The Duster Today

A TASTE OF MEXICO

Monday night kicked off Cultural Awareness Week, and what a great start it was! Senate joined with OLAS (Organization of Latin American Students) to create a taste of Mexico.

The crowd gathered in front of the SUB around 6:00 pm to eat some delicious fajitas, which were catered by Aramark. The small crowd ate up the yummy goodness and many went for more.

Nancy Carpenter attended the event on Monday and said "I just came for the food and it was great! Once I ate, I decided to stick around, and it turned out to be a great night. Plus, I got a lot of candy from the piñata." Score!

After most people finished eating it was rather dark, so some members from Senate draped some lights among the trees, and the glow from the lights was just enough. The first piñata was broken open and the candy fell out, prompting many people to leave the event. A second piñata was broken, though, which meant more candy! For everybody!

Once the food was put away and the candy was fought over, the event moved inside the Moody Auditorium for a showing of the great movie, The Alamo. No, not the cheesy Dennis Quaid version, but the fantastic shoot-em-up John Wayne "classic."

All-in-all, it was a short, sweet night full of great food, fellowship, and friendship, with a little taste of Mexico on the side.

IRISH CONCERT, "BRAVEHEART"

One felt like they were actually in Ireland at the performance Tuesday night as part of Cultural Awareness Week. Students, who came to listen to the Irish musical group Ronainish, all seemed to enjoy listening to the upbeat sounds of the fiddle, flute, drum and guitar. A song from the popular movie "Titanic" was played that everyone recognized and a member of the group danced to the song in her tap shoes.

"They were very talented and I would recommend it," Sandi Underwood, a junior at Lubbock Christian University observed about Ronainish.

The cultural experience became even more interesting when a student from LCU, Chase Marberry, dressed in the Scottish kilt and then Mr. Mike Proper played the bagpipes. The loud, almost somber notes of the bagpipe echoed throughout the SUB when Proper played "Amazing Grace" and a widely-known song around here, "Deep in the Heart of Texas."

By the end of the night, the audience was clapping, tapping their feet, or drumming on the chairs along with the music and laughing. "I thought it was an amazing cultural experience. It was an awesome performance and I can't wait until next year," said freshman, Daniel O'Quinn.

Barrett Smith, a senior at LCU, was pretty pumped after the concert, saying, "It was a pretty stupendous experience. It brought back stupendous memories of camps where the same Mike Proper would wake us up with beautiful renditions early in the morning."

After the Irish concert, the movie, "Braveheart," was played in the Moody Auditorium. Sophomore Andy Brewer echoed the same sentiments as Barrett when describing the movie, "It was the most stupendous movie I've ever seen. It changed my life for forever."

Bagpipes, flutes, drums, guitars, tap dancing, and watching Braveheart all in one night? Now that is a cultural experience!