Every University of Oklahoma student must have a home away from home. At least that is what Eva AlaTorre believes in and what pushed her to apply as the programming chair for Latino Flavor– the largest culinary celebration of Latin American diversity on campus.
AlaTorre is a sophomore student majoring in elementary education, and whose Latin American roots are the cause for her involvement in Latino Flavor.
“We do have a lot of Hispanic students on campus, but we tend to be a little shy to reach out…” AlaTorre said.
To fix the lack of outreach, the Hispanic American Student Association and Latino Programs and Services at OU annually organize Latino Flavor.
After learning about the event’s purpose AlaTorre did not hesitate to get involved.
“…I like to care about our cultures,” AlaTorre said. “The entire time it was a nice, exciting experience to find any little way to reach a certain person.”
The restaurant-like event served a diverse menu of many traditional dishes from across Latin America like Peru, Bolivia, Cuba, and Mexico, among others. Attendees were asked to order an appetizer, a drink, a main dish, a side dish, and a dessert– each from a different country.
Alatorre said the more she learned about student’s ethnicities across the campus, the more she was inspired.
“I tried to represent [the student’s culture] through a platillo.”
But it did not stop there. People had the opportunity to watch traditional performances from diverse cultures while they enjoyed the food.
“Although we share food flavors, we also wanted to share our diverse flavors that we have around Latinoamerica,” AlaTorre said.
Approximately 12 countries were represented at the event, making it the most countries included since she has been at OU.
“I’ve been to different events that center around culture, but this one is in your face.” said Yamileth Samaniego, a junior at OU. “There was no way to miss anything.”
This was Samaniego’s first time attending the event, and she said it was worth the $5 entrance fee. Her Mexican roots felt represented, and she saw firsthand the impact events like these can have to people on campus.
“There was a band that played, and I was walking by and all the people that were catering started recording them,” recounted Samaniego as she walked past a group of Hispanic caterers. “I’m assuming they recognized the music, and it was one of those moments where you knew they would go and tell their families what songs they were playing at school today.”
AlaTorre said the event’s success gurantees it will make a comeback next year, and she is excited to continue bringing flavor and cultural richness from Latin America to Norman, Oklahoma.
