The International Bazaar took over Greene Street on Friday, looking to give students the opportunity to experience and learn from foreign countries showcased at the event.
The bazaar featured countries spanning from Russia to Saudi Arabia, and tables decorated with cultural symbols, prizes and food were lined up down Greene Street. As students moved from table to table, they were also able to see live demonstrations of cultural practices and traditions from various countries.
While some tables took the opportunity to share their cultures with the community and advertise for their organizations, others, such as a group of students from Aruba, came to give their nationality more recognition, and possibly show an unknown side of their home country. These students wanted to take the opportunity during their time at USC to share the beauty of Aruba and showcase its opportunities for study abroad.
"We have just about 11 Aruban students here this semester and we just came together for our table," said Laura Kock, a fourth-year Spanish and psychology student. "We want to show that Aruba is also more than our beaches ... we talked about what the flag means, we actually have our currency over there too ... just showing daily life and what it looks like on an island."
Justice for Palestine held a table to showcase political art and raise awareness for the preservation of Palestinian heritage.
Nora Alduai-Jani, a first-year journalism doctoral candidate, explained the mission of her organization to educate people on Palestine and its history.
"The media here do not really have a good representation about Palestine or do not have an equal representation or a fair representation of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. So it's good for us to answer questions of people, skepticism they have," Alduai-Jani said.
Alduai-Jani explained a feeling of awareness of inclusivity and awareness that comes with the International Bazaar and educating the student body about the world.
"I always say it's not related to Arabs or Muslims because there are Christian people, Palestinian people," Alduai-Jani said. "So it's not related to religion or ethnicity, it's just something related to humanity."