Waldorf Community Enjoys Americas Night
By Suyaishar Sebastian
The World Student Association (WSA) hosted an evening of culture, food, and fellowship at its Americas Night event which took place in the Salveson Ballroom on Nov. 19.
The Waldorf community was invited to have a taste of seven of the countries and regions of the American continent represented in Waldorf. The countries included Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela from South America; Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda, and Mexico from Central America; and the state of Hawaii (USA) from North America.
The event had an estimated turnout of 75 attendees who enjoyed food, drinks, and entertainment which included music from represented countries and an opening dance performance by the members of the Waldorf Dance Club.
The food that was served included Mexican rice alongside steak tacos with salsa verde, cilantro and lime juice (Mexico), pani popo sweet rolls and butter mochi (Hawaii), jerk chicken (Jamaica), freshly squeezed passion fruit juice (Antigua & Barbuda), Toronto chocolate truffles and Samba strawberry wafers (Venezuela), Nestle Morochas chocolate biscuits (Peru), and Nestle Savoy Galak chocolate blanco con leche (Ecuador).
Continent Night was cancelled last year due to COVID-19, so Tori-Ann Francis, the president of the World Student Association made it a goal to bring it back this year. Francis believes that the importance of events like these is to give the Waldorf community a taste of different parts of the worlds, from the finest cuisines to music and culture.
“My hope for this event was to highlight the countries in Americas that are represented at Waldorf and basically to create awareness of the diverse and talented students from those countries,” Francis said. “We anticipated a good turnout, and I was elated that we made it work”.
Murad Hazhibayev, a junior at Waldorf and treasurer of the World Student Association said the purpose of the event was to stimulate the cultural appreciation among the Waldorf community.
“Waldorf being a small liberal arts school in the Midwest, I strongly believe that cultural awareness should be a part of its education system,” Hazhibayev said. “The year 2021 promotes individuality by celebrating differences of every single person, thus, adopting this mission and contributing to it is definitely a nice way to start being progressive with the year.”
The World Student Association puts together country or continent night in the fall, while Taste of the World takes place in the spring semester. Students who are interested to participate or assist in the future can contact Tori-Ann Francis, the president of the World Student Association or Megan Gabriell, the Director of International Student Services at megan.gabriell@waldorf.edu.