From dominoes to croquettes to salsa music, homegrown Cuban culture will shake things up on campus this week.
The Federación de Estudiantes Cubanos (FEC) will be hosting a “Week of Cuban Culture.” The purpose of this week’s events is to promote awareness of the Cuban culture on campus and in the surrounding community. In addition, FEC hopes to inform students of the impact Cubans have on their everyday life.
The week kicked off with The Jose Marti Day of Service on Saturday.
“We focused a lot on our community service day,” said Bibi Moghani, the FEC cultural chair. “We decided to have more kids, reach out to more schools and also put an educational aspect to it.”
The day of service involved working with local third, fourth and fifth graders from various ethnicities who share a common interest in Cuban culture. It included a field day and educational activities.
The week continues with a “Discover Cuba” event on Wednesday at noon on the Rock, which will include a paella cooking demonstration and a tasting afterward. FEC hopes their events this week will attract students from a variety of backgrounds, like Moghani who is of German and Iranian decent.
“We always have free food not only to attract students but because food and music are a huge part of our culture,” said Mauricio Abascal, President of FEC. “It’s just the bait to get students to attend and then they have a chance to learn more about the different aspects of our culture.”
To showcase Cuban art and history, the group will guide students to the Cuban Heritage Collection in the Richter Library and the Lowe Art Museum to view the work of Cuban artist Rafael Soriano. Many student leaders will model Cuban guayaberas, a traditional men’s button-down shirt with pockets, popular in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mikayla Vielot may be contacted at mvielot@themiamihurricane.com.