most popular movies, and my favorite Hindi film, Three Idiots, which raises awareness about the alarmingly high expectations that lead to extreme stress and suicides.  

जयपुर.सात दिन पहले परीक्षा देते वक्त तबीयत बिगड़ने पर एसएमएस अस्पताल में भर्ती युवक की रविवार देर रात मौत हो गई। जब वह वार्ड में लाया गया था, तो डॉक्टरों ने परीक्षा के तनाव की वजह से ब्रेन हेमरेज होने की आशंका जाहिर की थी। हालांकि, सोमवार को पोस्टमार्टम करने वाले डॉक्टरों के मुताबिक युवक की मौत के कारणों का पता एफएसएल भेजी विसरा रिपोर्ट से चल सकेगा। शिप्रापथ पुलिस मामले की जांच कर रही है। 

पुलिस ने बताया कि भैरूंराम (26) उर्फ भैंरू पुत्र कोजाराम गांव चिड़िया, बायतू बाड़मेर का रहने वाला था। वह करीब दो वर्ष से सोढाला स्थित रामनगर में दो साथियों के साथ किराए पर रहकर बैंकिंग व एसएससी परीक्षाओं की तैयारी कर रहा था। 4 दिसंबर को उसका एसएससी का पेपर था। वह दोपहर 2 बजे राष्ट्रीय संस्कृत संस्थान में पेपर देने गया था। 

वहां करीब एक घंटे बाद उसकी तबीयत बिगड़ गई और उल्टियां होने लगीं। इस पर उसने सेंटर से बाहर आकर दोस्त अशोक को फोन किया, वह भी किसी अन्य परीक्षा केंद्र पर था तो उसका भाई वहां पहुंचा और भैरूंराम को एसएमएस पहुंचाया। दोस्तों ने बताया कि भैरूंराम के दो बड़े भाई हुकमाराम व एक अन्य गांव में मजदूरी कर परिवार घर खर्च चलाते हैं। पिछली बार भी बैंक की भर्ती परीक्षा में भैरूंराम का चयन नहीं हो सका था। उसके बाद से वह असफल होने के डर से तनाव में आ जाता था। 

तनाव से ब्रेन हेमरेज और बिगड़ी तबीयत

भैरूंराम की हालत गंभीर होने से उसे मेडिकल आईसीयू में वेंटिलेटर पर रखा गया। मामला संदिग्ध मानकर अस्पताल प्रशासन ने शिप्रापथ पुलिस को इसकी सूचना दी। तब उपनिरीक्षक महेंद्र सिंह वहां पहुंचे। डॉक्टरों ने पुलिस को भैरूंराम के परीक्षा का तनाव होने से ब्रेन हेमरेज होने का अंदेशा जताया। इसके बाद भैरूंराम के परिजन भी बाड़मेर से यहां पहुंच गए। उनको भी डॉक्टरों ने वही कारण बताया। भैरूंराम ने रविवार देर रात करीब 2 बजे दम तोड़ दिया। सोमवार को पोस्टमार्टम के बाद परिजन शव बाड़मेर ले गए।

Take away words:

परीक्षा = exam

तबीयत = health (a different word for it than I already know)

बिगड़ने = deteriorate

मौत हो गई = died

तनाव = stress

पुलिस = police

वजह = reason

करीब = around

ब्रेन = brain

परिजन = family (a different word for it than I already know)

Translation:

The article is entitled, "Exam Stress Takes Student's Life!"

Jaipur. A man who was admitted to the SMS hospital seven days ago died on Sunday evening after he fell ill during an exam. When he was brought to the ward, the doctors suspected brain hemorrhage induced by stress to be the cause of death. The report of the postmortem that was sent to SMS hospital will confirm the exact cause of death. Sriphraphat police are investigating the case.

Police claim that Bhairuram aka Bhairu is a resident of Kojaram bird village. He has been living in Ramnagar with his two friends for the past two years and has been preparing for banking and S.S.C examination. His S.S.C examination was on the 4^th of December.

After an hour his health began to deteriorate and he started to vomit. He then called his friend Ashok, who himself was taking an exam. As a result Ashok's brother brought Bhairuram to SMS hospital. His friends confirmed that his two brothers are day laborers in another village and make their living from it. Last year he wasn’t selected for the banking job after the entrance exam. Ever since he was really worried and stressed about being unsuccessful.  

Tension causes brain hemorrhage and deterioration of health

Bhairuram was admitted to I.C.U and was kept in a ventilator because of his critical condition. Suspecting of wrong doing the doctors notified the Sriphraphat police. Then sub-inspector Mahendra Singh arrived. The doctors told the police that they believe the stress to be the cause behind his death. The family of bhairuram arrived from their village. The doctors confirmed the same with the family. Bhairram died around 2am on Sunday. The dead body was handed over the parents after the postmortem was conducted on Monday.