Hundreds of spectators gathered to enjoy the sights and sounds of Colombia Saturday night in Meacham Auditorium.

Colombian Night, an annual event hosted by the Colombian Student Association, featured a "Cultural Mosaic" presentation in Oklahoma Memorial Union before the party migrated off campus for dinner and a late night of music and dancing. The presentation included readings of Colombian literature, a short concert by the band Los Independientes, a series of traditional dances performed by members of COLSA and a skit demonstrating the proper way to win forgiveness from a Colombian woman.

Carlo Romero, letters senior, was co-master of ceremonies for the event.

"We wanted to promote the celebration of Colombian culture," Romero said. "There are a lot of South Americans at the university who are virtual ambassadors for their country, and along with them they bring the music and the dance. We want to celebrate it with people who are familiar with it."

Edna Tovar, petroleum engineering graduate student, is one such cultural ambassador.

Tovar lived in Colombia for 25 years before coming to OU to study about five months ago. She said she spent nearly a month preparing for a performance of the traditional dance "La Puya," hoping that it would be a welcome reminder of home for the Colombian student population.

"There is a lot of Colombian community here, and [I wanted] to bring them a little bit of our country to the United States," Tovar said. "Aand not only that, but to show people from the United States and other places in the world ... the beautiful things that Colombia has."

Polina Ezhkova, a social work graduate student who came to OU from Russia in August, said she was pleased to see such a celebration of diversity on campus.

"I'm glad that they have culture night," Ezhkova said. "It's really important ... to know other cultures."

But some of the audience, like Norman resident Hernan Echeverria, just wanted a taste of home. Echeverria said the evening's food and dances were an authentic reminder of the life he enjoyed in Colombia before coming to the United States in the mid '80s.

Romero said the evening brought an authentic education that could not have been attained in the classroom.

"Learning about each piece of culture-the dances, the musical performance-was a new education for me, and I enjoyed that," he said.
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