At the start of the new year, the entire school received an email from the heads of the International Community Advisory Program (ICAP) informing us Cultural Day would be happening again. After hearing the news, I was ecstatic! I began my preparations for the night. I convinced my mother to cook a couple dishes: jollof rice (rice and tomato stew cooked together), fried chicken wings, and kelewele (plantains cut into small pieces, seasoned, and fried). When she agreed, I began to think about table decorations. I came up with the idea of making a poster and bringing some of the clothes I had gotten from Ghana. It felt like everything had been thought of, and all I had to do was wait for the actual day.
January 14 came around much faster than I initially expected. I hadn’t made a poster for the table because I assumed I had so much time. All of a sudden, Cultural Day was in 2 days. I told myself I needed to make the poster but hadn’t. The night before Cultural Day, I had planned to finally make the poster but instead helped a friend make one of the dishes for her Senegal table. I finally made the poster on the very day, in the art center. Friends of mine joined me and made their own. When all the signs were completed, we went into the schoolhouse, claimed the tables we wanted, and brought the convocation flags down to our tables. All I had left to do was bring my clothing items from the dorm and wait for my mom to come with the food.
Later, I went to the dorm to grab the necessary items and to change. My friend, who was helping run the Haiti table, and I left the dorm together to head over to the Schoolhouse to finish arranging our tables. Once there, I positioned the clothes on the table and then ran to my brother’s dorm to grab his Ghanaian flag to hang behind our table. (He was playing in an away basketball game, so prep was my job.) My Ghanaian friend went back to the dorm to change while I waited for my mom’s call. By the time she called, my brother and friend were back, and we went to retrieve the dishes and finally finished setting up. My mom had brought two surprises: bofrot (a fried doughnut dessert) and my little sister! My mom and sister stayed for the first hour of the night.
The first hour of the night was my shift. As people came up to the table, I encouraged them to try the delicious dishes my mother had masterfully prepared, describing each food and its ingredients. After that spiel, I would ask them three trivia questions. Each student had been provided with a “passport.” (The outside looked like a passport. The inside was a map overlaid with squares to be filled with stickers for each correct answer. Most correct answers won a prize!) I enjoyed interacting with the visitors to my table and teaching them about my culture.
The second portion of my night was filled with dancing. First, there was a Bollywood dancer performance! They were absolutely amazing, and they also taught a large group of students (myself included) a quick dance! Then, the ICAP members played a music playlist submitted by the members of various tables. My friends and I spent over an hour dancing and laughing. At one point, some Bollywood dancers joined us, asking to learn some of our dances, and we taught them some! The night was undoubtedly incredible, and I am so glad the tradition is finally back. :)