International students share their passion at the Cultural Cafe

The SEMO International Village hosted its second cultural cafe on November 13, highlighting the culture and food from the countries of Pakistan, Georgia and Tunisia.

Students from various backgrounds were able to taste different foods and learn about these cultures through presentations by three students from their respective countries.

The first course included a spicy chicken dish from Pakistan, served with a side of naan bread. The second course was a cheese bread dish, called Khachapuri, paired with Churchkhela, a Georgian candy and Gozinaki, which is a concoction of caramelized nuts. The third and final course featured couscous, a pasta made of semolina and other grains, from Tunisia.

This event is part of International Education Month, which takes place throughout November at SEMO.

The Executive Director of International Education and Services Kevin Timlin said that Culture Cafes were a way to educate SEMO students about other cultures.

“These cultural cafes are a chance for lesser represented countries to give a little bit of information and kind of do it on a smaller scale,” Timlin said. “The whole idea is food brings people in, share a little bit of food, share a little bit of culture… Our students are just so happy and proud to present information and share about their countries.”

Senior marketing major Sana Sammari cooked the food that was featured from Tunisia and was eager to present about her home country.

“This program that I’m with, it’s an exchange program that chose me among 900 candidates from Tunisia.” Sammari said. “They have put all of this confidence in me to come into the US, study, and represent my country. So I want to be the best version of me and of Tunisia and I want to show the world who we are and what we have.”

Each country, along with their chosen food, gave a presentation about their respective cultures. These presentations offered a glimpse into countries very different from the United States.

5th year Medicine student Shaheyryer Khen presented and shared food from his home country of Pakistan and shared the same passion for sharing about where he came from.

“I’m patriotic.” Khen said. “I love my culture and people…It’s also a part of pride to represent your country in a different place.”