Cultural Identity Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Identity Interview - Essay Example Peter says that Bulgarians are the Caucasian type, almost all of them are ethnic Bulgarians, but also there are minority groups like Turks and Roma populations. According to Peter, many Southern regions in Bulgaria are heavily populated by people who have Turkish ethnicity, in some villages even only Turkish is spoken. A double check with the Wikipedia (2006) shows that Turks amount to 9.4% of the population. The other Bulgarian minority are Gypsies. Peter shares that Gypsies in general are the poorest among all Bulgarians and are not at all integrated in the dominant Bulgarian culture. - Languages Peter’s native language is Bulgarian, and this is the only official language, although there are other languages minorities speak, like Turkish, Roman, or Macedonian. The Bulgarian language belongs to the group of Slavic languages (Wikipedia, 2006). In the United States Peter speaks English, especially at work. He has little accent and in my opinion he has no difficulties in communication in English. Still, he says, â€Å"In the US there are many other languages that can be of use for you. I would say that US is a bilingual country, because Spanish language is also very popular, even sometimes is it widely spoken†. He uses Bulgarian every day at home or when talking to his friends via the Internet. He adds that he is also trying to improve his Spanish, and Russian, because both languages are useful for him at his work as a guard at a local mall. Peter has learnt English and Spanish at his secondary school. This partially explains why he knows Russian and is eager to improve his speaking abilities in the language. Religion Peter is an Orthodox Christian. He says that most people in Bulgaria belong to the Orthodox Church. Further investigation into the Orthodox religion proves that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church (Wikipedia, 2006), but minority groups have other religions, like Islam, adopted mostly by the Turkish population; some Protestants and Roman Catholics (less than 1,5% together, according to Wikipedia, 2006). When talking about religion, Peter mentions that Bulgarians in general are not very religious. He says, this varies from region to region, but the communist period that ended in 1989 did not tolerate religious beliefs, partly because of the high influence the Church used to have, and because its financial strength that threatened the status quo. Today, the Southern and Western regions of the country are more religious than the Northern and Eastern regions. Also, where Turkish population is predominant, there are villages with no Christian churches, and it is a normal thing, he says, for any village to have a church. Food Peter mentions a variety of national favorite foods - foods containing various meat types, potatoes, rice and different types of vegetables. It seems bread is something Bulgarians do not miss at the table. Peter says that fruit and vegetables are much cheaper in Bulgaria, than they are in the United States, and are much tastier, having fewer conservatives. According to Peter, the Bulgarian cuisine today is heavily influenced by the Arab cuisine and is closer to