Lima is a melting pot with several ethnicities making up its population.
Just how diverse we are was highlighted in LACNIP's International Expo, held at Lima Senior High School Sunday.
“We have 13 different countries here represented and that’s just a small tip of the iceberg. People have no idea how many different cultures and communities are living right here in the Lima area. They might be your neighbor or your doctor or someone you don’t really know anything about and this is a great way to find out about their countries and their traditions,” said Connie Hornung, chair of the International Expo.
Maha Zehery is from Egypt and has attended the International expo for nine out of the past ten years.
“Many people are really uninformed. I’ll be asked questions do you have a tent? Do you walk like an Egyptian? So I try to get family pictures to show people that we are normal people like everybody else,” said Zehery.
The theme for this year's event was "We are all connected".
“And we are connected with our humanity and the world seems to keep getting smaller and smaller with internet and Facebook and social media. You can contact somebody anywhere in the world instantly. As people are moving here to this area and working and living near you and working with you and maybe they are your children’s friends...this is a great way to find out a little bit about them and ask them one on one instead of having to read it from a book,” said Hornung.
Several different booths were set up in the commons area of the high school, giving people a look at the culture of each country and in some cases, sample some of the cuisine.
“That’s the most fun. You can travel around the world and eat your way around the world without having to leave Lima. We’re bringing the world to you today,” added Hornung.
