Caribbean Connexion, one of the lesser-known intercultural clubs on campus, hosted last Tuesday "Cruisin' the Caribbean," which set out to teach students about some of the 20 Caribbean countries through games, prizes and the incentive that always brings out a crowd-food.In order to encourage students to learn more than how good plantanos maduras (sweet plantains) taste, event organizers Dominique Dupont-Dubois '07, Mingh Daniel '09, Shannon Cabell '09, Athena Oliver '10, Jamal LaBorde TYP, Michael Sitzman [GRAD], ICC coordinators Taneeta Bacon, Monique Pillow Gnanaratnam and other members of Caribbean Connexion created an activity where students had to earn a pass for dinner.

When the 60 or so students arrived on Tuesday evening, they found passports to "cruise" the Caribbean on which they were instructed to write down at least three facts from the three groups of countries displayed on posters around the room.

The groups, called "Hidden Jewels," "Vacation Spots" and "Don't Forget About Us," displayed pictures and facts about the various countries in hopes that, while students might gravitate to the more popular countries like Jamaica and Mexico, they would learn something about countries less discussed like Belize and St. Lucia as well.

After students completed their passports, they received raffle tickets for a chance to win country flags, mix CDs of Caribbean music and other related trinkets as well as the much anticipated dinner provided by Dos Amigos in Waltham. A handful of the more ambitious students filled out a trivia quiz as well in order to earn an additional raffle ticket and, judging from the frantic searching and crowding around the country posters, students found the activity interesting and the extra effort worthwhile even if they didn't win anything.

After students completed their activities and sat down to eat chicken, rice, peas, beef patties and plantains, they discussed their connections, through family background or travel, to the Caribbean. Students in the Latin American Studies and Afro and African-American Studies programs also shared their knowledge with each other, as well as with their friends of other majors, adding to the already overwhelming amount of information on an often-ignored region of the world.

The event was meant to serve as a brief education on the Caribbean islands, and indeed the smells and distinct flavors of the food combined with the atmospheric music and involuntary dancing encouraged the feeling of being transported to the islands themselves for a few hours.

Club president Dupont-Dubois was pleased with the event. "I'm glad 'Cruisin' the Caribbean' had a great turnout and hopefully people will remember us next semester when Caribbean Connexion hosts a Caribbean Week sometime in March," he said. "We are going to try and have a few fundraisers or small events before our Caribbean Week, but I don't have any specifics yet,"

Caribbean Connexion is open to all interested students and meets on Thursdays from 9 to 10 p.m. in the ICC lounge.