As National Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, Alex Silverio and Tatiana Fernández Pérez shared pieces of their cultures at this month’s installment of Cultural Café, presented by International Student and Scholar Services at the Office of Global Education.
Each semester, Kent State University students, faculty and staff are invited to help foster multicultural diversity and awareness on campus by hosting a Cultural Café.
The host prepares an informational presentation about their culture and engages the crowd with trivia, facts and traditions. Presentations may include history, music, dance, games and discussion, but they always involve food.
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, Silverio kicked off the event by presenting on Mexican culture.
Silverio is a graduate of Kent State’s education advisement program and a current academic advisor for the College of Communication and Information. She lived in Mexico until she was 12 years old.
Silverio’s 30-minute presentation included topics like the intricacies of Mexican politics, proper restaurant etiquette, America’s “obsession” with Cinco de Mayo and notable Mexican figures like filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, actress Salma Hayek and painter Frida Kahlo.
The crowd leaned in to laugh, gasp and learn as Silverio revealed that Caesar salads are of Mexican descent, that Mexico boasts the world’s smallest volcano and that Mexico has more pyramids than Egypt.
Tatiana Fernández Pérez, a Kent State Ph.D. candidate in the department of Earth Sciences, presented on Puerto Rico.
In her 30-minute presentation, Fernández Pérez covered the history of Puerto Rico, the bright culture of salsa dance and reggaeton music, introduced the language of Taíno, which brought English-speakers words like hurricane and barbecue, explained different iterations of the Puerto Rican flag and outlined present-day political tension between the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Members of the audience learned to patronize locally owned hotels and restaurants when visiting Puerto Rico and joined in on Fernández Pérez’s love for Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny.
Working with a Cultural Café coordinator, the hosts each provided two traditional recipes to be prepared by University Dining Services.
Making her case that Mexico has the best cuisine in the world, Silverio brought chicken chilaquiles, a dish featuring guajillo chiles, queso fresco and corn tortillas, and flan, a creamy baked custard with a caramelized top.
Rising to the challenge, Fernández Pérez brought mini mofongo balls, garlicky bites of plantain and pork, and tembleque puertorriqueno, a cinnamon coconut pudding traditionally served at Christmas.
Jef Davis, associate director of international student and scholar services for the Office of Global Education, invites members of the Kent State community to the final Cultural Café of the semester.
“Our hope is that international students have an opportunity to tell their story and get the chance to show off all the wealth of cultural background that they bring with them,” Davis said. “It's really to help our international students get the opportunity to share with the rest of Kent State, and to give the rest of Kent State an opportunity to better understand our international students and their journey.”
The next Cultural Café will be held noon-1:30 p.m. on Nov. 15, in the Kent State Student Center, where the hosts will present on Tunisia and the Comoros Islands.