Cultural Competence Reflection:

In this section you will discover three products demonstrating cultural competence. These
include three creative papers on the culture of Asturias y Cantabria two provinces in the north
of Spain. The first document illustrates and expands upon a holiday that Asturians celebrate in
late summer: the cider festival. This festival is a key component in helping one understand the
rich heritage and culture of the Asturians and Cantabrians as they are the main groups who
celebrate this holiday. I chose this paper because it gives some really distinct cultural facts about
those regions in Spain and does so in a creative way.
The next document is an insightful and creative take on the culture of the language in this
same region of Spain. Interestingly enough, Castellano is not the only language spoken in Spain
there are many different languages that are similar to Castellano but have their own heritage
and history. One of these languages is Asturiano. It is a dying language that is mainly spoken by
the elderly and those living in the far North Country. I decided that this paper too demonstrates
my cultural competence because it reflects the fact that even within a Spanish speaking country
there can be differences found in something as essential as the language.
The last document posted is another document on the culture of Asturias and Cantabria;
this time we are dealing with the food. There is a wealth of different foods that are specific to
that region in Spain and we see that these foods can be recreated in our own countries because
the recipes have been provided. Food is an essential characteristic of any culture, and in Asturias
and Cantabria, food is perhaps one of the most important elements of their entire way of life
and its not just the food, but the history behind the food that makes this paper special. It really
demonstrates how a culture has developed through the generations through important historical
recipes. All of these papers were done in groups and as I was preparing them my creativity skills
developed as I tried to make them aesthetically appealing, but also informative at the same time.
I definitely gained a ton of research experience searching for articles and sources about these
cultural products.
To demonstrate cultural practices I have provided a research paper on the history of the
Lady of Covadonga. It helps the reader really visualize that area of Spain and the importance of
the Catholic faith in that country. Every province has a saint that they revere and in Asturias that
is the Lady Covadonga. While writing this paper I really grew in my understanding of the
importance of the Virgin Mary in Hispanic Culture. She really is like a mother to many of the
Catholic Hispanics across the world. My writing skills developed as well because in this paper I
tried to write more as if I were writing for a newspaper article, informing someone of a practice
that perhaps they had never heard of before.
As I continue to develop, I will set some goals in order to better develop my cultural
competence. I plan to read news articles in Spanish about the different current events happening
in Spain. If I read at least one article a month I will continue to stay updated on my cultural
awareness of situations happening in other countries. I will also continue to add new recipes to
my collection of recipes from different Hispanic countries. I already have Fabada under my belt
as well as arroz con leche, but every month I plan to cook at least two new recipes from a
province of Spain or a country of Central or South America and share them with my spouse so
that we can experience the pallet of Hispanic people. This will be an excellent way to continue
creating cultural competence for myself and those around me as I share with them these
practices.