Under a foggy 43 degree afternoon in MN, a group of undergraduate students gathered at their professor’s home. The goal... to enjoy a taste of PR from food to music to history before embarking on their study abroad journey on December 28, 2014. The group will leave MN for a three week course to explore diversity and social capital under the lens of the Puerto Rican people and culture. However, before they leave we decided to give them a taste of Puerto Rican music and food.
The day began with a little bit of a glitch since the road construction worked against us and we had a late start. Regardless of the slow start we ended up with a bang! We spent the first half of our time together getting acquainted with each other and talking about how we were preparing for the trip. The group who has members with an array of experiences, backgrounds and interests shared a common question, “what do I pack?”.
Then, our amazing Bomba dancers and drummers arrived. A shout out to Emilia, Luis and Caritza for teaching us about Afro Puerto Rican culture and music. Students, professor and the family danced, sang and experienced their first of many “out of your comfort zone” activities. We learned that Bomba is a community dance that was developed by Puerto Rican African descendants. It was a method to tell stories and share music while engaging the entire community. This was proved true when ALL students and guests stood up to dance a music heard to many for the first time and sing to a language known to only a few.
Community began developing among people who had just met an hour ago. As I clapped and watched everyone move, sing and laugh uncomfortably I thought, what is it about music that can bring individuals from all walks of life together? What is it about music that is the best vehicle to pass down culture and history? What is it about music that transcends generations? I am not sure of the answers but what I learned this week is that music can have the power to allow us to speak the same language and celebrate our commonalities while allowing us to rely on our differences to connect with each other.