OGL 350

Personal Reflection on
Cultural Traditions and Norms

Kelsey Urbanchek
 My father was born on the Azores island Sao Miguel in Portugal. The Azores islands

are known for their dramatic landscapes, fishing villages and roads bordered with wild

blue hydrangeas. Growing up my father’s side of the family was always making odd

dishes for the holidays and because I was raised in the states with a very traditional

mother I felt this was extremely odd. I dreaded holidays spent with his side of the family

and prayed that Thanksgiving was spent with my mother’s side of the family so I could

have a normal Thanksgiving feast, and I didn’t have to avoid eating the odd concoctions

people cooked. As you can tell, as a young teen, I had zero appreciation for my family’s

history and culture, but soon that would all change.

On July 15th 2006, my grandfather, on my dad’s side, passed away. The following

year we went to Portugal to spread his ashes where he was born and raised. While the

entire family was mourning, they knew grandpa Doug would have wanted us to learn

about the country and experience the culture. We spent two weeks living like the locals

with the help of our extended family living there. First thing I found out was the age to

buy wine and beer was 16, which was the best news my sixteen-year-old self had ever

heard, until I actually tried wine. I have since then refined my taste. Wine is a major

staple with all meals in Portugal, and from what I saw it was acceptable to drink at any

point in the day. Coffee was another drink that was consumed from morning to night.

Our family would sit in the town square at the local café sipping different variations of

coffee and listen to the fado while watching the locals participate in a colorful traditional

dance.

I fell in love with the sense of community and how open and welcoming the

people were. All this excitement led to us typically around a large dinner table that was
placed in the middle of a small cobble stone road. People from the neighborhood would

bring massive dishes of the food I dreaded so much on holidays. As I sat there watching

my family load their plates with large portions of these entrees, I realized it would be

rude of me to not at least try the food. Ten minutes later I was dishing up my second

helping. The food was largely fish oriented, salted cod with a variety of greens such as

green beans and cabbage and my favorite tuna with potatoes, eggs and onions. Let me

tell you, I hated cod, or at least the thought of it growing up, no one should eat a fish

that still had its eyeballs intact. I now openly order it when available. The typical items

that I saw at each meal though were olives, cheese, and eggs though.

While I could talk for hours about my amazing trip and all the cultural things I

learned while there, I will get to the point of the assignment now. Every year we

celebrate various Portuguese holidays to keep the tradition and culture alive in our

family. The only holiday we’ve celebrated this year so far has been Feast of the

Epiphany, while I myself am not religious I greatly enjoy when the family comes

together. Feast of the Epiphany occurs on January 6 th and is what I would describe as

First Thanksgiving. The family comes together to feast on many different dishes,

typically desserts. One of the traditions we brought back with us was placing a raw bean

inside one of the dishes cooked by the host and whomever found it had to bring the

main dessert next year. It’s always interesting waiting for someone to find the bean,

everyone is watching each other while they eat to ensure no one tries to hide the fact

that they bit into it. While the tradition is fun as is, we have added to it. Not only does the

person who bites into the bean have to bring the main dessert, they also have to watch

the children at the family gathering while the rest of the adults indulge in our second
favorite thing, wine. This year my younger sister, who has no kids and can’t cook

managed to bite into the bean. I think the family is more excited to see what she

decides to bake for the next holiday get together. Typically, this holiday starts early in

the morning with most of the family in the kitchen cooking together and goes all the way

until usually midnight. Yard games are played and the family usually ends up doing

karaoke or story time telling the embarrassing stories from previous family gatherings.

Most of the time based on the alcohol consumed you can find family members asleep in

random parts of the house, with random blankets they’ve found. Luckily this year we

rented out a nearby recreation center and had an Uber code ready for family members.

I never did much research on this holiday, as my family had explained it was the

revelation of God incarnated as Jesus Christ. While religion was forced upon me as a

child, as I grew up I began making my own choices and most religion was not for me. I

greatly enjoy family time and participate in the family gatherings but I never did much

research on the meaning of the holiday, as many people don’t about Christmas or

Easter. I’ve attached two photos from our recent gathering, the first photo is me with my

uncle Doug, my father Don, and my other uncle Tony. My grandpa’s three remaining

sons, my uncle Bill passed away middle of last year. The second photo is most of my

father’s side of the family, mainly the younger generation who were willing to pose for

700 photos to ensure we got it just right.