Alex Avtgis '11 - There are few feelings which can match that of rediscovering the fact that people are actually eager to help other people. As such was PIP’s Thursday journey to West Washington Street, minutes away from Downtown Indianapolis.

Nevertheless, the overly frequented adage “work before play” (or in this case, relief) still found applicability, as we headed over to the Indianapolis Historical Society first thing in the morning. The Society is and was a great location to do some heavy research into the state’s evolving history – don’t get me wrong – but the work just seemed like a chore at the time: all of us were impatiently anticipating the lunch looming over us.

After two hours of honest grueling work, from which most of us found at least some interesting leads for our projects, we got the prize at hand: a lunch at Sol de Tala, some of Indianapolis’ finest Latino and Mexican cuisine.

Understand that, as soon as we walked in, we were greeted with some guaranteed signs of authenticity: the Virgin Mary hung in full Madonna pose above the archway from where we entered the room, in addition to the subtle sounds of not Spanglish but, in fact, Spanish being spoken. Being recently remodeled to add more atmospheric grandeur, the Sol de Tala challenged our beliefs continuously in these ways, of which some of us were not expecting.

The menu offered a diverse mezcla of items not solely consisting of refried beans and over-cooked refried rice. That alone was enough, let alone the fact that the avocado had made friends with onions, lime and tomato chunks in a harmonious blend that was voted Indiana’s Best Guacamole Recipe for the last 20 years.

But the meal was not lo mejor de la dia, or the highlight of the day – at least in my opinion. Some of us reluctantly (yet diligently) left for the scholarly domain that is the library of IUPUI, while the rest of us graciously rushed out to the fresh air that was found in roaming the Latino corridor of West Washington.

I shall inject my personal philosophy before I disclose anymore: experiential knowledge, as found in experiences, always seems to best theoretical knowledge, as found in text-book interpretations.

With that, you can understand why I elected to go and discuss Hispanic contributions with the people that were actually doing the contributing.

But that still had an intimidating factor which loomed evanescent.

As we left the college van towards the office building of La Voz, one of Indiana's premier bilingual news sources, some of us genuinely felt unpleasant. And not just in that out –of-place, awkward sort of way.

But, as we would soon discover, that uneasiness was wholly unnecessary: the owner sought us out to talk to, even before ever parking his vehicle.

And that is what I want to share in this article: that people are always surprising. I did not know such friendly and accommodating people existed. Right from the beginning, the owner shared with us story after story, working to explain how common misconceptions frequently deestablish the numerous, recurrent and concrete benefits that the rising Hispanic and Latino culture offer the state.

More information on such a topic is to come.

And with that, my advisors ask you, my colleagues of Present Indiana ask you, and I ask that you keep tuned for more information regarding our summer research projects.

Photos by Present Indiana Intern Alex Moseman '11

In photos: Top right, Avtgis talks with Jose Gonzalez, vice president of La Voz De Indiana. Center left, Sean Huston '10, who is researching Indiana's first state capital Corydon, works at the State Historical Society. Lower right, the group enjoys lunch.