Terraka Garner

Staff Writer

“Bienvenidos to Latin America,” an event that will be hosted by the Hispanic Awareness Leadership Organization, or HALO, is an event focused primarily on providing cultural awareness to the students of Idaho State University.

“[The American Culture] is a melting pot of all cultures. It combines cultures from everywhere, whereas Latin America focuses specifically on their own culture which includes art, music, dance, religion and folk art,” said Jonathan Dominguez, HALO secretary. 

The event will be held in the Pond Student Union Building Ballroom at 6 p.m. on March 14.

The organization will be selling tickets through March 14 in the Rendezvous Complex and in the Pond Student Union Building.

Ticket costs are $5 for students, $7 for faculty and $8 for the public. 

“Since the name says Hispanic Awareness Leadership Organization, people think it’s only for Hispanics, but it’s more to raise awareness of our culture, the Hispanic culture,” said Dominguez. “We actually like to encourage people that are not Hispanic to join, so they can learn more about our culture.”

The “Bienvenidos to Latin America” event will provide four different Latin American themes: The Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos from Mexico, Carnival from Brazil, Coban Folkloric Festival from Guatemala and Lord of Stars from Peru.

Each theme will have its own separate section in the PSUB ballroom. The tables for each theme will be decorated just as the town would be decorated within each Latin American cultural celebration.

Dia De Los Muertos is reportedly celebrated by not only Mexico, but also by other Latin American countries.

Dominguez explained that Dia De Los Muertos is a day where people “remember their loved ones that have left the Earth.”

They do this to keep the essence of their deceased family member alive and to bring about the good memories rather than focusing on their deaths.

During Dia De Los Muertos, the people celebrating will make “the favorite meal of the loved one,” said Dominguez. This is done so that the loved one who has passed on will be able to enjoy the meal as well.

There will be a variety of different Latin American foods to sample at the “Bienvenidos to Latin America” event.

“We are not having an actual meal. It’s more like a little bit of everything,” said Dominguez.

As an appetizer, chips and salsa will be placed on each table in the ballroom.

There will be sopes, which according to Dominguez are “like dough that is cooked like a tortilla with rice and beans inside of it, kind of like an empanada.”

Alongside the sopes will be chicken, popusas, rice and beans, macaroni salad, brownies, churros and chocoflan, which is “like half chocolate cake and then on top of it is flan.”

Refreshment options will include horchata, lemonade and water. 

In terms of entertainment, the organization has been practicing and will be performing Latin American cultural dances in relation to the four different themes of the night.

“We are HALO, we’re better than the game,” said Dominguez.