By South Loop Scoop staff
South Loop’s Around the World Night was a rousing success! So many cultures were proudly represented, so many performances were offered and so much delicious food was eaten! From India to Pakistan to Hungary to Holland to Cuba to Mexico to Greece to Italy to Chicago’s Black Heritage (just to name a few), the displays were informative and filled with history and color.
Mexico: The booth that I am going to be talking about is the Mexico booth. This booth had paper mache lifesize statues (homemade) that you could take pictures with. At the Mexico table, you could spin a dreidel and win a colorful, fun, decorative prize bag with multiple little prizes inside. The Mexico table had many unique dolls, none that I have seen before and was very fun, decorative and informative. The Mexico booth was very well done! — Penny P., 5th grade
Thailand: Another unique booth that I visited was Thailand. This table was very fun and unique. I thought the information was great and the props were very interacting. Thailand had a trolley that you could put your head through. (The younger kids loved it! ). Thailand also had a very interesting and unique dessert. This dessert was made up of mung bean paste glazed in agur agur. Then it was shaped to look like fresh fruits and vegetables. Thailand also had a performance where Prissara (a person from Thailand table ) played a piece of classic Thailand music on an instrument. The Thailand table did a wonderful job! — Penny P., 5th grade
Pakistan: I learned a lot about Pakistan at Around the World. Did you know that Pakistan is in South Asia? Pakistan’s capital is Islamabad. One sport that people play is cricket. Religions that are popular are Islam (the most popular), Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and Buddhism. There are also many languages spoken there including Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Pashto. One of the coolest things I learned is that Malala Yousafzai, the girl who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, is from Pakistan. — Eloise G., 4th grade
Peru: Peru is home to the famous Nazca Lines. The flag of Peru represents freedom, pride in culture and heroism. They have a population of 32,000,000. Their capital is Lima. However, probably the most famous site in Peru is Machu Picchu, which is one of the seven wonders of the modern world. — Ben S., 5th grade
Panama: Panama is on the border of the Americas. It is the only place in the world where you can see sunrise on the Pacific and sunset on the Atlantic. Besides the U.S., it was the first country to have Coca-Cola. It also has the most bird species of any country in the world. The Panama Canal is 48 miles long, and connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Richard Halliburt even swam the canal. — Ben S., 5th grade
Taiwan: There are some things that we would think of as different in Taiwan. According to those running the Taiwan table, garbage trucks would play “the music that ice cream trucks do.” The main transportation is motorcycles. In Taiwan, they invented boba milk tea. While the island of Taiwan is less than the size of Lake Michigan, it holds 23,000,000 residents. — Ben S., 5th grade
