Day of Latin American Culture celebrated at Lobachevsky University

The Day of Latin American Culture was held at Lobachevsky University on 29 February. The celebration gathered more than 200 participants. A rich programme was prepared for the guests: songs, dances, quizzes, presentations, master classes. The event was organised by the UNN International Club of Students.

Currently, there are about 150 students from 14 Latin American countries studying at Lobachevsky University They come from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, El Salvador and Venezuela. Most of them have chosen such fields of study as General Medicine, Economics, and International Relations.

Oleg Trofimov, Rector of Lobachevsky University, welcomed the participants and guests in Spanish:

"Buenas tardes, estimados amigos! Estoy muy feliz de estar hoy con ustedes en el festival de la cultura latinoamericana! (Good afternoon, dear friends! I am very happy to be with you today at the Festival of Latin American Culture!). There is such a joyful, friendly atmosphere at this festival, and it is wonderful. We are very glad that you have chosen to study at Lobachevsky University, and we want you to enjoy your stay with us. We want your friends to come here, and we want the friendly group of Latin American students to grow and be part of  our international university family. For our part, we are ready to create all conditions for you to feel comfortable".

Students from Latin America introduced the guests to the cultural traditions, national customs and way of life of their countries. Fiery dances, colourful costumes and energetic music created the atmosphere of a real Latin American carnival. A master class in Spanish was organised for those who came to the festival, basic salsa movements were shown, and a quiz on knowledge of Latin American countries was held. Catherine Rodriguez, a 3rd year medical student at the UNN Institute of Clinical Medicine, was one of the hosts of the event.

"At this festival, I am happy to talk about the culture and traditions of Latin American countries. We have very kind, bright, cheerful people living there. And I love Russia very much, I like studying at Lobachevsky University. Here I met many of my friends from Russia and Latin America," said Catherine Rodriguez.

The project "We will show you!" is part of the "I care - I can!" programme of UNN international students' social initiatives, which was initiated by Dmitry Medvedev, Head of the International Students Support Office at Lobachevsky University. The main goal of the programme is to remove barriers in communication between students from different countries. The participants of the project "We will show you!" represent six national student councils: Algerian, Indian, Latin American, Egyptian, Syrian, and Turkmen.  During the spring term, they hold festivals with national flavour. The first event of the international student project "We will show you!" was the India Day, which took place on 1 February 2024.