World culture is on the menu at UI event

MOSCOW — There’s a big, bright, beautiful world out there, and boy is it delicious.

Hundreds of people gobbled up dozens of delectable dishes prepared by international students at the University of Idaho International Programs Office 22nd annual Cruise the World event Saturday at the Bruce M. Pitman Center International Ballroom. The noisy scene was packed with people like Heather Heward, who brings her children every year to help them gain perspective on what life is like outside of little Moscow, Idaho.

“It is a great way to see lots of different cultures in a really small period of time,” said Heward, a Moscow resident who teaches wildland fire management at the university. “It’s really cool for the kids to see and talk to the people from each of the booths and ask where they’re from and what it was like growing up there.”

Her daughters Scout, 6, and Luna, 3, each got temporary henna tattoos from students at the Pakistan booth. Older brother Teancum, 9, took a pass. But like the rest of the crowd, he wasn’t shy about digging into the global delicacies on offer.

Anna Saythavy, a 20-year-old art and graphic design sophomore from Meridian, celebrated her Japanese heritage with several other students by making various versions of onigiri. The racquetball-sized globes of rice came in four flavors: chicken, pork, fried rice and ketchup fried rice. Adorably, the students used carefully clipped pieces of nori (the seaweed wrap used to make sushi rolls) to decorate some of the balls as chubby little pandas.

“I feel like Idaho hasn’t really had a lot of exposure to Asian cultures in general,” Saythavy said. “So, at least by having some Japanese students come and share their culture, it kind of opens up people to seeing that there’s this other cool thing out there that they may be interested in and want to experience a little bit.”

Food has always been a part of Cruise the World, but UI International Outreach Coordinator Morgan Gardner said it was more of a focal point than ever this year. For the first time, the majority of booths were selling food to help raise money for their student group activities.

And fundraising in general was more prominent at the event, with the kickoff of a new endowment that International Programs hopes can garner $25,000 by the event’s 25th anniversary in 2023. Gardner said the endowment will be used to ensure that Cruise the World will be able to continue indefinitely. Those who want to donate may visit uidaho.edu/CruiseTheWorld.

“We estimate that over 1,000 people attend every year, so we want to make sure that it just keeps going as long as possible, years into the future,” she said. “It’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

She said nationwide declines in international college student numbers because of restrictions on immigration have not yet had an impact on the event.

“The students love this event so much,” Gardner said. “I would be horrified if it didn’t happen.”

The other countries represented by UI students circled the globe. In addition to Pakistan and Japan, there were booths for Denmark, India, Ghana, Nigeria, Nepal, Mexico, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, Puerto Rico, Peru, Taiwan, Panama, Morocco, Nicaragua and Oman. While most featured cuisine from their home countries, the Libya table took the prize for the greatest number of dishes.

There were warming dishes piled high with seasoned rice, couscous with lamb and onions, breaded chicken skewers, lentil soup, sliced potatoes layered with ground lamb and hummus drizzled in seasoned oil. Desserts weren’t neglected, with several different cakes, cookies and other sweet nibbles for sale.

Saja Sadeg, an 18-year-old Washington State University freshman, whipped up the smorgasbord over two days with two other women.

“We’re really tired,” Sadeg sighed, dressed in a traditional Libyan dress called a sudra weighed down with copious amounts of golden jewelry. But the women gave it their all because the common denominator for all Libyan food is love, she said. “We put effort into our food. We’re a very family-based and very friendly and kind country. There’s really great hospitality. If you go to a Libyan home, you’re presented with so many dishes. It’s really beautiful.”

Sadeg and her family moved to Pullman 12 years ago from San Diego so her father could finish his doctoral degree. They have lived there ever since, and now she is studying business and finance. Sadeg said Cruise the World gives her country a chance to stand out with a distinct cultural identity, when most of the world mistakenly lumps North African countries in with the Middle East.

“We’re not really represented much in the media, culturally,” she said, noting that the ongoing civil war in Libya has gotten a disproportionate share of attention. “It seems really scary and not a positive place. But the people are really kind and friendly.”

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.