International Food Festival

Connor and Kaitlynn's new school, Dubai American Academy, is comprised of students from over 100 countries around the world. In celebration of the school's diversity, the Parent Association puts on an annual fundraiser each spring called the International Food Festival where parent volunteers host dozens of booths with sample foods from various countries. Parents, children, and community members are invited to attend the Festival and enjoy food from around the world. In addition to the country booths, there is a flag parade, international stage performances, a handicraft market, and bouncy houses for the kids. The 2018 event was the biggest one yet, and we had an amazing time!

The event planning began in January and I jumped right in as a parent volunteer. As in prior years, the plan for the USA booth was to serve hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and chips. The only problem was that we needed to serve about 600 hotdogs but we couldn't grill them onsite at the event due to safety restrictions. Jeff stepped in to save the day. He ended up grilling all 600 hotdogs at home before the Festival, and then we transported them to the school to serve at our booth. Poor Jeff, he worked so hard and did such an awesome job. The hotdogs and our USA booth were such a huge success!









We had SO much food, and yet our USA booth was so popular that we ran out of food with over an hour left on the night. The entire event was such a success, with country booths serving incredible food from all over the world, including India, Turkey, China, Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Australia, France, Italy, Lebanon, and so many more. What a fun way to celebrate the diversity of so many cultures represented in the kids' new school!

Connor and Kaitlynn were right in their element throughout the event, running around enjoying food and fun with all of their new friends. They definitely dressed the part to represent their country, too. The Festival lasted 3 hours, but we were there early and stayed late as volunteers. We were all pooped by the end of the night!