El Building is inhabited mostly by immigrants from Puerto Rico. They are a fun-loving people who are very social. El Building is described by Elena as "a monstrous jukebox" because every apartment blasts its own music to drown out that of the neighbors. Not only does music blast out of open windows, but people are always socializing with each other and children are usually out playing and squealing with life. All of this creates an atmosphere of a busy, small town in and of itself.
However, on November 22, 1963, all of that stops in honor of the fallen president. When Elena walks home from school on that fateful day, she notices that no children are playing outside of El Building; there are no viragoes arguing with each other; no salsas are blasting through the windows; and, "there was a profound silence." Elena's mother even asks her to go to church with her to pray for Kennedy and his family. The change in the atmosphere shows that the people respect Kennedy and pay him homage by shutting down all other activity on the day he died.
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