In Fall 2018, Al-Bustan launched the Marhaba Series with the Middle East Center at Penn and Saint Mary’s Hamilton Village.
The purpose of these events was two-fold: building relationships and enhancing language skills, two sides of the same coin. In practicing their Arabic, students and community members become more willing and able to have relationships with Arabs. By making friends with Penn students and other community members who are fluent in English, recent Arab immigrants were able to practice English.
Each event included an activity such as debkeh, Arab themed trivia, and poetry open-mic. All attendees wore name tags with a color coded sticker indicating their fluency in Arabic. Dinner prepared by an Arab home chef was a huge draw to these events. Each month we featured a different chef who cooked food from their native country. We sampled food made by Osama Herkal, Amina Aliako, Asmaa Diab, and Halima Benayad. If you are interested in having any of these chefs cater for your next event, just email marketing-at-albustanseeds.org and we would be happy to connect you.
Register online for our next event of the series.
Take a look at some photos from the first four events of our Marhaba Series!
I loved the opportunity to speak Arabic and connect with other people who are interested in Arabic and Arab culture.
I really loved how the event brought together different people around food and the arts.
I always check Al-Bustan’s website for upcoming events…I just love being around Arabs since I miss speaking in Arabic sometimes.
