The Office of International Education hosted an Azerbaijan Night to celebrate the country and help students from other cultures learn about Azerbaijanis.
Native foods, history, fun facts and interactions with students from various cultures allowed those from Azerbaijan to share their country with others.
The event took place on Friday, March 21, at International Resource Center 109 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Just under 40 members of the Ferris community attended.
There were three students from Azerbaijan, and they had the opportunity to talk about their country and what it meant to have it represented at the university.
Biotechnology junior Zeynab Aghabayi is one of the three Azerbaijani students. She shared a specific holiday that Azerbaijanis celebrate.
“One of my favorite holidays is called Nowruz,” Aghabayi said. “It’s a spring holiday where we celebrate the awakening of nature. Before the actual holiday, which is March 20 and 21, there are four different weeks we celebrate the awakening of land, water, wind, fire. There’s also a tradition that goes with these holidays. Kids will take their hats to their neighbors and they will knock on the door, only to then run and hide. The person who opens the door will find sweets and fruits in the hat. It’s kind of like trick-or-treating, but they don’t see who it is.”
Attendees could try multiple types of food, including rice, chicken, vegetables, yogurt, bread, and garlic sauce. There was also a drink called Ayran, which is made from yogurt, salt, and water, and is a staple in Turkey.
Artificial intelligence senior and the admissions assistant in the Office of International Education, Mohammad Meezaan, emphasized the importance and rationale for centering the event on Azerbaijan.
“We have a lot of international students,” Meezaan said. We often hold events like these to gather all the international students. We have a small community, probably 100 international students as of now, but the active students who come to events vary from 30 to 40. We like to include diversity, and it’s always fun for people to represent their countries and their cultures.”
Meezaan mentioned that he is the vice president of the International Student Organization and that the event was a collaboration with the Office of International Education.
The main activity of the event was a Kahoot game. There were 24 Kahoot questions, including fun facts and interesting information about Azerbaijan. Some facts include that it’s the land of fire, that it’s home to about 400 volcanoes and that its capital is Baku.
Operations and supply chain management junior Yunis Hajiyev talked about what it meant for his country to be at the center of the celebration.
“Tonight has sentimental value,” Hajiyev said. “It’s fun to share my country here because a lot of people don’t know about Azerbaijan, and they don’t know where it is. It’s interesting to educate other people about my country.”
Even with his country represented, Hajiyev felt it wasn’t too pressurizing to represent it in a way others admired.
“Being an international student, you tend to connect with other international students the first moment you step on campus,” Hajiyev said. “So I don’t feel much pressure about how I’m going to look representing my country or what people are going to think of my country, but I’m honestly very appreciative of this opportunity to represent my country because I don’t think there has been an event centered around Azerbaijan before.”
For upcoming events, the International Office of Education is having a Korean Night on April 8 and then a late-semester Halloween Party on April 15.