Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
Culture: The Spice of Life
and Place
In This Chapter
Creating cultural diversity
Spreading culture, stopping culture
Considering religion and language
Heading toward a single global culture?
H ave you ever stepped on somebody while he was praying? I have. And I would have loved to crawl
under a rock, except there weren't any.
The incident happened in Dakar, Senegal. It was a Friday, and I was out walking around the streets
of that West African capital, playing tourist. The Senegalese are overwhelmingly Islamic. Devout
Muslims pray several times daily, and Friday prayers have special importance. So there I was, just your
basic Presbyterian walking along Dakar's version of Madison Avenue, when the call to midday prayer
rangout.Thisissurelyanexaggeration,butitseemedthatinsecondstrafficstoppedandpeoplepoured
out of buildings and filled the street. Many of them had prayer rugs. Others carried substitutes, such
as newspapers or pieces of cardboard. Soon the street was covered by people performing their solemn
religious duty.
For some reason, I felt it advisable to get to the other side of the street, and in the process I stepped on
somebody. I apologized profusely but the offended party remained completely focused on his prayer.
Everybody possesses
culture,
a learned pattern of behavior that characterizes a group of people. In
many respects, your culture defines your essence; and yet you tend not to think about it until perhaps,
you find yourself in a geographic setting where your culture either doesn't work, or marks you as being
different from others. Suffice it to say, on that Friday noon I was suddenly and acutely aware of my
culture.
