Becca+Sicilia

Blog 3 May 5, 2011 In the Igbo culture the Uri is whenever the suitor pays the bride price. The bride price is exactly what it sounds the men have to do certain things and pay a certain amount of cowries to get approval from the parents to marry their daughter. The bride price includes 30 broom sticks and twenty bags of cowries for the brides parents. The broom sticks are used to beat the palm trees to get the foo-foo which is their food source. Another part of the bride price is the grooms relatives have to bring about 30 barrels of wine for the celebration, the more barrels the relatives bring the more the groom cares about the bride. Mainly in the Igbo culture they have to prove a lot that they care about their bride and they have to impress the parents. In the United States whenever there is a wedding its a huge celebration both the bride and the grooms family is present. Many people get married in a church or a park or even where they first met their significant other. Whenever somebody wants to marry somebody the usually first start out dating for awhile and then someone proposes and then they eventually get married. There aren't any bride prices to pay or not even any approval from the parents just as long as you are with your significant other. As far as I'm aware its illegal to have more then one wife in the United States and besides I don't see how people could maintain another wife when one wife would be hard enough to take care of, many people can't even handle one wife.



There are quite a few ways we deal with marriage in the same way the Igbo people do. One way is its a huge celebration and all kinds of families are there the brides and the grooms. But we are a lot more different rather then similar from the Igbo marriage culture. For example we don't have to pay a bride price to marry our significant other and we don't have to

Blog 2 April 21, 2011 The Igbo people define masculinity as being a man, not showing any weakness or any emotion of any kind. Okonkwo has emotion for his son Ikemefuna, but he is afraid to show any emotion towards him because he is afraid to show weakness and he is also afraid of what people may think. Okonkwo believes that if he shows emotion towards anything then it means that he isn't a real man, which in my opinion is dumb because everyone has emotions and it doesn't make you any less of a person if you show them no matter if your a man or a woman. I believe the Igbo define masculinity as a monster with no emotion. For example if Okonkwo's mother dies of course he would be sad but in his mind if he shows emotion about it then he will be thought of as weak, which is completely ridiculous because everyone has emotion and it is healthy to express that emotion. In America men show their emotions a little more then Okonkwo does. Some men may express their emotions more then others and they get made fun of for that which is not right. In America whenever somebody dies or something tragic happens people usually show their emotion and they aren't afraid to show emotion because they don't care about masculinity. In my opinion emotions are everywhere and it doesn't change who you are or show that you are less of a man if you cry. Everyone has bad days and everyone cares about something and if the something they care about is gone then they are allowed to be sad, its how life works. In the Igbo culture women are thought of second-class citizens because they are "weaker" and less important then men are and I think thats bullcrap. In the Igbo culture the women have to cook and clean and also show respect to their husbands by bowing to them. Women are treated like crap and it isn't right. Women give birth to the men and they are still treated like crap? What's with that. Women are just as important as men because we are the same except for a few things but we are all humans. In America women are treated a lot better then they are in the Igbo culture. In America women are very popular such as in music, movies, politics, and in the work field. Women do things just as good if not better then men and also women are also intelligent if not more then men because women mature and act more adult more then guys. Women can do anything a guy can do but better because women are freakin amazing and kick butt.

Blog 1 April 15, 2011 My first impression of the novel is that is is pretty different from the American Culture. It shows me how different we are from many cultures, and yet how we are so similar. For example Unoka who is Okonkwo's father, he is a lazy man. He is also a drunk who was in alot of debt because he was to lazy to wrok. Thus him being lazy isn't only effecting him but the people around him. There are many Americans who are lazy and they take advantage of people and the government. For example some lazy Americans don't want to work, so they file for disability or social security so they don't have to work. The problem with that is there are alot of people who actually can not work because of accidents they've been in or they are disabled, and they cannot get help from the government because there are too many lazy people taking advantage of the government.



One difference between us and the Igbo culture is wealth and marriage. In the Igbo culture they use cowries which are their money and depending on your wealth depends on how many wives you can have. The richer you are then the more wives you can have, which in the Igbo culture shows how well you are respected and honored. The men don't live with all their wives, rather they live behind the mans hut. In America many people can't even handle one wife let alone 3, and plus its illegal to have more then one wife. Rather in America people either cheat or get divorced there aren't people who have two or more wives at a time but they may have remarried a few times.

Another way the Igbo and Americans are different is how we greet and welcome eachother. In the Igbo culture whenever somebody comes to you hurt, you crack a kola nut and drink it with them to welcome them into your house. Kola nuts are smaller then you would expect but that is how they respect eachtoher by welcomming them. In America when people come over to our house we usually welcome them by shaking their hand,hugging them, or maybe getting them a drink to start a converstation. Even though we are pretty different from the Igbo people we are yet still similar.