The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/20/07 Last Updated: 11/29/07

Media Credit: Nate Chute Audio Slideshow - The process and performance. of the International Banquet

Media Credit: Nate Chute Juniors Iveth Canales and Paulo Dichone dance in a Cuban salsa dance at the International Banquet on Friday, Nov. 16. Canales, vice president of the International Club, made sure things ran smoothly Friday night.

Media Credit: Nate Chute Freshmen Eric Gitangu and Emmanuel Anukun-Dabson perform in a Congolese dance at the International Banquet Nov. 16.

The International Club, under the guidance of president senior Nissana Nov, had spent a great portion of year planning for the club's biggest event, the International Banquet. When Nov had to go home due to a family emergency, club vice president junior Iveth Canales was put in charge of the event.

Canales is an international student from Honduras who decided to come to the United States after hosting an international student from Whitworth in her Honduras home.

Coming up with a theme for this year's banquet was one of the most challenging aspects the club faced in the planning of the event. Each week the members and committees had meetings where they discussed all the issues at hand. Finally, though, they had to dedicate an entire meeting just to determining a theme, Canales said.

They ultimately decided on a phrase that encompassed all the words everyone hoped the event would be focused on: "Celebrate the song of our humanity, embracing the rhythms of every life."

On Friday, Nov. 16, the night of the International Banquet, it seemed that people were calling Canales' name from all around. "People are lined-up out the door!" "Where are the programs?" "There is a problem…where are the emcees?!" However, everything came together as guests started arriving.

International students, representing 24 different countries, lined the walls offering greetings in different languages.

Canales functioned as a greeter while coordinating with camera people, ensuring PowerPoints worked, speaking with chefs and practicing her parts for the evening. Then, as most were seated, Canales had to face her fear of public speaking.

"My fear [of public speaking] has developed in the last two years. Even in high school I wasn't afraid but now I am. And I'm conscious of the language," Canales said.

She worked for a few minutes on her speech to announce the opening of the food line, but was most nervous about her speech dedicating the dinner to Nov's mother.

As performances got going, the officers had the opportunity to rest and enjoy all the hard work that they had put into the event. In the middle of the evening though, it was Canales' turn to do a performance. She salsa danced with junior Paulo Dichone. After their Afro-Latin American dance, Canales was held back on stage by the emcees for all to recognize that it was her 23rd birthday.

"The banquet went amazing, people enjoyed it so much as well as the performers," Canales said. "Everyone there was happy sharing their culture."

Contact Sophie Sestero at sophie.sestero@whitworthian.com.

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