Last Saturday our pre-IBDP student Alisa, participated in the Latino Fest with our Spanish teacher Mr Arturo and his band SIKURIS W KRAKOWIE.

The festival featured representatives from Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, Columbia, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Spain. The stalls were selling exotic items and food from Latinamerica.

Alisa reflects: The most interesting thing I saw was the plantain, a type of large, starchy banana that is typically fried. The plantain pancakes I tried tasted surprisingly delicious.

I was playing the Siku (also known as zampoña), a traditional woodwind instrument from the Andes with dozens of other band members. Some of us had Arka and others Ira (Arka has more tubes and a more masculine tone), rhythm is made by alternating between the two, which requires perfect cooperation between the players. The band also included drums, triangle, Chajchas and several dancers. We played famous Andean melodies – Mataru, Marcha-Toro Torito and Kunataqiraqi.

Congratulations to both the Teacher & Alisa for amazing performances!

Fun facts:

Kuna Takiraki is a song from the Titicaca region, its lyrics are Spanish mixed with Aymara, an indigenous language with 2 million speakers in Bolivia, Peru and Chile.

Lake Titicaca, located on the border between Bolivia and Peru, is the largest lake in South America and highest navigable lake in the world- at 3,810 meters above sea level!

During the event we made the Chacana (also known as the Inca Cross or Andean Cross) using flowers and our instruments. Chacana means bridge in Quechua and symbolises the connection between different realms. The sign has a long history of more than 4000 years.