Today we immersed ourselves in Brazilian culture by taking a cooking class and visiting an art exhibit. From these activities, it became very apparent that culture brings us together and allows us to connect with one another. We had our gastronomy class all morning, where we split into groups that each worked on preparing different Brazilian dishes. During this time, we were also taught about the history and meaning of the dishes, along with how Brazilian food is a mix of Portuguese, Indigenous, and African cultures, and this illustrates how Brazilian culture has created a connection between those three cultures. Similar to how different cultures have worked together to form Brazilian culture, we all worked together to cook an authentic Brazilian meal. In this class, we were able to connect with our Brazilian teachers as we learned from them, as well as each other, as we worked together to create several food dishes. Despite the challenge of a language barrier, we were still able to learn more about Brazilian culture by creating and tasting a variety of traditional dishes.

In the afternoon, we visited an art exhibit called “I am the other’s other,” where artist Es Devlin communicates through her cohesive works the idea that we cannot exist without each other and creates a sense of community. Specifically, her Mirror Maze showed us the importance of teamwork, as we had to work together to find all of the different rooms, or exhibits, and eventually our way out.

As we exited the exhibit, there were huge poles where we had to place our entry stickers. They were covered in stickers, representing all the people who had visited that same exhibit, and I thought it was really cool to be able to see just how many people I had shared this experience with. Even though every single person did not visit the exhibit at the same time, we are still connected by that shared experience.

On the whole, the day’s activities pointed out ways that culture can bring people together. From working together in the creation of a meal to adding onto a stranger’s drawing, we as humans can form connections in a variety of ways by sharing our culture with those around us.