Experiencing Culture in Lowell

Sounds of Portugal Concert

Cultural Healthcare Awareness Panel

Simply Khmer

One of the required excursions that I went to was a Cambodian restaurant called Simply Khmer. As a child, I was exposed to a lot of Asian culture. I was always surrounded by cultures from China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. However, I had very little knowledge or exposure to the Cambodian culture. This would be my first time experiencing an aspect of Cambodia, and I was intrigued to see how Cambodian culture would compare to the other southeastern Asian cultures that I had experienced when I was little. In class, we focused on the political aspect of Cambodia. We learned about the history of Cambodia such as the Cambodian genocide. Many people often forget about the Cambodian genocide and the suffering that the Cambodian people experienced during that time. Thousands of people died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge government. We saw videos of several eye witness testimonies who talked about the devastation that the country faced. The most shocking part was to hear that some of the eye witnesses were involved in the killings. They talked about how they would be forced to kill innocent people and to pile the dead bodies into ditches. They described the stench of death that wreaked the farmlands. One eye witness even saw his father being tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge because he disagreed with their views. Learning about the history of Cambodia is one important way of learning about the culture of the country. However, I believe that the best way to experience any new culture is through the food. Food from a different culture leaves a lasting impression on the person and helps to shape his or her view on the culture.

My class went to the Simply Khmer in Lowell and we had the opportunity to learn more about the culture and to order a full Cambodian dish. While our food was being prepared the wife of the owner of the restaurant took the time to answer some of our questions and to talk a little bit about her Cambodian culture. She said that they both wanted to open a restaurant in Lowell because of the growing Cambodian population in Lowell and to bring authentic Cambodian cuisine to the city.  She explained that the Cambodian cuisine consists of a few staple ingredients such as rice, bamboo, and lots of different herbs and spices. The owner talked about the restaurant and how it started as a small business but became a popular dining place. While our food was being served table by table, I noticed that no one started eating. Despite talking about how much we were starving, the whole table waited until every single person received their meal. In the traditional American culture, it is always polite and courteous to wait until the whole table has been served before partaking in the meal. We did not receive any instruction to wait for other people before we ate; it was just a natural act. To me, it was like two cultures merging into one, which was the most powerful part of the night. I ordered the Bai/ Cha Bon- Lai with chicken, and it was delicious. The dish consisted of rice, chicken, and lots of vegetables. The portion size was big so I could not eat all of it. However, I enjoyed it so much that I took leftovers with me. I think that everybody enjoyed their dish and we all agree that this was by far our favorite excursion. I definitely enjoyed experiencing Cambodian cuisine, and I would definitely go back to Simply Khmer and bring my family next time.

Another optional event that I decided to attend was the Sounds of Portugal concert. Portuguese is another culture that I have never been exposed to. I was intrigued to hear what Portuguese culture was all about. I anticipated that I would hear a lot of Portuguese traditional folk music. However, I completely forgot that since this was a Portuguese concert, everything would be in Portuguese. I found it difficult to understand when the singers spoke and sang to the audience. Even though I could not personally relate to what they were saying, I decided to stay and simply listen to the unique style of music. The show opened up with special guest Pedro Galveias who sang a few Portuguese songs. One of the highlights of the night was the guitar solo pieces that the musicians performed. It was so beautiful to hear the way the musicians plucked and strummed the finely tuned strings of the acoustic guitars. Although the musicians played different parts of the piece, the sound of both guitars complemented each other as the guitarists played together.

My favorite part of the night was hearing the main performer, Ana Lains. Ana Lains had such a powerful voice, and although I did not understand a word she was singing, I was still moved by the melody of the songs. It was also my favorite part of the night because Lains could speak English to the audience and I was able to understand what she was saying. She also had a good sense of humor and made the audience laugh a lot of the times. I loved her presence on stage because she looked so natural and passionate while performing. She also broke the barrier between the audience and the performer by directly addressing and connecting with the audience. She explained the context and the meaning of each song. Majority of the songs were Portuguese folk or traditional songs that originated from the country side. My favorite song of the night was a song called ‘I was Not Born from Fado’ which refers to a place in the country side. The show ended with both Galveias and Lains singing a duet together. The audience loved the show so much that they demanded an encore and gave the performers a standing ovation. Even though I was worried that I would have to sit there for two hours without understanding what they were saying, I still thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

Pedro Galveias singing a Portuguese song

For my other optional excursion, I decided to attend an event called the Cultural Healthcare Awareness Panel hosted by the Nursing Students Without Borders club. I decided to attend this event because it was related to my nursing major, and I wanted to know more about healthcare systems around the world. There were six panelists from different countries such as China, Nepal, Sudan, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and one panelist from greater Lowell. Many of these panelists had not only experienced healthcare in their birth countries, but also from other countries that they traveled to such as Japan, Haiti, and India. The panelists discussed how healthcare was drastically different in other countries. For example, in China and India, the hospitals are crowded due to over population. This means there are less doctors and nurses that can provide adequate healthcare to each patient. They made a comparison whereby in the United States, the standard for the ratio of patients to nurses is roughly one to six patients per nurse. However, in China the ratio is roughly one to twelve patients per nurse. This shows the lack of good quality care that patients in other countries receive. They also mentioned how there was no privacy for the patients because everything was shared out in the open amongst other patients. There is also a huge divide between the rural and urban areas. In the rural areas of the Dominican Republic, there are no hospitals or ambulances; only private clinics. The policy and government regulation on healthcare is also different in other countries. In Sudan, China, and India, anyone can walk into a pharmacy and ask for any antibiotic that they want at a low price without prescription. This leads to issues in overdose of drugs because there are no laws set in place.

One common issue throughout all these other countries was the issue of easy access to good quality healthcare. The general trend is that if one has the money, then one can afford good healthcare. This poses to be a problem for poverty stricken areas where people cannot afford to be seen by the doctor or to receive adequate treatment.  However, the most beneficial part of the night was when each of the panelists gave the nursing students advice on how to be culturally aware regarding healthcare. The most common advice was to be open minded, patient, open to learn, and always ask questions regarding culture.

The three excursions taught me a lot more than I expected it would. The one thing that all these excursions had in common was that they all taught me about different cultures around the world. The excursion to Simply Khmer taught me a lot about Cambodian cuisine and culture. It was my favorite excursion of all the required excursions because I was able to eat some delicious Cambodian food. The Sounds of Portugal concert was one excursion that got me out of my comfort zone. Even though it was daunting to sit in a theatre full of Portuguese speaking people, and I could not understand what they were saying or singing, I now have a new appreciation for Portuguese music. It was so interesting to also hear the panelists speak about healthcare in different parts of the world compared to healthcare here in the United States. They compared hospitals from China, and Nepal to the Lowell General Hospital. Lowell is a diversely populated city with people from many different ethnical backgrounds. Lowell has a large Vietnamese, Hispanic, and Cambodian population. It is natural to see many different cultures here in the city with restaurants such as Simply Khmer. People can experience a small aspect of different cultures in Lowell. If there was one thing that I could take away from all these excursions is to be open minded to new things, and that one does not have to completely understand culture in order to experience it.