Last night five faculty members and two inquisitive students headed over the hill to Santa Barbara to attend a concert at the beautifully remodeled Santa Barbara Bowl. The occasion: a Day of the Dead event, featuring three Hispanic bands — Las Cafeteras, Ozomatli (featuring Raúl Pacheco, Class of 1986), and Cafe Tacuba. We arrived, and sra. Ortiz and Ethan headed directly for the face-painters who were stationed at the entrance. From there, we went up to the Bowl, a lovely outside venue where we were treated to the lively music, some in English, some in Spanish, and some pretty impressive dance routines (a ghoulish version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and an Aztec ritual) between sets. It was such a treat to see Raúl on stage; his band is one of my personal favorites. We have seen them in two venues in Los Angeles, and they performed for a very special engagement at Raúl’s class’s 25th Reunion a few years back — my girls’ first official concert! Heading back in the Suburban, listening to Ethan and Maya discuss the details of the concert in glowing terms, I was reminded of how special this place is where we live and work, where we can find teenagers who are interested in spending their Saturday night with a group of adults and who willingly try something new — just because they can.