Halloween with the Family

These past two volunteer times have been pretty fun. Last week we volunteered and we carved pumpkins with the family. Then on Halloween we took two of the kids trick-or-treating. Both of the times were so much fun. It was interesting to me at how the family knew very little if anything about Halloween. Through both experiences I learned about perception and dealt with a cross culture situation.
Through these past two volunteering times I have learned about perception. My perceptions of this family and of my own life have changed. I am learning and perceiving new things about our family and their culture each week. When we carved pumpkins we had to explain to the family what we were doing and why. It was so interesting to see their reactions. It was fun to have the kids help us carve out the insides. After we were done, the kids loved the pumpkin and stood it by their fireplace for decoration. They were so grateful to us for doing something as simple as carving a pumpkin and seeing their reactions was priceless.We asked them if they did anything similar to carving pumpkins or Halloween in general in Berma and they said no this was very different for them. Through interpretation I figured out that these people are so grateful for things that we sometimes take for granted. This made me think about my life and how I sometimes take things for granted that other people can only dream of having. This entire volunteering experience has taught me to look at life in a different way and appreciate everything in my life. I never realized that going trick-or-treating was something special. I just thought it was something everyone did. After taking the kids trick-or-treating and seeing their faces when they got candy, I realized I was wrong. It was something special and I have never seen the kids happier than they were trick-or-treating.
The second thing I have been experiencing is a cross culture situation. Cross culture is when someone compares two cultures. I have found myself doing that every time I volunteer. Some things that I have noticed are the way the kids obey their parents. When the mother asks the little girl to do something she does it right away no questions asked. In American culture some families are like that but a lot of kids do talk back to their parents and do not always do what they say. Another thing I have witnessed is how the little girl, who is 8, is like a parent to her little brother. She is constantly changing their diapers, feeding them, and playing with them. She also reads to them and tries to teach them as much English as she can. She does this so her mother can rest or make dinner. In our culture kids do not usually  parent their younger siblings. The biggest cross culture situation I experienced was when we took them trick-or-treating. We had to explain to the parents what Halloween was, why kids dress up in costumes, and what trick-or-treating was. It was very hard because they did not understand most of it but they understood enough so we could ask permission to take their kids trick-or-treating. In our culture it is just assumed that everyone knows what Halloween is and sometimes we take for granted the pure excitement of trick-or-treating. One thing we all have in common is that we like to celebrate and enjoy getting the candy!
I am learning a lot about myself, my life, and this family through this volunteering experience. Through perception and this cross culture situation, I am learning so much more than I thought I would at the beginning of volunteering. I cannot wait for next week to talk to them and start teaching them again.