Let’s talk a bit about the term acculturation. It’s used a lot these days and it seems to have a number of different interpretations, depending on who is using it.

It is often seen as part of a hierarchical process, although not always. That is, a minority group or a group perceived as inferior by a dominant group, can acculturate, or “evolve,” to become more like the dominant group.

Some use the term transculturation to refer to acculturation on an individual level rather than on a group level, while others use it to refer to cultural interchange between two or more groups.

Why do I have these terms on my mind? Well because I washed the sidewalk the other day. That may sound mundane to most of you. But I’ve never in my life washed the sidewalk. I’ve seen many women throw buckets of water out the front door to scrub down the sidewalk and it always seemed to me to be nothing more than a waste of water.

Then I did it. Don’t get me wrong. I still think it’s a waste of water and I stopped when I realized what I was doing. But it got me thinking about how we almost breathe in culture. Beliefs and habits seep into our bloodstreams and begin to affect everyday decisions and actions before we even realize what we are doing.

I’ve been living in Xalapa for three years now and have been in Mexico longer. I’m quite settled with my husband and kids. I can make chilaquiles and handmade tortillas. I cross the street anywhere but where there’s a crosswalk. I say, ¡Aso! and know how to harvest bananas from our banana tree. I’ve learned a lot these past few years. I’m beginning to realize, though, that a lot of the changes I’ve undergone haven’t been learned. They’ve just sort of happened.

So am I acculturating? Am I transculturating? Maybe I’m just culturating… There is no hierarchy here. We are simply talking about different ways of doing things, different perspectives. I know I no longer feel completely at ease in the United States. I’ve never before been in one place long enough to begin to feel how this mysterious thing we call culture shape shifts, manifesting itself in at times mundane and at other times very significant ways.