Puerto Rico: Day 3

Today was a day full of art and education! We began the morning by returning to Spanish 101! Our professor again started (and almost ended) class speaking only Spanish. However, at the end of class, we had time to talk about our purpose for taking this class, EDUC 497. At first, I thought it would only be an amazing cultural experience, but as I have talked to teachers more on the trip, I am finding my real purpose for being here. A few of us discussed the fact that we currently teach in more rural school districts and do not see as much of the Hispanic population. However, we now realize that a shift is going to come, bringing more Spanish speaking people to our areas. I feel this class is one of the most authentic ways to prepare not only myself, but my students for this change. Many of my students have not experienced much out of York County; therefore, it is my job to return and expose them to this! What a wonderful lesson I have learned!


After our discussion on education in Spanish class, we moved to another building to do what many of us have been waiting for....SALSA!!! We spent the first hour of the lesson learning about the influences of Salsa music around the world and the influences that made Salsa what it is today. One important thing I noticed throughout the lesson was, even though our instructor was speaking in Spanish the entire time, I was able to understand most of the information because of the pace in which he spoke and the fact that he had a PowerPoint that displayed the words (this goes back to my verbal and visual cues).



After our history of Salsa, we got the chance to learn the dance. Our instructor took things very slowly, and many of us were able to catch on to most of it. However, I knew from seeing it on television, that there was a little more to the dance than what we were being taught and this became apparent later tonight!

First, however, I want to talk about our trip to the Art Museum of Puerto Rico. We first walked to the sculpture gardens in the back of the building, and we were all amazed how something so beautiful could be in the middle of a city. The sculptures were surrounded by a gorgeous pond with multi-colored coy fish swimming amongst the lily pads. When we returned inside, we had time to explore the paintings from throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America. As Casey and I walked throughout the museum, one painting struck us. The painting was by Angel Botello Barros and was named Flora de Puerto Rico. It portrayed Puerto Rico surrounded by the flora of the island. There were the commonly eaten fish in the sea, beans (a staple food of Puerto Rico), trees and animals. We both thought that it would be a wonderful way to represent Pennsylvania. We could use this painting as a lesson on Puerto Rico and Pennsylvania by having the students draw the state and surround it with all the natural resources found within the state.

After our museum visit, we went to a local restaurant. We had an amazing meal and saw fruit for the first time this trip. At dinner, we discussed that we were surprised by the fact that there are very few vegetables and fruits provided with meals--we have yet to see a banana or salad. It was so refreshing to have a meal that wasn't only rice and beans!!!

Since we had such a wonderful time learning how to Salsa dance, we thought we should practice a little more, or at least see how it's really done! We were amazed! We went to a small establishment in Old San Juan and heard live Salsa music and saw Puerto Ricans dancing to music. It was so interesting to see how they just feel the music. I must say that it was one of the most wonderful experiences I have had thus far!!!