La Bendicion

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asopao

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I have some infant relatives that don't speak a word of Spanish, and also, they're raised as Protestants.

When they visited DR, they don't say the customary " bendicion" or just " cion" for short to my grandmother. My grandmother got passed the disgust that they don't speak Spanish, these kids just refused to speak Spanish at all. but she used to get really irritated that they didn't even wanted to give her the " cion".

I know that she finds this insulting, because I was told that back in the old days, children had to kneel with one knee and say the full " bendicion abuela". I know that's how my grandma used to do it. Today is more " lazy" or " lax", you don't need to kneel and just say " cion abuela".

I understand the kids and their mother, they weren't raised in Dominican culture, so they just don't have a clue about this custom.

But I was wondering if this " bendicion" thing is just a Catholic custom. Do Protestanst do that too??? If the kids are not Catholics, do they have to show respect like this? Is this just Dominican culture in general, going beyond religion?? what is your take on this??
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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While this is certainly a Catholic custiom

It is also extremely generalized as a sort of showing respect for the elder generation.

In San Juan de la Maguana, "compadres" still kneel before their "compadres" and ask for their blessing: "La bendici?n, Compadre" + "Dios te bendiga, Compadre"

I can certainly understand your grandmother's feelings. "Her" grandchildren have been de-Dominicanized by the foreign culture, and the children are not showing her the respect due her age and family position.

As for the kids not speaking any Spanish, that is a shame in and of itself. But not asking their grandmother for her "bendici?n" is truly a social faux pas, at least in this country. In Italy, they would be whipped for being so rude...

HB :D:D:D
 

asopao

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Aug 6, 2005
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Hillbilly said:
It is also extremely generalized as a sort of showing respect for the elder generation.

In San Juan de la Maguana, "compadres" still kneel before their "compadres" and ask for their blessing: "La bendici?n, Compadre" + "Dios te bendiga, Compadre"

I can certainly understand your grandmother's feelings. "Her" grandchildren have been de-Dominicanized by the foreign culture, and the children are not showing her the respect due her age and family position.

As for the kids not speaking any Spanish, that is a shame in and of itself. But not asking their grandmother for her "bendici?n" is truly a social faux pas, at least in this country. In Italy, they would be whipped for being so rude...

HB :D:D:D

Yeah Hillbilly, but can I school the mother in this custom, so family relations don't get strained? My grandmother isn't happy about their Protestanism too, but they're not the first ones in the family that aren't Catholics, so Catholic-Protestants relations in the family are good. I just wanted know if this Protestanism can be included in this " bendicion" custom
 
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Hillbilly said:
It is also extremely generalized as a sort of showing respect for the elder generation.

In San Juan de la Maguana, "compadres" still kneel before their "compadres" and ask for their blessing: "La bendici?n, Compadre" + "Dios te bendiga, Compadre"

I can certainly understand your grandmother's feelings. "Her" grandchildren have been de-Dominicanized by the foreign culture, and the children are not showing her the respect due her age and family position.

As for the kids not speaking any Spanish, that is a shame in and of itself. But not asking their grandmother for her "bendici?n" is truly a social faux pas, at least in this country. In Italy, they would be whipped for being so rude...

HB :D:D:D

This is completely in line with my experience with normal Dominican families.. with children asking their parents as well.. but then again what do I know ;)

As a gringo while it is not expected from me, I do also comply and it is certainly appreciated as it is more a show of respect than anything else..

Asopao, you can most certainly school the mother and the children in this custom, it will earn them many brownie points ;)
 

asopao

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Dragonfly32837 said:
Yeah, teach the children to pedir la bendicion. It should have more to do with respect than with religion.

Yeah, I thought about that too. I just don't want to seem insensitive. We respect each other's religious differences, for one I'm a secular person, so I'm not that knowledgeable on the origins of religious customs. I'll have to ask some Dominican evangelicos and others around if they do this or not.
 

mkohn

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Jan 1, 2002
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When we were little, living in the US, and not even having discovered the DR, I remember our dad blessing us before bed at night.
That's really all it is, is asking grandma to bless me before bed, or whenever. And since it's a custom, it can be really cool to pass on some customs from the dad's culture/childhood too.
It's a little more challenging for dads to pass on their language, from my experience, but it is do-able. Usually moms have much more time to accomplish this.
Giving the kids a second language is one of those priceless gifts.
Good luck.
mkohn
 
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