Students celebrate cultural diversity through the Taste the Nations event at CBU

Riverside, Calif. (Oct. 3, 2018) – The varied aromas of many cultures permeated Harden Square at California Baptist University on Oct. 2 as students sampled a variety of international foods during “Taste the Nations,” a popular fall campus tradition.

Leslie Shelton, director of International Student Services, said the event is designed to introduce students to unique national cuisines.

“Something we want to do for our campus is to create cultural awareness. We are a globally minded university and a lot of people get to go overseas, but we also want people to know that there is a lot of culture represented here on campus,” Shelton said.

Hundreds of students lined up at different food and drink booths to try options such as stroopwafel (waffle cookie) from the Netherlands, navrattan (vegetables and nuts) from India, maamoul biscuits (pastry) from Lebanon, and curried crickets from Asia.

Angelique Rougeau, a sociology freshman, tried a chocolate malt drink filled with vitamins called Milo, a popular drink in the Oceania region.

“There are different cultures we get to experience and different things we can try that nobody has tried before,” Rougeau said. “It broadens our horizons in different ways.”

Josiah Paul, a pre-nursing sophomore, tried several sweets. He was interested in learning about the preparation that went into each treat.

“I learned that in Europe sweet is not sugary like in the U.S.,” Paul added.

Shalom Wanyonyi, a freshman nursing student from Kenya, volunteered at the West Africa booth. She enjoyed seeing how the event brought people together.

“I felt like people were visiting my country and it just reminded me of home,” Wanyonyi said.