Puerto Rico Day 4

After a busy day yesterday, I was ready for a slower paced day. Today, we spent time in the morning learning more about the Spanish language. Following that lesson, we had a professor discuss music in Puerto Rico. The primary focus of the lesson was about Salsa dancing. He answered questions about how and when Salsa dancing became prevalent in Puerto Rico. This interested me because I get the feeling that the Puerto Rican culture is influenced by music. The way that Salsa dancing is spoken about is deep and meaningful. Below is a video of me trying to learn how to Salsa dance.



Next, we were able to have our lunch and work on our blog for a while. We then headed off to Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. We were able to see some art work created by Puerto Rican artists. I am not one to easily interpret art, so I wanted to find a way to relate or use this art in the classroom. Stacey and I walked around together and we came to a painting that interested us. The painting was by Angel Botello Barros and was named Flora de Puerto Rico. Below is the painting that brought inspiration to me and my classroom. My thoughts were to incorporate the art teacher at the school I work at to teach the students about the artist and Puerto Rican art. Then I would relate the concept of the painting below to Pennsylvania. The painting below shows Puerto Rico, all of the designs around the edges of the painting relate to the natural resources that are found in Puerto Rico. I would like to have my students create the same concept about Pennsylvania.

Artist: Angel Botello Barros

Name: Flora de Puerto Rico (1946)

Taken from: http://www.farpr.org/flora-puerto-rico

After the museum, a few of us walked to a local Italian restaurant. We had all been craving some fruits and vegetables because they are not a part of the daily meals in Puerto Rico. We enjoyed are meal and took a walk back to the university through San Juan. After freshening up, we went out to practice our Salsa dancing at a local establishment.