Aromas of dark roast coffee and cultural chatter of the middle east filled the first floor of the Evans library on Sept. 20: International nights have officially arrived.
With a turnout of about 40 to 50 students, the United Arab Emirates Student Association began their presentation with a video on the culture and heritage of their home country.
This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation that covered a variety of topics in the UAE about geography, politics, the economy and more.
Khaled Alsamri, the new president of the UAE Student Association, gave the presentation and ended it with a quick round of trivia during which he gave out three pairs of movie ticket vouchers to students who answered correctly.
As the presentation came to an end, the event’s participants were dismissed for food and drinks from Panera Bread.
The food items served included traditional dishes from the UAE, balaleet and gaimat, juices and coffee.
Balaleet is described by Alsamri to be sweet and similar to spaghetti, while gaimat is fried bread balls that are sweet and covered with honey.
International Night will be the new name of last year’s International Coffee Hour.
With cultural presentations, foods, coffee, brochures and more, Alsamri likened the change to an “evolution of the Coffee Hour.”
The UAE Student Association was restarted this semester after disbanding in 2014 due to a lack of participating members, Alsamri said. The group now has 13 members.
Alsamri, a senior in mechanical engineering, restarted the UAE Association as he realized that “no one was delivering this culture to the campus.”
“Anyone is welcome to join the club so we can share the culture,” Alsamri said. Alsamri stated that the UAE Student association was approved by the school this past Tuesday.
As he is also a part of the International Student Service Organization, Alsamri organized the event with both organizations to share the culture of the UAE with the campus.
He had prior experience helping to organize the latest International Festival and being a part of about nine Coffee Hours.
Participants in the event, like Dominic Zaio, a freshman in mechanical engineering, said he enjoyed the event.
“It gives me the chance to try foods I might have never had,” Zaio said.
Zaio also said that he’d rather have the event focus more on the culture and less on statistics in the presentation.
Another freshman in chemical engineering, Md Tahmid Islam, expressed similar thoughts, saying he’d like for the event to “be longer and have some cultural activities be added.”
While it is unknown what culture will be presented, Corq currently has the next International Night, which has yet to be updated from International Coffee Hour in the app, listed to take place on Friday, Oct. 18 from 5:00-8:00 at Evans Library.