La Casa’s Carnaval
La Casa hosted their annual El Carnaval event on Oct. 4 across St. Lawrence University’s campus, collaborating with many student organizations, staff and faculty members for a full day of events. The event schedule started at 12 p.m. with the Pageant, followed by Copà América Fútbol Tournament, Guerra de Agua (Water Fight), El Mercadito and La Casa Night at the Java Barn until 12 a.m.
Vice President of La Casa, Jimena Galeano Reyes ’28, highlighted the improvements made for this year’s Carnaval. In previous years, there were dancers, steel walkers and a mechanical bull during Carnaval. “This year, we tried using university resources more instead of spending too much money on external resources and collaborating to have a bigger presence for La Casa on campus,” Reyes said. Even though some clubs dropped out of events at the last minute, they decided to keep going and enjoy the moment. “I feel like we showcased the Latin American cultures better, and to more people, and using less money on the event,” Reyes said.
Will Chalfant ’27 represented the Green House during the Pageant, and he won the competition. He wore a green broccoli costume and did a “little dance routine” as all competitors did. “Personally, I had a basket attached to a hoe, and I displayed the basket to all of the judges and audience members, did a couple of dance moves, and walked backward up the stairs; and the judges enjoyed that,” Chalfant said. The five judges, made up of all faculty and staff members, also asked competitors some questions related to combating issues on campus and humorous one-word-answer questions.
Doris van Zwetselaar ’28 played for the winning team, Guatemala, during the Copà América Fútbol Tournament. “Even though the team had only one Guatemalan [student], to see people from different countries all over the world hold a Guatemalan flag, pick up that spirit, and absolutely cheer on, just for the energy and the vibe was amazing,” Zwetselaar said. “Also, to see people who have no sort of initial connection to the countries that they were supposed to represent, or even like Latin America in the first place, sort of adopt that spirit and express it in such a beautiful way was fascinating and definitely helped us fight our way to the top.” The team’s trophy is now in the I-House, where most team members live.
Fatima Ezzahrae Oubakalla ’27 tabled for the Arabic Club to serve baklava during El Mercadito, where many student organizations hosted a diverse range of activities. “The baklava, which was all gone within the first 30 minutes, was absolutely delicious, and everyone agreed!” she said. She found El Carnaval to be a great opportunity for all cultures to come together and enjoy the Saturday. “As members of the Arabic Club—Gisele, Gisele’s kids, Nabila, Eziyhe and I—we were thrilled by the lively atmosphere and loved sharing smiles with everyone who came to enjoy the baklava; it was an amazing Saturday to remember!
Chalfant also participated in the Guerra de Agua (Water Fight) after the soccer matches. “I think everyone kind of gets stuck in their circles at SLU, and they don’t really know what’s going on outside of who they’re texting on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “So just being able to walk outside, and see a bunch of people throwing water and colors around and just having an awesome time with people that they might not talk to on a day-to-day basis, and they might not have anything to say to, but they can play soccer game together and high-five and say ‘good game’ afterwards, and then that’s a new face.” He also appreciated La Casa’s ability to host a long day of events and maintain the energy for every single event.
Java member David Grzebyta ’26 took part in organizing the La Casa x Java Night. While La Casa arranged Latin American decorations and snacks for the event, Java took on the responsibility of music. “It was the first Casa x Java collaboration event, and it was a huge success, so we’re going to be doing more in the future!” Grzebyta said. He mentioned that there was a great turnout for the event, including many people who do not often come to Java, and some even danced on the stage. “I guess this show just serves as a reminder that Java is a space for everybody and that we don’t just listen to American Indie Rock; we listen to everything, and we want to encourage everybody to come and have fun and introduce their music as well.”
La Casa’s Event Coordinator, Edgar Quinones Alcivar ’28, explained the club’s plans for the next few years. “We would want to keep it as some sort of tradition that will happen annually and to keep it in the fall,” he said. Even if Carnival is normally celebrated in February in Latin America, he sees the fall season as a better option for Carnival in the context of SLU. “We tried to bring a little bit of Latin America to a different context, which is kind of also what Casa means, the safe space for people whose families migrated from home and brought a little bit of home here to this U.S. context, but also to the SLU context.”