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I have discovered...(drum rolls)...the JOY OF COOKING! I never would have thought that I would enjoy it but there is something really enjoyable about the slow process. It teaches patience, learning to trust your intuition and five senses, and creativity--all things that I'm working on. So really, I love it, and if you don't believe me, ask Liz, Urooj, and Tiff. I, Klambert, have become obsessed with cooking.
I'm a big fan of fresh vegetables! Yep, that's not even canned corn..it's corn that I cut from the cob. yum. Pasta makes multiple appearances in this series simply because it's so simple so I try to be creative with the other dishes.
Here's a typical dish..zucchini, bell peppers, chicken + pasta. simple and quick but still tasty.
Here's where I tried to copy a dish my sister made last summer. She fried mahi mahi fish with tom yum sauce with bell peppers and green onions. Above is a version of that but apparently I'm not great at cooking fish so it didn't turn out as well but it still quite tasty nevertheless. And anyway, the bell peppers make the dish look so pretty!
Mmmm, here's where the good stuff starts! My sister also made some tasty spicy salmon sushi last year, and I replicated it with some success last weekend. I cooked some rice, added generous squirts of lemon and a tad bit of salt, and rolled it into sushi with cucumber and smoked salmon mixed with green onions and chili-garlic sauce. Delicious!
Here is some baked salmon that was simple and tasty. Trader Joe's (now referred to affectionately be me as "Joe's") sells decently priced wild-caught Alaskan salmon. All I did was cover it in some olive oil, oregano, basil, chili powder, salt and maybe some pepper and stick it into the oven.
Ahh, and this is one of my personal favorites. When I was a kid, my mom used to make pico de gallo, and I was recently craving some so I decided to try it out. I got some tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers, limes, and green onions. All I did was chop the vegetables up and squeeze lots of lime into the mixture and add a bit of salt. Homemade, fresh pico de gallo really is a treat. If you want to make this yourself, I would suggest adding lemon, fresh chili peppers, and hard (less-ripened) tomatoes.That aside, I'm fairly happy with the way I did in my classes since they were all a challenge in their own ways this past semester.
In American Politics, I had a really difficult time writing short, concise, succinct essays and I improved my judgment on what was necessary detail/argument and what needed to put in the footnotes (or not included at all). I also discovered how to use footnotes wisely! I hadn't used it much in the past except for citations but I learned that as I thought more about what I was writing, it just seemed natural that my brain would say "...and you should footnote this." I'm really glad that I took this class because I absolutely love American Politics.
In Practical Wisdom, well, I had a crisis about life while taking this class. I would come back from seminar at 12:45 am and wouldn't be able to sleep until 3...haha, yea. This class was wonderful and it made me really think about the way that I make decisions, the way I approach work, life, etc. Yes, I know it all sounds very general but the class was truly a transformative experience, and I guess you'll just have to come to Swat yourself to take it! For example, we debated on the value of bureaucracies in schools and the healthcare industry, the role of emotions in decision-making, intuition versus rational step-by-step decision-making, etc. Look here at Prof Schwartz's TED talk on practical wisdom for an idea of what practical wisdom is. Prof Schwartz and my Practical Wisdom Prof (Sharpe) are both working on a book right now.. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/barr
In Physics of Musical Sound, I had a good time learning about something that I had no prior knowledge in. I literally had no idea what I was getting myself into but got a glimpse of the mechanics of sound. It was difficult because some of the more advanced concepts required an understanding of advanced physics which we could only learn theoretically. I ended off the class by writing a paper on Enya and Celtic music. It was a great experience because I learned to ask different questions and write a research-based analytical paper that is completely different from my usual poly sci papers.
Urban Economics..I absolutely loved the class. This was something that I had taken just because I needed a class that fit my schedule, and some friends had told me that enjoyed it. I knew that I liked studying cities from freshman year but being someone who grew up in a suburb of one of the largest cities in the world, I had never thought much about the transportation system, layout of the city, importance of municipal policy, etc. I think that a lot of our perception and characterization about urban policy is shaped by where we live (if we live close to a city, that is) and what we see around us in the media. I love cities even more now, and whenever I am in a city (which is now), I start to notice things like, windows of shops facing the street ("eyes on the streets," a term coined by Jane Jacobs who was critical of America's urban renewal projects. This class gave me a way to think about how "space" is used.
So, it's been two years since I've been at Swat..halfway through? my goodness. And what do I have to say? Nothing much I suppose besides the fact that I love it there. Sophomore year was challenging but I found some amazing friends along the way and realized that I couldn't do everything or have everything without sacrificing my health, stress, happiness, all that good stuff. I think I came into Swat thinking that it would be just like high school, where I could do fifty gazillion things, sleep little, put a bit of work into high school work, and just get by. My mentor had told me that college would be different but I didn't really believe him until this year, when I took a step back and thought about what my priorites are. And don't get me wrong..there are people who do get by sleeping little, being involved in 50 gazillion things, doing amazing in school, and are happy but I am not like that. I need sleep. In fact, I need "a lot" of it, i.e. 8 hours (you know, the normal amount that doctors recommend but probably most of the world doesn't get). I still overcommit myself at times but I have to indulge myself once in awhile, right? :)
So I'm in a great place right now, in life and in reality. I've been staying with a Swat alum and his wife, two wonderful people, I must add. I've started my internship with the Girl Scouts Public Policy and Advocacy office, and it has been amazing. I feel like it is work that I could see myself doing for years. I've just been learning about the issues that our office focuses on including girls' emotional health in addition to their physical health, encouraging girls to pursue Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, etc. It's also been exciting, exploring the city, learning about the bus & rail lines, getting lost (or at least thinking that I'm lost), cooking for myself (hahaaaaa), learning to keep track of my money, etc etc etc. It's been a GREAT experience so far even though I've been so tired from all of it. I'll be moving into GWU dorm housing tomorrow, and I am excited because that means that my friends will be coming to town soon! I'm actually heading back to Swat in 2 weeks to work for alumni weekend so I'll be reunited with a bunch of Swatties then! And to use a term my friends have coined, "the summer of awesome" has begun!
So maybe I'll update later on this week when I'll be completely done and packing but if not, have a great summer and congrats to the Swarthmore c/o 2009 and congrats to the Swarthmore c/o 2013 and I guess I might as well congratulate every other class year for finishing the year!
Here are some nice pics..
swat students & staff at the Black-tie Charity Auction!
the nice pottery that was auctioned, donated by Swarthmore Professor Heren and student, Levi Mahan
the on-campus Village Ed Project group!
Anyway, I'm back at Swat, "cooking," sending in internship apps, catching up on work and all that good stuff. The Village Education Project is hosting a Global Education Week next week at Swat so we've been doing a lot of prep for that! We're doing a Sharples takeover (showing a slideshow of pics during lunch), showing a movie about global ed, having an international student panel about education around the world, hosting a Parrish Parlors Party featuring...EMPANADAS!!! and ending off our week with a "black-tie" people auction which should be pretty fun. I'm really excited about it and will hopefully be putting up some pictures of the events from next week :)
Btw, if you're interested in volunteering in Ecuador this summer, tutoring students in English and Math, please email me. (KLAM1 [at] swarthmore.edu) Applications are due next month but contact me now to request more info and an application!
Well here are a couple pre-spring break pics (they're all actually from the same day) and a spring break pic for kicks..
There was a big snow storm a week or two ago and Sharples turned on the fire (the REAL deal, not the gas/electric stuff) so we decided to sit in front of the fire and eat. :) ...and chat..and sit there for a verrry long time
Then as Shilpa and I were walking towards the library, we bumped into Liz and decided we should take a picture with her.
another pretty picture of the snowstorm
post-snowstorm taken by my sister
And here's a picture from Montreal...
Amelia applying for a Cooper Foundation Grant (with her stack of applications)
Estelle (from our Large Scale Event)
Estelle's (hilariously talented) backup dancers
SCREW your roommate!
Diego & Neena (surf 'n turf.. ha ha)
Zoe and Ted (something from Flight of the Conchords)
Sam, the hipster
This is a really, really strange Friday night..ah! I've been out every single weekend night since school started (I mean, there have only been 4, haha) but tonight I'm just feeling tired since I've been sick on and off for the past 2 weeks. eh..I've just been fighting to stay awake this whole day and sitting here in my room is just so comforting. I do know that a lot of people are out in Philly at First Fridays where all the art galleries are free but really sitting is great. mmhm.
I really wished that I had taken pictures of this last week. We got a huge snow shower Tuesday night which led to my first real snowball/snow fight of my life (i.e. my friends climbed on me and shoved me into the snow) and first real making of snow angels! The campus was covered in inches of snow and it was beautiful. I don't know how many of you have visited Swat but the Science Center has amazing windows from floor to ceiling, and sitting in there watching the snow shower made it all that much more beautiful. :)
I've been spending so much time in the Science Center this semester because I have three classes there, and I'm just generally a big fan of large spaces and natural light. I find it to be the perfect place to study..it's pretty funny how everyone has their own little study niches. McCabe was the big thing last year and apparently my whole clan has migrated to Cornell (the Sci Library) this semester. (Apparently the carpet is more comfortable in Cornell than in McCabe...who knew?) I guess you'll just have to come to Swat and try for yourself...
Anyway, one more quick thing. My classes have been amazing this semester...every single one of them. In one of my classes (Practical Wisdom), I've been getting to know Aristotle very very well. I can't say that I really understand him because reading Aristotle is almost like reading something in another language. I know that it will probably have more meaning for me later but for now they're just words that I’m trying really hard to understand. Although there was one passage that asked what the proper function of man is, and that really resonated with me for some reason. I started wondering about what the proper function of other things are, what our function is...since so many people in the world always try to figure out the "meaning" of life, i.e. the purpose of their lives. I guess one more really cool thing about this class is that it goes on late into the night, as late as 1 am. I've always dreamt about coming to Swarthmore and having discussions about life, philosophy, etc until the wee hours of the morning and I guess this is hardcore hours of discussions once a week. It's twice the amount of time of a regular class and I'm usually fighting to stay awake but it is so rewarding and I can't go to sleep afterwards because I'm thinking about things that we talked about earlier in class. Last thing, if you try to ask me what exactly practical wisdom is, I can't really tell you. haha...that sounds strange but my professor has never been able to give us an exact definition either so ...if I figure out exactly what it is, I'll tell you. but chances are, I won't.
I'm now going to jazz it up in my room with some reading and a friend..until next time :)
Ice skating at Penn's Landing
Anyway winter break has been good and I’m in the Bay Area for my externship. psst..I never said this but I LOVE SAN FRANCISCO. The weather has been abnormally warm here; it's great! I've been hanging around Civic Center and taking random walks everywhere and it's beautiful. :) I have really enjoyed my externship at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. I got a chance to sit in court to watch a jury selection for a case involving the death penalty, I saw a live cross-examination of a witness. I saw a range of trials/hearings from major crimes to petty offenses (i.e. parking tickets). Tomorrow is my last day and I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow but I'm betting it's something exciting. :) I guess I’ve always considered law school as one of my options since I was in high school but I didn’t really think seriously about it until a few months ago. And what’s great though is that most of the advice that I got from the lawyers and law clerks is to take time off after I graduate from Swat, and for now, I think that's what I'll plan to do before I make any definite plans...
so I spent all of winter break eating, sleeping, reading, shopping, and working. I read some really great books including The Informant, by Kurt Eichenwald, a book my extern host recommended to me. It is
I also started doing a lot of work and research for my Lang Opportunity Scholarship project which I would love YOUR help on if you have some free time (all I need is 10 minutes of your time)! I’m working on researching for my Lang Opportunity Scholarship project; the more I research, the more I excited I am about the possibilities!
- Have you ever participated in city government in any capacity (e.g. a youth advisory board or youth commission). If not, in what ways would you have liked to participate?
- Is there anything you would like the city, local, or federal government to do to help your living (e.g. financial, education) situation?
- Did you learn about civic engagement in school? In your home? Where or when have you been exposed to information about the American political system and politics in general? If you didn't have any lessons, where did you end up learning about politics?
- What issues are important to you? education? immigration? the environment? public transportation?
- Have you participated in any youth organizations? advocacy organizations?
I don't have a concrete plan yet but I know that I want to work with youth, civic engagement, politics, etc etc and if you wouldn’t mind helping me out, please shoot me an e-mail ASAP. I would love to get your feedback whether you're a student, a parent, a teacher, anyone. Or if you know of anyone or any organization that I should contact, please let me know! My e-mail is KLAM1 at SWARTHMORE.EDU. Thanks a lot for your help!
My plans for winter break? Relaxing, hanging with the family, watching bad TV shows and good movies, getting ahead on some reading for next semester, working on my LOS project (which I'll explain sometime later) and some VEP stuff, doing an externship at the U.S. Attorney's office in San Fran with a Swat alum, eating good food of course, going to Vegas for a short trip...nothing special really. I'll update later next month. I hope everyone has a relaxing, enjoyable winter break!
A picture from Swarthmore..a study break during finals that involved a CLOWN and PARROTS. ...needless to say, they creeped out many Swatties including me but in a good way, I must say. :)
another study break hosted by the Student Health and Wellness Committee called "Relax and Regress"...featuring the only and only PLAY DO(H?), cookies, and coloring books! Here, James and Shilpa are happily coloring their ponies with fluorescent crayons :)
So any updates? I just officially had my last class today--Kurth's class, in fact. It was depressing because it's probably (I think, or am pretty sure, at least) his last official poly sci class at Swarthmore. Really, he (James Kurth) is amazing. Beyond being intelligent, he's an extremely engaging and humorous lecturer and really challenges us in class to as he likes to say, "think diabolically." I think I learned more about America and international politics in this class than I had ever expected. My last paper for this class will be about pirates which are actually less interesting than they sound.
Besides classes, I haven't (oops) been doing much hardcore studying. Ever since classes ended on Tuesday, I've been doing the classic college activity: procrastinating! After my last class today, my friend drove us to Trader Joe's. They wanted mochi and I wanted peppermint cheesecake, peppermint Joe Joe's, and peppermint bark (yes, I am stocking up on peppermint foods so that when March rolls around I can have peppermint foods, only to be found during the holiday season). We then decided to go to Noodi, a great Thai restaurant for some delicious food. And I am leaving the library to watch my friends perform in a student-choreographed dance (i.e. Terpsichore) in half an hour. So much for doing work! But with all honesty, I don't have that much work aka as long as I work consistently for the next week and a half, I shouldn't be in too much trouble....And anyway, I'm convinced we have reading week (i.e. days after classes end to study for finals) so that us hard-working Swatties can relax a little before finals. :)
Good luck everyone with finals, ED I decisions (=O!), the holiday season, finding and eating as many peppermint-flavored foods as possible...
*edit*: picture to add!
Shilpa and Ramya dancing in a classical Indian dance
Some other updates and then pictures to follow...
I've picked out my classes and have a pretty set schedule (assuming that all goes well)..I'm doubling up on Poly sci next semester with American Politics w/Professor Reeves (my section got canceled this semester) and Practical Wisdom w/Prof Sharpe. I am beyond excited for those two classes. Although I was questioning whether or not I wanted to study more poly sci towards the end of last year, I've realized that it makes me incredibly happy for many reasons that I may explain later. For my third class, I'm taking Intro to Comp Sci. ...yea, I can hear the crickets chirping. Why am I taking this? A couple reasons..I need a lab credit and of course, it'll make my dad incredibly happy. He has wanted me to be a computer engineer ever since I was 6 years old (hah, I kid..sort of) and this is the closest I'll ever get. I'm also taking War and Peace/Russian Lit and Culture as my 4th random class where I won't be reading academic journals. I realized this year that I need a little break from reading purely academic articles and writing a bajillion academic papers. So long story short, I'm really excited for my schedule next semester because of the classes I've chosen, the balance in classes, and the timing of classes. I have 1 MWF and 3 T/Th classes this year, and it's not as bad as I thought it would be but I'm exhausted by 4 pm on Tues/Thursdays. So I've gotta say that I'm really excited to go back to California in 3 weeks (YESSSSS!).... But before that, I've got an interview, 4 papers, and a final. As always, I promise I'll update the next chance I get. I hope everyone had an enjoyable, relaxing Thanksgiving!
Hanging at the Staten Island Mawl...I mean Mall
picture of a Staten Island cemetery with an artist
On a happier note, Willets is playing assassins right now and no, I'm not playing but I've been watching other people play and intervening, of course, when the situation calls. And in a strange way, simply by observing other people, I feel like I've gotten to know many of my Willets residents better. Weird what brings people together, huh?
Other list of good things going on...
My defense policy class with Kurth-I had never thought that studying war(s) and the military would be so fascinating.
Looking forward to the care package my mom stuck in the mail yesterday-I thought that I could do without them this semester but I was wrong. Thanksgiving next Wednesday-I'm heading to Eva's again but this time with a large group.
Here are the promised pictures...
George Lakey, Lang Professor, hosted a post-election reflection.
In-n-out is good but this East Coast phenomenon also known as FIVE GUYS is just as delicious.
Week before election: helping to get Obama elected while Alex naps (in Parrish Parlors)...I know many people hate phonebanking but I love talking to random people about candidate(s).
note about the election: I'm so excited/relieved Obama won! Half of Swarthmore got together for an election night party and it was one of the most exciting nights of this semester. On a more depressing note, Prop 8 in California passed 52-48. It is a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. I really cannot believe that passed but at least it is being challenged in court right now so I'm crossing my fingers...
So Shilpa and I decided to take a walk through Crum Woods one day to take pics and I snapped this nice picture of an unsuspecting family.
Another picture from our Crum tour...Here's Crum Creek. Apparently people like to go skinny-dipping in here at night...? If that's not your cup of tea, there's also a polar bear swim that Earthlust organizes in the wintertime as well.
Sharples also had a local food night last Thursday where everything we ate (for the most part) was locally grown and produced. It was the most delicious dinner of the year! By the way, I thought that acorn butternut squash was butternut squash with acorn-topping....oops! And anyway, my friends and I were poking around, doing another round of the food and we found KIWIBERRIES. That sounds fake, right? Nope, they're actually berries that taste just like kiwi but with less of a tart favor. We ate so many of them that the Sharples lady just gave us a box..yum. :)
Faiza, in her snazzy new bike helmet. Thanks to a donor, Swatties (with bikes) got to pick up a free bike helmet last Fri.
photo courtesy of Shilpa: photo of Zoe and her crutches (she twisted her ankle running through the Crum) in Sharples; Shilpa, a fellow admissions blogger (http://theshilpster.wordpress.com/), also loves to take still-life shots so I have shots of chips and fruits on my camera now. :)
I love this road. I think it's Whitter Place? I took a billion pictures of this street last year to show my parents the beautiful foliage. The Lang Center is down here so I come by every week.
So I've gotten into the habit of studying in McCabe now (the good question is where was I studying before? the better question is did I ever study before!?) and once in awhile, I just can't sit near the window because I get so distracted. This is just what happened last Wed..I looked out the window and there were swarms (literally swarms) of birds (which you can't see in this picture) flying from tree-to-tree.
And just something random..if anyone is feeling stressed from college apps or just a bit peachy, you should just be in the mindset that everyday is your birthday (i.e. a celebration of your birth)...so there would never be a sad day. I wrote that on a birthday card and I'm eager to hear my friend's response to that. :)
Here are the pictures, all taken during Oct break.
Here is the lovely view from my room. I wake up to this tree everyday :) ...I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm excited for snow since the tree will be decorated with fluffy white snow.
Georgetown cupcake, anyone? They melted before we could get to them but we ate them nevertheless on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (look below) in view of the Washington Monument...
D.C. = beautiful.
Here Carlo is gazing dreamily at the Supreme Court..hoping someday to preside over the Court. We almost made a bet about who would become a Justice first but we couldn't settle on the terms. Oh well, I can wait thirty (or perhaps forty) years to be appointed..
I
It's lonely here on campus again...Neena has gone home and most everyone has left. I like it though because it gives me some time to be alone. I'll try to post up a picture of the view outside of my window...it's gorgeous. I'm now going to continue vegging/completing my "october-break to-do list" ...
Other cool news is that I've been making it out to Philly a lot more this year! I've already been to Philly 4 times, 3 last month and once in August. It took me awhile to get used to Philly and I must admit that I complained a lot about it last year (too small, shops close too early, food too expensive, etc etc). I think the city is starting to grow on me though. I'm starting to appreciate the smallness which makes it easier to walk around, the artsy parts of the city (lots of public art!), and the small cafes and restaurants. Getting a nice dinner still bankrupts me everytime but at least I know where to go for the good food (melted chocolate at Naked Chocolate, anyone? noodles at Four Rivers?) and I have a sense of direction (yes!) when I wander from South Street to Center City.
I'd love to write more but a paper calls...along with tournament planning (Peaslee is hosting a novice debate tournament), meetings, sleep--all that good stuff.
I think one of the reasons why I haven't gotten accustomed to Sharples yet is because I had eaten primarily Chinese/Asian foods for the first 18 years of my life. It's not such a big deal but I'd never thought about eating fried potatoes (who knew there were so many variations of fried potatoes? tater tots, crisscut fries, seasoned fries, shoestring fries, thick fries, etc) and hot dogs with every meal. White jasmine rice was my staple! Examples of problems..many people eat raw veggies but I prefer mine cooked. My solution? I use the woks at Sharples to drown my vegetables in hot water and pepper. I like my mac & cheese less cheesy than the average person. My solution? I get pasta and cheese from the salad bar and allow the two to be nuked in the microwave.
I do have to credit Sharples with increasing my creativity in food preparation and the kinds of foods I eat. Newest tasty creation: cucumber peanut butter sandwiches! Tastiest creation of the summer that can be replicated in Sharples(courtesy of Aheli of Bryn Mawr): melted banana split in half, filled with peanut butter, marshmallows, and chocolate chips! And until Sharples, I had never tried baklava, mozarella balls, fresh apple cider, and other foods before.
I hadn't intended on writing about food for this whole entry but I was just feeling especially hungry today.
As for my life beyond food, it's busy as usual..there is still way too much reading, planning to do for Swat's Novice Debate Invitational in 2 weeks, planning for Village Education Project this year, applications and essays to be written, and sleep to be had.
