The Interest House Community Block Party consisted of an assortment of activities as diverse as the Interest House Community (IHC) itself.

Cookie decorating was one of many options available to attendants of the event. “The cookie decorating was awesome. I made a tie dye cookie with the most amazing frosting ever,” said first-year Lauren Cuykendall.

There was a variety of food: fruit drinks with ‘tropical pearls’ at the Asian Studies House (ASH) booth, a variety of cheeses to be sampled at the French House (La Maison Francaise) booth, a variety of cuisine at the Japanese House (Tekisuijuku or TEK) booth and, of course, the taco truck.

Other activities included bracelet making with alphabet beads in a variety of languages, face painting at the La Maison booth, playing hangman on T-shirts at the Fine Arts House (FAH) booth or jumping rope at a jump-athon to benefit the Community Center For Youth. The a cappella groups and the Seattle band Barcelona also performed.

The Interest House Community, a living option popular among sophomore students, consists of houses with various themes. These houses range in size from five people in the ASH and Multicultural House (MECCA) to 10 people in La Maison.

“I love it,” said Hannah Main, who lives in La Maison. “I love that we speak French as much as we do. We only speak French at meals, and we have an ‘only French in the kitchen’ rule.”
The event, which was moved to fall semester from spring after it was rained out several years in a row, gives the IHC a chance to spark students’ interest.

“Our house isn’t full, so this gives a chance to increase interest and hopefully applications,” said Edwin Shoaf of the ASH.

“I like that the event is in the spring now,” said Main. “Right now we all just moved into our houses and are really excited about it.”

For many, the performers were the highlight of the event.

“I like the music, but I wasn’t impressed with the taco truck. The booths had good activities, but they weren’t very informational about the actual activities,” said first-year Liz Sieng.

Barcelona, a “Seattle melodic rock quartet” according to their MySpace profile, concluded the event. Between 30 and 50 people gathered on the lawn to listen and dance to songs from Barcelona’s new CD as well as a cover of Hall and Oates “Rich Girl.”

“For me, the band was the best,” said Cuykendall. “I walked around, but I didn’t go to that
many booths.”