“Every foreign student, arriving in Russia, seeks to preserve his or her culture, as well as an integral part of every people - traditions,” - Hussein Abbas, President of the community of students from Lebanon
Hussein, what would you, as president of the Lebanese community, first tell students who know little about your country?
With culture, customs and traditions. Lebanon is a country with a long history, it survived many wars and officially got independence. Each city and town of our country has significant places that keep history.
We show tourists the sea and treat them with national dishes: capsa (a dish of rice and meat), tabuli (the main ingredients are bulgur and finely chopped parsley) and many more.
Does your family have traditions that came to you from your great-grandfathers and are still followed?
Like in many countries of the world, especially the Arab countries, each generation has its own traditions, my family is no exception.
Since ancient times, my grandfathers have plowed the fields, in our time technology does everything for us, but my grandfather still believes that true and good work is handwork. This tradition passed to my father and we still keep it in our family.
It is also customary to wear harem pants - wide pants, one of several traditional attributes of Lebanese culture.
But how can foreigners preserve their language, culture and traditions in Russia?
Each foreign student, arriving in Russia, seeks to preserve his or her culture, as well as an integral part of every nation - tradition. To do this, we hold exhibitions at RUDN University and participate in events.
We do not forget the language, and the variety of Arabic dialects helps to convey the essence of Arab culture. 22 countries of the world speak Arabic, but in each country it is unique.
What are the main goals of the community?
Of course, to introduce the multinational university to the culture of Lebanon, its customs, to make people feel our hospitality, see the beauty and learn the history of the country. Lebanese themselves retain their love for their homeland, they never forget the place where they were born.
On a Sunday winter day at the exhibition named “Russia” RUDN University gathered students, partners, colleagues, and organized lectures under the title “We are different! We are equal! We are together!” The event took place in Pavilion 57 on the platform of the Russian Society “Znanie”. And on this day the hall was jam-packed.
The event was attended by more than 350 students from Russia, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The students organized an exhibition of the fraternity, introducing the guests to national dances, treating them to Algerian coffee, Arabic sweets and talked about the culture and history of the people of the country. The week ended with a futsal tournament.
On the eve of the New Year, we are summing up the past 365 days and set new goals for the next year. Whatever we do — study, work or do research — we intend to conquer even higher peaks.