Portugal
participants
Every year, the international students see the "cortejo" from the side, never truly experiencing it, like the students of Coimbra that they are. Last year, we decided to incude them in a very old and important tradition to become a student of Coimbra, since they are precisely new students of Coimbra, counting as freshmen and freshwomen in everything related to traditions.
"Cortejo" (parade) is an age-old festive manifestation of the Associação Académica de Coimbra (Coimbra's Students' Association), in which freshmen and freshwomen of the University of Coimbra dress in funny costumes and sing songs related to their degrees and to social satire/student demands. In the parade, the new students carry "latas" (cans) tied to their feet and hands, meant to make noise. This is what gives name to the week-long festival "Latada", which includes the "cortejo". This whole week is meant to help integrate the freshmen and freshwoman in Coimbra and in the University. At the end of "cortejo", we get to the Mondego River, and the new students get "baptized" with its water, becoming true students of Coimbra. As ESN Coimbra, we joined the parade with our international students and baptized them to officialize their status.
