Welcome Dinner!

I am Pio Sujay and am a BMS Senior Fellow(batch 0f 2007).As Suhrid has mentioned a few  SF's are bringing  to you a blog on the happenings of the Symposium , so enjoy!
 
We had a great welcome dinner at DU where we caught up with our dear friends from other campuses. The food complimeted the beautiful evening and  almost perfect weather. After dinner the night's events started of with an Invocation from Shaunnes.
We were later welcomed by Canae and Cedric who were kind enough to say " Our Home is Your Home" and welcomed us to DU and the beautiful city of New Orleans.
This was proceeded by Greetings by Dr.Marvalene Hughes in all MF languages:)Her "Namaste!" totaly took me by surprise! We were told about the NOLA's cultural mix and Jazz, among the most beautiful genres of music, being a product of this cultural diversity.We were told how DU planned to have the remaining buildings rebuilt by September 2009 and were amazed at their amazing recovery after the catastrophic Katrina thanks to the resilience of the management and students.
The Police Chief and Sergeant of New Orleans proceeded to give tips on saftey- advised us to stay in groups  and also suggested a few places we must visit like the zoo, museum,etc.
This was followed by  Dr Keith Wismar giving us a preview of  later and session and  advising us to fill the "personal companion".
The "Go Green" Skit was a short, well enacted one which in a light tone showed how each one could be responsible in protecting our environment and how seemingly small things have a huge impact when repeated by a million people a number of times!
 
Then came the "honorary DU fellows" from UFRO, FSU and BMS- who had come here on an internship- sharing with us their experiences of amazing hospitality of the students from DU and inviting us to share the experience. Here's Marjorie Gracias talking about her experience at DU prior to the symposium:
 
 
 
Project Mug earth posters were displayed and it is heartening to see  fellows bringing their own mugs.The members of the project briefly introduced "Mug earth" and urged everyone to get their own mugs everyday. There are prizes to be won  so get yourself photographed with your dear mugs the moment you see any one of the Mug Earth folks with their cameras:) .
 
Dr Lana Chambliss gave the closing remarks once again welcoming all of us with the closing prayer being the last program on the schedule.Since I had travelled for over 24 hours I went straight to bed not wanting to miss the excitements of the following day!