Wofford Arabic students get involved at Spartanburg’s International Festival  

On Saturday, Oct. 5, thousands flocked to the city’s annual International Festival. Presented by the Denny’s, the festival honored Puerto Rico this year. Admittance to the event was free, but food and drink from a multitude of cultures, including Egypt, Turkey and Germany could be purchased with tickets.  

While many different countries and peoples were represented, a cluster of Wofford students from the Arabic program helped out at a table showcasing the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region.   

Attendants of the festival moved from booth to booth with their “passports” collecting stamps from various countries. The MENA booth offered stamps for three countries: Qatar, Morocco and Iraq. The latter two were represented by one of their own citizens for the duration of the event. Both Lina Ali, a Fullbright scholar from Iraq, who currently works as a teaching assistant for the Arabic department of Wofford, and the head of the department, Youness Mountaki, a native of Morocco, were in attendance.  

Beginner students and 300-level Arabic minors alike assisted with providing fun facts about the region, as well as writing names in Arabic for festival-goers. The 300, 200 and 100 level students also educated the public on the different parts of the MENA region, specifically the North African, Levantine and Gulf Areas.    

Mountaki was enthusiastic about the turnout not just from his students, but the city as a whole: “It was a lot of fun, my favorite part actually was to see my students actually being involved, and practice some of what they learned in the class…I think they [the community] appreciate Wofford having a booth, and getting to know this area of the world.”  

Mountaki also said of the festival, “I think it’s a pretty good event; it showcased some countries, because a lot of people don’t get to travel and see places, so that’s a good idea for people to come and know more about some countries.”  

While he remarked the weather might have hindered the maximum potential turnout, he was pleased overall with the number of visitors that stopped by to see the display.