Arabyola, the Loyola Arabic Club, hosted Arabyola GOT Talent on Friday, March 22, as a fun way to promote the Arabic department and club. At the event, students showcased their talents in Arabic through cooking, dancing, and other genres. The main purpose of this event was to showcase Arabyola’s new website.

Students were invited to try some Baklava or Manakish, two kinds of ethnic Arabic food. People were also encouraged to learn Darbuka, an Arabic dance, that requires students to hold hands then while walking, put their left foot up twice before stomping on the ground. Afterward, students were welcome to learn how to write their names in Arabic or get a henna design on their hands by Shahirah Khan ‘19.

Grace Garrett ‘21, president of Arabyola, said that the mission of Arabyola “is to spread Middle Eastern culture and spread the word of Arabic language, and we’re trying to get people to come take it here at Loyola because we have a really small program. Arabyola is just showing all the really good aspects of Arabic and why it’s such a cool language to learn.”

Garrett made the Baklava, which was one of the foods presented at this event. Baklava is a pastry that is made with honey and almonds.

Chloe Chin ‘19, secretary of Arabyola, chose to take Arabic because “I thought it was so different from any other language I had heard of or knew anything about. It intrigued me, and I had taken Spanish previously. They were kind of related, which interested me.”

Chin was teaching Arabic calligraphy at the event. She taught students the history of Arabic and how to write their names in the language. Calligraphy is called “Al Khat” in Arabic, derived from the word “line,” “design,” or “construction.”

“There are many different kinds of Arabic script; however, Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form. It consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. Kufic developed around the end of the seventh century in Kufa, Iraq, from which it takes its name,” said Chin.

Ahmad Akkad ‘20, social media manager of Arabyola, presented a drawing of his two favorite aspects of Dubai.

“I think Arabic is a great class to take here. Especially the professor, Inas Hassan, is really nice and really helpful,” said Akkad.

Hassan is the facilitator for Arabyola and a visiting affiliate assistant professor of Arabic.

At the end of the event, students participated in a raffle to try and win some accessories from Egypt. Coincidentally, it was one of the winner’s birthdays, so there was a video presented of the Arabic version of “Happy Birthday.”

Image courtesy of the Greyhound News