Food brings people together. Pair that concept with a presentation about another culture, and one gets the International Student Association’s Cultural Café.
Every Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., the Cultural Café takes over the lounge in Mitchell Hall. Each week, those in attendance can learn about a new culture, while also sampling popular food from the area being presented.
Nail Albarghouthi, President of Students for a Free Palestine campus organization, talking about the political issues Palestine is currently facing
Last Friday, Nail Albarghouthi gave the presentation on Palestine. Albarghouthi began the presentation by asking for a show of hands for how many people had heard of Palestine, Gaza, and the West Bank.
“[Do] any of you not know the connection between Gaza, West Bank, and Palestine? Good, this is part of what we will be learning today,” Albarghouthi said.
Albarghouthi gave a multi-media presentation on Palestine. Every topic was covered from the first people who settled the land, to the traditional dances of the Palestinians.
Albarghouthi gave a short history of Palestinians to start his presentation. He said early Palestinians were one of the first peoples to use the idea of money, as well as an alphabet.
“The politics of the country are very long and detailed,” Albarghouthi said. “However, since this is Cultural Café, not Political Café, I’m just going to give a brief overview.”
“The geographic boarders of the country have altered a lot,” Albarghouthi said, as he began to explain how the country of Palestine has changed over time. Albarghouthi said the UN partitioned Palestine in 1948, dividing the county into Israeli and Arab states, and these boarders have continued to change into what they are today.
Albarghouthi shared several facts about Palestine during his presentation. Albarghouthi said the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas on the planet, with about 10,000 people per square mile. He also highlighted important historical sites and cities that are located in Palestine, such as Dome of the Rock, Nativity Church, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.
Towards the end of Albarghouthi’s presentation he asked, “So who’s getting hungry?” Albarghouthi showed images of some of the traditional foods of Palestine. He pointed out that many are not exclusive to Palestine.
“We have most of these throughout most of the Arabic world,” Albarghouthi said.
The foods served were pita bread, hummus, tabouli salad, and falafel balls. Tabouli salad is made with bulgur, finely chopped parsley and mint, tomato, and spring onion seasoned with lemon juice, and olive oil. Falafel balls often consist of ground chickpeas and/or fava beans.
“I had fun. It was very interesting to learn about the actual culture of Palestine rather than just the ongoing conflict,” Samantha Nolan, senior and Global Studies major, said.
Palestine Cultural Cafe was a free event covering the culture of Palestine and serving falafels and hummus to everyone who attended
There were over 70 people in attendance at Friday’s Cultural Café on Palestine, according to Beveket Gebremaria, one of the Cultural Café Coordinators for ISA. Gebremaria said this number is pretty average as a cafe usually gathers 70-80 students, faculty, and community members.
Katie Pierce, another Cultural Café Coordinator for ISA, explained how the main goal of the Cultural Café is to give international students the opportunity to share their culture with the community.
“Some students have to present for their Fullbright scholarships, and some other students come to us because they just want [to] present their countries,” Pierce said. “We want to try and find students who maybe don’t have enough people from their country to get a whole night together by themselves.”
The next country Cultural Café is dishing up is Myanmar on Friday, Nov. 12.
