In writing about their first lunch experience at Como, most students said they were unfamiliar with the food. Some did not know how to pick it up. Others were unaware that it had to be paid for, accustomed as they were to living off the land or having food handed out at refugee camps."I was really surprised," wrote Ali Haji-Sufi, "because in my country, Somalia, there is such little money that you can just get the food for free."
He was equally surprised when a teacher who loaned him $2 to buy lunch expected to be paid back. The confusion continued when he took the food and looked for a place to sit. He didn't know anyone and wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, so he sat on the floor near a window.