Saturday, December 12, 2009

Cosmetology celebrates Thanksgiving with international feast









Sharon Ho
Issue date: 11/30/09


Cosmetology staff and students bonded over potluck lunch and salsa dancing at the annual Cosmetology Diversity Thanksgiving festival held Nov. 24.

The cosmetology department was awash in a rainbow spectrum of colors as students dressed in their ethnic costumes while others were decked in bright colors to celebrate the occasion. Cosmetology student Fanny Tam wore a gold Chinese cheongsam top and a Spanish cosmetology freshman student was spotted in a red and yellow Indian sari top.

Turkish cosmetology students Fatih Gunes, 22, and Pinar Birincioglu, 33, brought Baklava and Pogaca. Baklava is a Turkish dessert pastry made of layers of flaky fillo dough sweetened with honey and filled with chopped nuts. Poga?a is a type of puff pastry eaten in Turkey and some European nations. "Poga?a is a saltish pastry filled with ground beef; I made the dough myself," said Birincioglu.

Maria Santos brought Pancit, a famous Filipino noodle dish. Her pancit dish included shrimp, shredded chicken, carrots and lemon as its main ingredients.

Cosmetology student Elena Malevanaya, 28, brought Russian apple pie. "I really love potluck, really enjoy being together, and wish the potluck was once a month, instead of once a year," said Malevanaya.

Cosmetology student Sophia Piosalan, 24, brought white rice and Spam, a precooked meat product consisting of chopped pork shoulder meat and ham meat. "Hawaiians are crazy about Spam," said Piosalan. Spam, also known as "The Hawaiian Steak", is featured on the menus of fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King in Hawaii.

"I'm so full," said cosmetology student Noemi Anaya after a turn at the potluck buffet table. Anaya, who is of Mexican ethnicity, brought corn bread. Corn is a staple of the Mexican diet and Mexicans are known as "people of the corn." After lunch, cosmetology coordinator and instructor Becky Boosalis led the students in a salsa dance session. Salsa dancing is a Spanish dance with Cuban roots. "In salsa what you do is soften your knees, and your hips will start to sway," said Boosalis.

"I love dancing; I learned new steps today, and also burned some calories from the potluck," said cosmetology student Jesus Alejandro, 19.

Alejandro, who is Puerto Rican, brought pizza for the potluck as he "loves Italian food." Alejandro also showed a video of a traditional Quinceañera to his cosmetology classmates.

Quinceañera, meaning "becoming a lady", is a Latin American coming of age ceremony held on a girl's 15th birthday, comparable to a sweet sixteen celebration. During the Quinceañera celebration, the 15-year old lady dances with her father.

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