I'll be completely frank: Fatherhood rocks. Every aspect of it is great. But it's also challenging, and the most difficult part of it is raising a multi-cultural child. No, this is not some big play for a 'we're all citizens of the world' parenting style. This is just about someone, namely me, who was born in one country but lived most of his life in another. Beyond that, despite every effort made by time, I've always tried my best to remember where I came from and to honor that past and that side of my personal history. Having been born in Peru, that means I've gone out of my way to map out every Peruvian restaurant in New York City (which is great because Peruvian cuisine is fantastic) and watching all of Peru's World Cup Qualifying matches (which, given Peru's more or less losing record when it comes to qualifying to the World Cup, is actually extremely depressing). But, hey, a real fan is there in good times and in bad, even if the fan's never lived through a good time.
With a toddler at home, all of that business about honoring my roots has essentially boiled down to pushing Peru on my daughter in the same style as the dad in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" did with Greece and his own daughter. Cue the Peru soccer jersey whenever Peru plays and flying her out to Peru when she was still an infant so she could meet her extended family there (by the way, an 8-hour flight with a seven-month-old is not even kind of fun).
The biggest part of raising a multi-cultural child, though, is the language. That doesn't just involved speaking to her Spanish (every time, from day one, even when the grocery store clerk is looking at you and treating you as if you don't understand a word of English because of it). It also involves reading her books in Spanish, which inevitably means sitting down at Barnes and Noble looking through Spanish-language children's books to make sure that they're actually correct and not riddled with typos, as many Spanish-language children's books are.
And, of course, it also means translating books in Spanish yourself since sometimes they're just not available (if anyone knows where I can find the Gruffalo books in Spanish, that would be much appreciated!).
In addition to language, there are several other key aspects to Peru's culture that I like to drive home for her. RW3 CultureWizard's Culture Calculator accurately tells us that Peru is a highly interpersonal society, as opposed to the United States, wherein relationships tend to be more transactional. Since there are benefits to both, I do my best to show her to take an interest in the lives of others and ask them about their families in front of her, so she learns that some people really appreciate that type of approach.
What also worked very well for us was that trip to Peru when she was an infant (she spoke her first word there and it was "Hola!" because people kept stopping us on the street so they could look at the baby and greet her, which was something extremely different for her). Therefore, my wife (who is American) and I have set a target to go to Peru every year so she always experiences that other culture and meets her extended family and understands that there are different ways of viewing the world and of behaving.
In addition to that, my wife and I have taken it upon ourselves to let her try Peruvian food every so often. This is not too heavy of a cross to bear since, ultimately, Peruvian food is pretty delicious! Our daughter has worked her way through most of Peru's most famous dishes and has some very clear favorites so far.
And, of course, while on the subject of bearing the cross, we've also introduced her to Roman Catholicism, because it remains a large part of Peru's culture. Though we'll let her make her own choices on that front, she'll grow up knowing about that religion and understanding the cultural influence it has had on Peru. So, basically, we're introducing her to Catholic guilt, which is a very handy tool for any parent to have at their disposal!
Last but not least, we also have bought some Peruvian children's books for her. So, yes, she'll grow up knowing about Dora and Mickey and the Gruffalo, but she's also going to learn about little Luana who wants to go to the doctor and she'll learn Spanish grammar from the Peruvian children's series of Coquito!
At this point, of course, you're probably wondering why anyone would want to go through all of this effort (raising a child with just one language at home is already plenty of work!), and that's a fair question.
As an answer, I'd only have to point to the obvious advantages of growing up with more than one culture to draw from for reference. Every culture is, amongst other things, a group of people's reaction to events and history. So, to expose her to two sets of cultures gives her more answers to everything she'll face in life, and it also (one hopes!) will make her more open-minded and, as a result, more successful in a world that is becoming more and more inter-connected.
After all, isn't that why we turn to products like CultureWizard? In order to succeed in a world that is increasingly becoming one big village? Those are just my two cents. I'm going to go back to translating 'The Gruffalo's Child' now while enjoying some Peruvian Inca Kola.
Learn more about Peru by downloading our Pocket Guide below!
