by Berenice Torrecillas, Maria Linares and Benjamin Okun
The March 6 Carnival Party was a great reminder that some of the most enjoyable events that Spouses & Partners sponsors are those co-hosted by other MIT community organizations. Berenice Torrecillas, Maria Linares and Mayra Hartmann did a great job navigating the event planning process to pull off an exciting party, in collaboration with the Post Doc Association, MIT-Brazil and the Brazilian Student Association.
As Maria noted, the Carnival was not easy to organize, given the short time frame available to prepare, and the challenges associated with coordinating communication between multiple groups. But both Maria and Berenice described the fun of buying decorations, and preparing Carnival masks to give to children who attended the festival. Members of the Spouses & Partners group also devoted a special session to crafting their own individual artistic masks, and the result was that partygoers appeared in a range of creative and colorful guises. Although the organizers publicized the Carnival cautiously to avoid overwhelming limited space, and initially feared that attendance might be underwhelming, their worries proved unfounded. Festooned with festive balloons and streamers, Lobdell Dining Hall was soon filled to capacity with revelers, who lost no time in getting down to their celebratory business. As DJ
Hiro served up a variety of tunes, partygoers dug in to a buffet filled with rice and beans, savory casseroles, fried chicken with plantains, and piles of sweet treats. Libations from the nearby bar helped those of age loosen up in time to greet the arrival of a live Afrobrazilian band, which kept the energy pumping with thunderous drum performances. Maria and Berenice both noted that even the smaller kids embraced the energy and kept the dance floor full, with everybody enjoying another opportunity for our international community to eat, drink, dance and be merry at this fun-filled cultural event.
