When we Mix,When we Mix

As I read about Zobeide in Cities and Desire 5, I couldn't stop comparing it to Euphemia from Trading cities 1. Both of these cities had something in common, something every city has.Acculturation. Both of these cities reflect perfectly what happens when people from different cultures interact with each other. How they are bound to share certain characteristics and differ in  others. Ultimately if they continue to live together they will most probably create a new culture. A culture which contains both good things and bad things.

The mixture of cultures is very present in Zobeide. Which was Founded by  men of various nations , which had an identical dream. “They saw a woman running at night through an unknown city; she was seen from behind, with long hair, and she was naked. They dreamed of pursuing her.  As they twisted and turned, each of them lost her.  After the dream, they set out in search of that city; they never found it, but they found one another; they decided to build a city like the one in the dream.”There dreams  in this case could  represent their culture, they have some differences and some similarities. Ultimately they build a city based on all of their different dreams(cultures) since all of their dreams are somewhat similar but also quite different the city ended up being an ugly and disorganized mess.

Euphemia also shows how different cultures mix. Euphemia was a city were people  came to trade.What made Euphemia different from other trading cities was that people all around the world came to trade.Therefore it was inevitable for cultural diffusion to occur. Because these people traded everything from silk, to stories about war, to religions, to recipes. Therefore when merchants left Euphemia,they had learned so much things they didn't know before. Euphemia reminded me of the summer camp I went to as a kid. Were people from all the world or at least all the country would spend the summer together. By the time the summer was over. I had learned a lot, because I  had interacted with so many other cultures.

Zobeide and Euphemia compare because they both show the positive and the negative effects of acculturation. Zobeide shows how acculturation can create bad things.While on the other hand Euphemia shows how acculturation can create good things.

Acculturation occurs in any city. An easy place to get an example from is the City. New York is one of the biggest cities in the world.It is a place were cultures smash together everyday every place. Describing a New Yorker is a perfect example of acculturation .There favorite foods might be from a Pizza to a Kebab to Noodles.One from Italy the other from Arabia and the other one from Asia. If some one enters a cab in New York he can get from a Egyptian driver to a Cuban driver to an Italian driver to a Chinese driver. In New York you can find some good things and some bad things all as a product of acculturation.