Day 3

Day Three: Immersing into Puerto Rican Culture

At 8:30 a.m. the students headed to Albizu University’s San Juan location, where they first enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Soon after breakfast, the students were able to learn about the culture, history, music and dance of Puerto Rico! They were presented with a beautiful dance workshop with Ballet Folklorico Nacional de Puerto Rico. They learned about the history of Bomba dance, which is said to be a “dialogue between the dancer and the drums”. It is a traditional style of Puerto Rican music and dance that reflects the African heritage of the island. 

There are 23 rhythms of bomba and the instruments consist of 2 or more drums. These traditional drums used in bomba are called “barriles” since they have long been built from the wood of barrels. There is one main important drum, which follows the dancer, the rest of the drums follow the rhythm. Another instrument is a maraca, which is usually shaken by the singer. This type of dance originated during the 16th century when slavery was legal. On Sunday afternoons when the slaves had free time away from the sugar cane fields, they would express themselves through dance. The attire that the bomba dancers wear consist of a long sleeved dress and a head piece, as its purpose was for protection from the sun and sweat. 

Then it was time for students and professors to show off their dance moves and take part in dancing. They were taught choreography and were able to dance with the very talented dancers!

After dancing, the students were given a presentation on bilingualism in Puerto Rico by Tiana Jimenez Lopez SLP.D., CCC-SLP, who is a professor at Puerto Rico University. The presentation consisted of cultural and linguistic competence & humility, history of Puerto Rico, bilingualism and colonialism. The students were taught how important it is to immerse themselves into other cultures as it allows them to evolve and better understand the shared history of a group. Also, how learning their biases and understanding their differences will make them better clinicians. The students were also able to hear from Jennifer O’Connor, who is a 2nd year SLP student at the University of Puerto Rico. She was able to share her experience of moving from New York to Puerto Rico, in hopes of learning Spanish and becoming a bilingual SLP.  - Jovon Perez