Students had the opportunity to get a taste of several different countries as they explored the Amazing Taste in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center on Thursday.
Three floors of the Student Center were filled with the smells of many different foods Thursday as hundreds explored areas designated to six different continents.
Christian Gonzalez, a senior architecture major, was one of many blue-shirted volunteers at the event.
“Last year, I came to participate, but this year I decided to volunteer, because a friend of mine in a sorority invited me to do it,” Gonzalez said. “I haven’t experienced all of it yet, but from what I remember last year, it was pretty good.”
Gonzalez and three other volunteers greeted and directed the heavy traffic that was flowing in and out of the eastern entrance.
Just past that entrance was the threshold to Europe, which encompassed the first floor of the Student Center.
Students were crouched along the walls tasting some international dishes, such as sauerkraut and baklava.
“I really liked the Korean barbecue [kalbi],” Andrea Green, a sophomore Japanese language major, said.
Scottish bagpipers, belly dancers and the salsa band Combo Adobo were among the performers at the Tally stage, an area normally filled with tables and chairs,
The Tally was not the only stage at The Amazing Taste. The second floor, labeled Asia, hosted 27 different acts on the ballroom stage.
The second floor was also home of an exotic animal show from Amazon John, which featured an owl, an armadillo and an 11-foot-long snake.
Africa, Middle East and Eurasia were located on the third floor and included food from many of the regional cultures.
The basement of the building was reserved for the Americas.
Echoes from the banjo and the upright bass of the Peach Pickers bounced off of the walls as the Muncie-bred band played its set.
“We just kinda started like three or four years ago,” said John Bultman, banjo player for the Peach Pickers.
Each floor had tables that represented the different countries of the within that floor’s theme.
The night ended with a group of Korean dancers performing the hit “Gangnam Style.”
