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By Jenny Welp
Taking a May Term trip to Puerto Rico got Laura Gildemeister thinking about what it’s like to be a minority.
The Morningside sophomore said she’s taken four years of Spanish, but she still had trouble communicating in the predominantly Spanish-speaking country.
“Everybody says, ‘Oh, they should be speaking our language,’” she said. “It takes a lot to learn a language. . . It’s not, ‘Go learn Spanish right now.’”
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| Students pose for a group photo at the Serralles Castle (photo courtesy of Laura Gildemeister). |
The main objective of this course, held May 16-24, was for students to experience a different culture, said Dr. Lillian López, associate professor of history and political science.
“It is important to learn through immersion in the culture as opposed to just reading about it,” she said. “I hope through this experience, they learn to appreciate differences in cultures – that it’s OK to be different and that there are positive things in the differences.”
López led 16 students and one alumna on the trip, along with Kitty Green, another instructor in Morningside’s history and political science department.
The students visited El Yunque rainforest; San Felipe del Morrow Fort, one of the oldest forts in the Americas; Old San Juan, the colonial section of the city; Serralles Castle, the house of a prominent rum-producing family; and Ponce Museum of Art, which has one of the best collections of fine art in Spanish-speaking America.
They also went to Buena Vista Hacienda, a historical coffee plantation; visited Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico; and went snorkeling off the tiny Puerto Rican islands of Icacos and Lobos.
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| A view of the beach from a boat off the coast (photo courtesy of Laura Gildemeister) |
More than one student said snorkeling was a highlight of the trip.
“I work at a pool, so I see water every day,” said sophomore Hillary Utman. “But seeing the ocean and how the coral looked in it – I don’t know – I appreciate things more now because I don’t get to see that every day.”
López said she most enjoyed taking students to her brother’s home in the town of Gurabo and serving them a traditional Christmas dinner with roasted pork, traditional rice, and a coconut dessert.
“It was really the only time they were with a Puerto Rican family in a Puerto Rican home, sharing food and conversation,” she said.
López was born and raised in Puerto Rico and completed her formal education there through her law degree. She moved from Puerto Rico to Sioux City in 1989 and began teaching at Morningside in 1990.
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| An underwater view of coral while snorkeling (photo courtesy of Laura Gildemeister) |
Rachel Held said she felt López’s familiarity with Puerto Rico made the May Term course a better trip.
“We really did get to experience the culture because we weren't in the resort or tourist areas. We were in small hotels,” the Morningside junior said. “She knew where to take us to see the culture.”
Held said the hotels where they stayed might be downtown, in between a couple of buildings, and fifth-generation family run. She said the employees were very nice, doing everything they could to help. If they needed beach towels, the staff made sure they had beach towels.
“I don’t think we would have had that at a big resort – the friendliness,” she said.
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