Charles Nailen/The Hoya Georgetown students dance to the sounds of international music at the culmination of the I-Party held on Harbin Patio Saturday evening. The party featured performances from several student groups and

Despite the cold and the wind, a large number of Georgetown students showed up on the Harbin Patio Saturday night to enjoy the joint effort of the Global Student Network, Office of International Programs and different cultural student associations – the I-Party.

Students had the opportunity to taste food from 21 different world cuisines. Additionally, student groups and associations including Club Filipino, GU Hellenic Student Association, Chinese Student Association and South East Asian Society performed traditional dances from around the world. Superfood was the last group to perform.

Mary E. Gibson (COL ’05), a member of the Global Student Network, was happy with the turnout of the party.

“We got a lot of people excited about . learning about different cultures,” Gibson said. She also pointed out that, for the first time, there was an American table, sponsored by the College Democrats.

Although Assistant Director of Programming Services in the Office of International Programs Sheila Miller was initially worried that fewer people would show up because of the weather, her worries proved to be wrong. “Just as many people came this year, if not more than last year,” she said.

According to Miller, I-Week and I-Party have gained an even greater meaning this year. “It was a really important time to have the I-Week, especially the I-Party, which is the culminating event that brings together all the groups, [when] so many of us are questioning what’s going to happen to our world, and how it’s going to change,” she said. Miller thinks intercultural events and dialog may help improve international relations between nations, and for the most part it seems as if students agree. “It’s good to see Pakistanis and Indians dancing together at the Greek dance,” Anthony archese (COL `06) said.

Maria Troulakis (COL `03) was among those who exhibited their performance talents to an enthusiastic audience. The Greek dancing troupe succeeded in spurring the majority of the audience to rise to their feet and join in the Circle Dance. “The whole point of our dances – especially the last one – was to get everybody together. We were really happy that that’s what happened,” she said.

The Greek dancers also won the Rangila Remix Competition. Adam Foldes (SFS `05) said they will be performing again at a large dinner on April 28 on Copley Lawn.

Although fellow dancer Paula Cizek (MSB ’06) is not of Greek origin, she became interested in Greek dances through a Greek friend in high school. “She dragged me along to her festivals and she taught me how to dance there, so I decided to continue in college,” she said.In addition to being exposed to international cultural issues, the audience greatly enjoyed the talent of the dancers pleased the audience. Jonathan Lalley (SFS ’06) found the performances “absolutely fantastic.” According to Lalley, the performances let the students from different backgrounds “show off their talent and culture.”

A dance party followed the performances. Edward Sumoto (SFS ’04) was the deejay of the I-Party for the second time this year and was glad to see this year’s dance party was planned to last longer than last year’s. “I’m going to have everything the international party can have, everything from Hip-Hop, Raggae to Indian, Arabic and Latin of course,” he said.

Some student groups who did not have the chance to perform have already begun to make plans for next year’s I-Party. Stefania Yanachkov (SFS ’06) was “disappointed because the Eastern European Society is not doing anything.” She said the society’s performance of the traditional Bulgarian dances and their modern day versions will be “the best performance out of anyone” next year.

Other students, such as Muriel Tschopp (SFS ’06), plan to increase the wide array of foods available – said she wants to bring Swiss chocolate and traditional Swiss dances to I-Party next year.