One campus. One community. One world.
Those are the taglines on a Missouri S&T website that gives us the good news about the Celebration of Nations that will be held Sept. 30 in Rolla.
The event showcases not only the many cultures that a college such as S&T has represented on campus, but it’s a chance for residents of Rolla and beyond to see for themselves that not everyone lives like we do. Experiencing other cultures first hand is something only a few lucky folks get to do. Traveling out of the country to see how other people live isn’t in everyone’s budget.
I have been lucky enough to travel to Mexico, Canada, France and Italy. That doesn’t qualify me as an experienced world traveler, but it has been enough to give me a taste of other cultures and how unique and colorful they can be.
On a vacation to Mexico this spring, we took a trip to the tiny mountain village of El Tuito, a 16th century treasure that hasn’t been touched – much, anyway – by the tourist industry. We drove past la Plaza (the equivalent of our downtown square) and saw a woman making hand-made corn tortillas. We shared the cobblestone streets with kids and horses and cows. The street was lined with vendors selling Oaxaca cheese, agave nectar, fresh produce and seafood from the Pacific Ocean just down the mountain.
I figure the Celebration of Nations will be a bit like taking that trip to El Tuito, with sights and smells and sounds that aren’t too familiar to me, but are a treasure to experience.
While El Tuito has been around for hundreds of years, the Celebration of Nations was created in 2010 to, “showcase and celebrate the vibrant, cultural diversity that makes Rolla unique to the Ozarks,” according to S&T.
Plans call for downtown Rolla to come alive with, “live music and dance, ethnic food, arts, crafts and displays and plenty of fun for the kids.”
Speaking of kids, experiencing other cultures through travels or events such as the Celebration of Nations go a long way in helping them understand that no matter how different other cultures might seem, basically we strive for the same things. It’s a blessing to educate your kids that way, and gives us hope that one day the world will understand each other better.
Our El Tuito trip was by invitation from a friend and Puerto Vallarta business owner, Luis, who was having a customer appreciation get-together in his hometown. His mom and brothers were there, and many of his friends and family. What an awesome experience it was to watch Luis’ friend make tortillas from scratch, and see a huge hunk of beef turned over and over and over on an open pit until it was cooked enough to eat and rare enough to make my mouth water.
There was music and dancing, words of appreciation and tears from Luis’ mom as one of the entertainers strummed his guitar and sang her and her late husband’s favorite song.
The more we saw this side of Mexico – far away from swimming with the dolphins and Bubba Gump Shrimp – the more we saw the real Mexico and learned that we all aren’t as different as we thought. The only way you can experience that is to, well, experience that.
I hope it is that way for you Sept. 30 at the Celebration of Nations, an event that should be a must-see for all of us, and for a lot of reasons.
The Parade of Nations starts the day at 11 a.m. with flags representing more than 80 nations colorfully reminding us that there are 7.5 billion people living countless ways in countless places in our world. And the rest of the day’s experiences will remind us that, when it comes down to it, we dress differently, talk differently, eat differently and say hello differently, but are alike in many of the ways that matter most.
