Spanish Seminar Spreads Cheer With Holiday Caroling

12/20/2019

The sounds of maracas, drums and joyful singing rang through Masters Hall on Thursday, December 19, and Friday, December 20, as upper school Spanish teacher Roberto Mercedes led his Spanish Seminars & Cultures classes in the annual parranda navideña, a caroling tradition in many Latin American countries.

Click here to watch a video of Thursday's parranda navideña

The group delighted students, teachers and even dining hall staff with joyful renditions of holiday classics such as “Alegre Vengo,” “Ábreme la Puerta,” “Mi Burrito Sabanero” and “Feliz Navidad.” Mercedes shared that the chorus of the latter tune was amended to include additional denominations, and so students cheerfully belted out: “¡Feliz Navidad! ¡Feliz Hanukkah! ¡Feliz Kwanzaa!”

Students spent the previous four weeks learning about important Hispanic celebrations, traditions and ceremonies, including parrandas in different countries such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela. Students also studied villancicos, traditional holiday songs, and chose several of them to practice and learn for their own Parranda Navideña. “I love the sense of community that this tradition has,” Mercedes said. “I enjoy the enthusiasm of my students when they sing to make others happy. I think that is the spirit of being the power for good.”