I am a PAM member here at UR. PAM (or the Peer and Mentor program) pairs up an upper-level student with an entering freshman in the hopes that they will be able to impart their wisdom and warnings and train-wreck college experiences (along with all the great, and safe, ones as well) to the new blood on campus. My mentee is Maria (Marimer) and she is a fantastic person. Out of college life, she calls Peru home and happens to be quite the merengue dancer!
On Thursday night, she invited me to a S.A.L.S.A. event. S.A.L.S.A. stands for Spanish and Latino Students Alliance and it is a club on campus dedicated to sharing hispanic culture with the university and I am very proud to support it since I am Spanish-American…and also because it has a wonderful sense of community. There was a bunch of delicious food, great people—I was surprised I knew so many—and masterful performers. At one point a number of students and a Capoeira master demonstrated the grace and skill involved in learning this Brazilian martial-arts dance-fighting. I got caught up in the music…and clapping my hands (unfortunately I was born without of rhythm)…and singing along to the songs the master sang.
Then, of course, there was my wonderful mentee who bravely and skillfully danced the merengue with her partner and two other sets of partners in front of the cheering crowd. I met a few new people, ate some good salsa, and became strangely adamant and passionately optimistic about taking a capoeira workshop at a nearby community center, even though I have no flexibility or upper-body strength. This should be interesting. I’ll tell you if I break myself. Of course, this is assuming I haven’t broken all my fingers and the hospital allows me to post a blog from their room. Ha!
I love these events because you get to experience a completely different dimension of your friends’ (or of completely strangers’) personalities and lives. I like knowing that I can still be surprised by other people…it adds the spice back into my day.
Lovely, talented young women…and gentleman. Marimer is on the right.
Dance!
Jordan
Quote of the week:
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” – Robert McCloskey
