Students who stopped by Ports of Call at the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center Friday got a chance to indulge in worldly cuisine.

Sponsored by GSB and the Office of International Students and Scholars, the event highlighting food and cultural displays came on the last day of International Week 1995.

“It’s a nice comfortable atmosphere for people to talk and eat food from different cultures,” said Tieu Hinh, vice president of International Student Council and chairman of International Week 1995.

Those who stopped in bought tickets and traded them for Indonesian, African, Palestinian or German delectable delights. Cultural displays consisted of traditional music, national symbols and hand-made crafts which made for a worldly atmosphere.

“It’d be good if we could have more countries participating,” said Willy Setiawan, vice president of the Indonesian Student Association.

Setiawan said the event was held to four or five countries due to limited space.

Funds from the event are returned to international student organizations, said Lisa Yusuf, event chairwoman.

“We basically break even,” said Maan Amad, president of the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS). Amad said he stayed up until 3 a.m. Friday morning preparing about 80 pieces of cultural food.

Favorite foods varied by participant.

“I like it very much. My favorites are the corn cake from Indonesia and the beef pie and cherry [streusel] cake from Germany,” said Budi Sutomo, a freshman in graphic design.

“It’s not like what I thought it would be,” said Jean Martin, a senior in accounting. “I did not expect all this food. I would have brought more money.”

Martin said her favorite was the German apple streusel.

The African table consisted of treats like fried plantains and fried ripe bananas covered with rice flour batter.

The dessert capital was clearly the German table. Zeitgeist, meaning “Spirit of Time” is the organization of German students.

“Last year we decided to participate in Ports of Call and then formed the group,” said Juergen Symanzik, a Zeitgeist member.

International students leaders point out that anyone can belong to an international student organization.

Brent Reschly, a senior in agronomy and international agriculture, spent three years in Germany and is now a member of Zeitgeist.

“It keeps up my German so I don’t lose the language,” Reschly said. “It’s nice to be around different attitudes and mindsets.”