Saturday Dec. 5, the Mathers Museum will host its Latino Family Parranda and Community Celebration from 2 – 4 p.m. The Amigos club is attending this event and invites all South students to attend.
“This is an event sponsored by La Casa which is the Latino culture center at IU,” Amigos club sponsor Shirin Ansari said. “Parranda just means celebration or party.”
The event will include music, food and dancing and is targeted at Latino families in the community, though it is open to everyone.
“I think that attending these types of events raises awareness of students of different cultures that exist in our South community and Bloomington community,” Ansari said.
She said that in her Spanish classes, she often makes references to various cultural elements of life in Spanish speaking countries.
“We make those references a lot but you can see some of that right here in town,” she said.
For Spanish students, Ansari believes that an understanding of language and culture are linked.
“I think that language and culture are very closely related,” she said. “I consider myself a Spanish teacher but I’m also a culture teacher. I don’t think you can have one without the other.”
The Amigos club is open to all students, and new members can join any time.
“Amigos actually stands for a mixed international group of students,” she said. “I’m always encouraging my Spanish students to join.”
Ansari runs both the Amigos and Spanish clubs, which she described as having some overlap. Amigos has a strong connection to La Casa at IU, and focuses on cultural appreciation, whereas Spanish club is more about language.
