The Silbo Gomero Adventure

DRC Sponsor: Kim Bonnet

In January 2002, then Professor and now DRC member Alan Lerstrom led his first of many Luther College J-Term study abroad classes to the Canary Islands, with his course emphasizing intercultural, nonverbal behavior. Along with the rest of the class, Alan was joined by his wife Edie and current DRC member Kim Bonnet. While in the Canary Islands they encountered Silbo Gomero, which is a whistling language in which Spanish speech is transposed to whistling. Silbo Gomero was later declared a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Humanity" by UNESCO in 2009. Alan and Kim will share the details of their experience with the club in the context of traveling abroad shortly after 9/11.