Latino Awareness Week draws to a close

Watching the movie Like Water For Chocolate and attending a dance party gave students of all races a chance to experience Latino culture in an informal setting. The Sigma Lambda Upsilon sorority sponsored these events last week, in its annual Latino Awareness Week. Approximately 35 students turned out for the movie Thursday night at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, cosponsored by La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos and Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity. "The movie portrayed the Mexican way of thinking, as opposed to a European or American version of it," College junior Madeleine Lopez said. "It had the folklore of Mexico, the religion and the relationship between mothers and daughters." While students who watched the movie said they learned about Latino customs and food, they also noticed that many of aspects of the movie reflect several cultures. "The movie showed the common features among people of different cultures," said College and Wharton sophomore David Wong. "The portrayal of family life, falling in love and intergenerational issues are things that people from any culture can identify with. "I don't get to experience much Latino food so I enjoyed that part of the movie too," Wong added. Attending the dance party Friday night at 4209 Sansom gave students the opportunity to appreciate Latino culture more actively. "I don't think a lot of the people at the party had been exposed to this type of music before," College senior Rosa Velasquez said. "I introduced myself to some of those people and taught them how to dance to the music. "They saw that I was willing to teach them and they were willing to learn so it was really fun," she added. Hoping to make as many students aware of Latino culture, SLU sisters said they were pleased that non-Latino students attended the events. "I met some brothers of Lambda Phi Epsilon at the party," Velasquez said. "They told me about some of their activities, so hopefully I'll be able to attend them. Now it's our turn to learn about another culture."

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