The enticing scents of unfamiliar cuisine, flags representing many different countries and entertaining Eastern music filled the PERC gymnasium Sunday afternoon, April 13. Manchester students, faculty and staff members, along with community members and reporters escaped the unpleasantly frigid weather and took in a world of diversity at the biannual International Fair.               
Exhibit booths lined the walls and drew in curious visitors of all ages. Booths represented places from China to Ethiopia and Mexico to Palestine. Both campus and local organizations, such as Asian Awareness, Black Student Union, Habitat for Humanity and One World Handcrafts also offered information to guests passing by.

             
A stage served as a platform for many awe-inspiring acts. Bright colored tops, sparkly skirts, and twirling canes mixed into a fascinating display from a group of belly dancers. Slow, graceful movements from Japanese Minyo dancers in matching blue kimonos took center stage later. Upbeat and artistic drumming groups followed.

             
Both student and community volunteers ran the exhibits. Anisa Adam, a student at Manchester High School, helped to run the Cambodia exhibit, which featured paintings and colorful cloths for sale. “My parents are from Cambodia,” Adam said. “I think it is really interesting to carry that ancestry and culture into our homes.”

             
First-year Jennifer Musisi, an international student from Uganda, also volunteered to work the booths. “A lot of people our age do not know what different countries are all about,” she said. “I feel that people should be more exposed and knowledgeable about different countries and their people.”

             
Aside from the entertaining acts on stage and exhibits featuring items for sale, food was quite possibly the fair’s highlight.  The dishes, prepared and served by students, represented some of the most popular foods from different countries and could be bought by “international cash,” or green exchange slips purchased at fifty cents a piece at the Currency Exchange. The diverse menu included spicy beef and lentil bread from Ethiopia, chai from Kenya, chicken and rice from Ghana, nachos and guacamole from Mexico, coffee from France and hummus from Palestine, among other food and drink.

             
Attention swung from the stage, to the food, to a tiny petting zoo sponsored by Heifer International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting world hunger. A tiny pig on a leash, two baby lambs, rabbits and a chicken were overcome with adoration upon entering the gymnasium, drawing even volunteers from their booths to the animals’ area. All proceeds from a nearby Timbercrest booth, which has been present and selling crafts handmade by residents since the first International Fair, were given to aid in Heifer International’s cause.

             
President Switzer, who joyfully made her way from exhibit to exhibit, described the fair as a source of pride for Manchester. “The fair always has lots of wonderful food,” Switzer said. “It gets better every time.” She later admitted on stage her love of cooking and traveling. “The fair also provides a better understanding of larger global society,” she said. “That is something that gives us all richer lives and futures.”

             
While the tastes, sounds, fashions and traditions of each country contrast each other greatly, the International Fair proved that every aspect can be united under one roof. Visitors experienced all of the cultures that international Manchester students and faculty represent, and as those who run the fair trust, gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for each and every one.

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