Diversity and Unity

The International Student Organization’s annual Food Bazaar (one of my favorite events of the fall semester) is an obvious celebrations of Grinnell’s diversity. But for me, what stands out most about the event is the unity that emerges from within that diversity.

Take my experience this year: one of my friends called me to ask if I would like to help make momos, a type of Tibetan/ Nepalese dumpling. Two other girls from Nepal would join us to make three different types of momos — chicken, beef, and vegetarian.

The Food Bazaar took place on a Sunday evening, which meant Saturday night found the four of us in a residence hall kitchen, attempting to prepare the fillings. Between washing, chopping, and mixing what seemed like vast quantities of vegetables and meat, there was much talking, laughing, and crying (due to particularly potent onions). There was a (playfully) heated discussion that began over the origin of momos, which led into the similarities and differences of different kinds of dumplings, and then to China-Tibet relations. It was definitely a bonding experience, but the process wasn’t over yet. We still had to wrap and steam what looked to be a few hundred momos — with only one steamer between the four of us. It looked like Sunday would be a long day.

While the Nepalese girls steamed the chicken and vegetable momos, my partner and I brought a table up to the hallway of his floor, set out the beef filling and wonton wrappers, put on some music, and began wrapping. Over the next few hours, half of the occupants of the floor stopped to help, leading to more bonding.

We didn’t get the steamer until midafternoon and didn’t have time to steam all our momos before the event started, so we brought a second batch later. The bazaar featured about 50 dishes (including appetizers, main dishes, and, of course, desserts) from all over the world. Since diners were limited to five dishes per ticket, the hardest part was choosing from the wonderful array.

The diversity in the room was obvious, but so was the unity. In addition to Grinnell students, lots of people from the town came, ranging from young children to senior citizens. They enjoyed food from across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The sense of community was evident — a room full of good food, chatter, laughter, and the excitement of trying new things for the first time.

And I have to say, our momos were delicious. They all looked different depending on who had wrapped them — some were round, some were more triangular, some were folded into neat little packets, and some were barely holding together, but they were all gone by the end of the evening, leaving us with empty pans, some dishes to wash, strong memories, and stronger bonds.

Denise Borsuk '11 is a Psychology major and Global Development Studies concentrator from Singapore.