Latino Culture Show sneak-peak
Latino Gala Scholarship Award- High School Seniors
Commemoration to graduating seniors
Commemoration to community member
Live Music
Art Exhibition
Poetry
Dance Performance
Free Food: University Catering
DJ and open dancing

*Formal Attire Requested*

Purpose: The 2010 Latino Gala is an opportunity for the University of Michigan Latino community and allies to come together in unity, and celebrate Latino success on campus and beyond. We will be commemorating the accomplishments of community members off campus, graduating seniors, and graduating high school seniors. In addition, we will showcase different forms of expression of art that represent our culture.

An important question: How do your origins as a Latino make you unique, yet still connect you to other Latinos?

The idea that our origins are “cosmic” is that it represents our culture which is diverse, extensive, far-reaching and constantly evolving. Cosmic is defined as global, huge, immense, infinite, limitless, universal, and vast. The Latino culture consists of Indigenous roots, African roots, European roots, Arabic roots, and the list goes on. Whether you speak Spanish or not, we want to embrace Latino culture with its heterogeneous components.

This is open to Latino students, allies, faculty, staff, and the community outside of UM.

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10th Annual Latin@ Culture Show
Date: Friday, April 16th 2010
Time: 7pm
Location: Lydia Mendelssohn Theater
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I am proud to work for this grassroots, non-profit organization. The YPP mission states:

In the Detroit News, I am quoted: “It’s really important for him to connect with the youth and not leave them out,” said Alexandra Tracy, a Lake Orion senior who will be in the crowd of U-M graduates. “Youth are the future.

That quote is connected to my work at The Young People’s Project – Michigan.

Salsa and my solo from LCS 2008:

Bachata and Merengue LCS 2008:

French politics interfere with students’ experience abroad

My Dad likes to call it “organized chaos.” I like to call it a pain in the butt. The French call it a way of life (and maybe, just maybe, a reason to relax and vacation a little). This love to protest to insure a social government system dates back to the French Revolution of 1789 where they dethroned the monarchy and fought for equality for all people. In these past few decades, there have been protests so intense that they turn violent, for example the infamous 1968 student protests that ultimately brought down the de Gaulle regime.

I attend the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP) Aix Science-Po, a “Grand Ecole” (essentialy French Ivy League) smaller branch off of the Université du Provence Aix-Marseille. Let’s just say I am VERY happy I made this choice instead of going to the much larger, socialized, and liberal school La Faculté de Lettres, aka “La Fac.”

When the strikes started, the IEP staff voted to go on strike for the first time in 50 years to protest against Sarkozy’s reform on higher education. I had 6 out of 8 classes canceled the first week, but then had all but 2 courses two weeks after. Although it was a bit chaotic, it only ended up bumping our exams later by a week, which did not bother most IEP students.

As for La Fac, it has now been 2 months since the strike started, and of course there are some classes that still have no taken place. Most of the people in my program, here have been left with no courses in at least one month.

Question is: these professors want to fight for a higher education, but at the same time aren’t they hurting their students by not teaching at all?

“First of all, not every Frenchwoman is a chic sylph — one recent study found that France is on track to match U.S. obesity levels by 2020. And second, we all know the slender Frenchie’s real secret: le smoking!”

To check out the rest of the article:  Are French Women Really Sexier Than American Women?

Por un Papá que es la persona mas trabajadora que he conocido,
Una Mamá que no hace sino pensar en sus niñas,
Une hermana que es la mejor amiga que la vida podría ofrecer,
Mi familia Tracy que solo muestran su caricia,
Unos tíos en Colombia que me muestran un amor mas profundo,
Un primo que llora por sus primitas,
Una prima que debería ser una hermana,
Y una abuelita de que un día quisiera, por lo menos, ser la mitad de la mujer que es ella.

*Special thanks to my sister for introducing me to this song*

The hottest new trend in shoes has me head over heals in love with Men’s fashion here, even more then before. At first, I really did not like them, but then I realized how chic and elegant they are, seriously. Take this fashion tip, men: