Today, RBHS shed its normal school environment in preparation for this year’s Global Village  International flags, loud music, and the smell of food infiltrated the once quiet hallway to create a vibe of cultural diversity. Students dressed up in their country’s traditional clothing  setting up booths for their country of interest. The numerous booths filled the main commons, and various main hallways throughout the building, giving students a chance to dive into the world of culture in their own school.
Whether the booth was class-mandated or chosen individually, every station was evidently well-done, with pictures from each country, traditional foods, and information on each nation. The food, music, and clothing are what made this afternoon so unique, as the students piled into the hallways in shifts from classes.
Sophomore Yasmeen Taranissi and her peers chose to create a booth for their native country Egypt. Their booth was colorful in designs and traditional cloths, their loud Middle Eastern tunes and burning incense attracting a large crowd.
“I chose to do my booth because I take a lot of pride in where I’m from,” Taranissi said. “I like to take pride in the fact that I’m Egyptian and I want everyone to know. Global Village lets you represent where you’re from and lets you show people what your country really is, and I love that.”
Along with Taranissi, students throughout the school elected to create a booth in order to share with their peers the enjoyment of being culturally diverse. Junior Leenah Mustafa and her friends set up an Iraqi booth across from Taranissi’s, preparing foods such as baklava and stuffed grape leaves, and decorating their booth in a similar fashion.
“I wanted to do my booth so that I could represent my country and kind of educate people about where I’m from and what my culture’s all about and tradition,” Mustafa said. “I want people to try out new food and get to know what we’re all about.”
Noticeable with the Middle Eastern nation booths in front of the activities office, there was an easy pattern to follow in finding the country of your choosing. Western European booths were set up in front of the Cafeteria, including countries such as Germany, France, and Spain.
Junior Ross Parks, a member of German Honors Society, signed up to help with his class’ booth. Though his participation was mandatory, this did not stop him from dressing up in traditional German clothing, and promoting his booth to anyone who would listen. Parks said he appreciate the opportunity to participate, and enjoys the concept of Global Village as a whole.
“I think it’s awesome that Columbia is not the largest city ever but it does have a number of multicultural aspects and this is the best way to emphasize on that,” Parks said. “I think [the German booth] is going to be really good this year. We have a lot of food and I’m excited about eating it throughout the day, and I’m sure people will enjoy our posters too.”
Parks, along with the other members participating in the Global Village booths represented the country of their choosing, and did so with cultural pride and authentication. The afternoon was loud, filling, and traditional here at RBHS.
“Seeing where everyone is from is very interesting,” Parks said. “It lets you know people in the school better because you know where they come from. ”
Did you miss any part? Watch our live stream here.
By Hagar Gov-Ari
[nggallery id=272] Photos by Patrick Smith