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Visita Mikael Books en Facebook para ver más contenido de libros en inglés.

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Unit 2, page 18. Read.

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That special someone.

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Intercultural marriage is on the rise, not only in North America, but in other parts of the world as well.

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An intercultural couple consists of two people who have different cultural backgrounds.

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They may come from different countries or from different regions in the same country.

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They may have different religions or they may come from different ethnic groups.

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These couples may have found true love, but they often face difficult and unique challenges.

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The divorce rate among partners in intercultural marriages seems high,

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but such marriages can work under the right circumstances,

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as we will see by examining the context.

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This is the case of one intercultural couple.

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Both Hector Garcia and Jessica Chapman were born in the United States,

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but their backgrounds are 180 degrees apart.

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Hector's parents came to the United States from Mexico decades ago.

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They settled in California, and by the time Hector was born,

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they had earned their American citizenship.

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Hector had to work to be able to afford college.

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Jessica, in contrast,

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grew up in a wealthy Caucasian family in New England.

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Her parents paid for her college expenses, so she didn't have to work.

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Hector and Jessica met in biology lab in their senior year of college,

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and it was a case of love at first sight.

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After they graduated, Hector asked Jessica to marry him.

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Hector says,

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I used to think I would marry a Hispanic woman whose background was similar to mine,

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but the minute I met her,

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I met Jessica, I knew she was the one for me. Jessica felt the same and accepted Hector's

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proposal, and for a while, everything went smoothly. Pretty soon, though, problems arose.

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Jessica explains. I thought our relationship was going to stay the same as it had always been.

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I didn't think we would ever argue about anything. But Hector wanted to buy a house,

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and he refused to accept any help from my parents. He was working long hours, and I didn't

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think he was paying enough attention to me. It occurred to me that work had become his top

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priority. Furthermore, I didn't feel comfortable with Hector's family. We would go to gatherings

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at his family's house most weekends. Everyone would be talking at once, and I would feel

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shut out.

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Eventually, I got so frustrated that I was ready to leave him. Fortunately, I had a heart-to-heart

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talk with a close friend who was also in an intercultural marriage. She advised me to

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think about what motivated Hector, and to try to understand the culture and values of

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his extended family. I realized that because he had grown up in a family without much

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money, he didn't have enough money to buy a house.

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I realized that because he had grown up in a family without much money, and had married

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a woman from a wealthier background, it was important for Hector to do things on his own.

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That's why he didn't want to rely on help from my father.

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I realized that I'd been wrong about several things. His family wasn't trying to shut me

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out at their gatherings. They were just a typical Mexican family who liked to talk.

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I also realized I hadn't been giving Hector's family a

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fair chance. Since then, his mother and I have become really good friends, and Hector's

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and my relationship has improved greatly.

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This is a case of an intercultural marriage that has worked. One key point emerges from

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Hector and Jessica's story. Partners in an intercultural marriage should try to understand

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and acknowledge the cultural values of their spouses and their extended families. If they

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do, they may well be able to sustain their relationship with that special someone.