Thanksgiving in Chile?

Where’s the cranberry jelly and the turkey? We’ve run into some issues with Thanksgiving out here. Not only are we not celebrating on the right day, but we’ve also made our own variations on Thanksgiving classics to make up for food that isn’t available. Since we were in San Pedro de Atacama for Thanksgiving, we decided to host a big meal at our apartment this week for everyone who wanted to come and bring food (potlucks are beyond great).

Some things on the menu are:

Quinoa with cranberries, raisins, and almonds

Sweet potato and spinach sautéed together

Strawberry and spinach salad

Lentil soup

Cheesy squash

Roasted vegetables

Apple pie empanadas

As you can see, we’ve gotten quite creative and are definitely on the more vegetarian side of things for this Thanksgiving. Sorry I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but we're about to move out of our apartment and present our Independent Study Projects, so things are busy!

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa

I’m Back!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to enjoy lots of delicious food while spending quality time with family. I had a great break, but now that classes have resumed, it felt much too short. Thankfully, Christmas break is not too far away, my brain needs a long break. I am sorry for the abnormally long blogging absence, life has been past beyond busy and time completely got away from me. Absolutely crazy. So much has happened since the last time I blogged and of course I will tell you all about it.

First of all, midterms finally officially just ended for me the day before I left for Thanksgiving break. I missed my last one, which was for Theories of Personality, one of my psych classes, in early November (which was scheduled very late for a midterm) because I was out of town for volleyball A10 conference matches. For me, the entire semester kind of felt like one big midterm period since 2 of my classes did not have actual “midterms” but instead had an exam every 3-5 weeks. So it felt like the tests were never ending. But, on a positive note, then each exam had less information on it than an actual midterm would and were not cumulative. Midterms are finally done for me and believe it or not, I actually begin my final exams starting in 8 days (next Tuesday) since 4 out of my 5 classes are having the final exam on the last day of class. I will post more about my finals and the scoop on how my academic semester played out.

The volleyball season has also come to a conclusion. My team finished the season with a 20-10 overall record and placed 4th in the A10 conference standings. Overall, an honorable record. Of course there were matches were we were the better team and that we should have won but didn’t, but sometimes that’s just sports. This year we traveled to a great deal of different cities for conference play (in addition to all the places we traveled to during preseason). We traveled to St. Louis (SLU), Pittsburgh (Duquesne), Dayton, Cincinnatti (Xavier), the Bronx (Fordham), Providence (Rhode Island), Philadelphia (La Salle and Temple). We earned a place in the A10 Conference Championship Tournament, which only the top 6 teams are invited to, but unfortunately lost, which ended our 2011 season a little over a week ago. And of course, I have pictures and plenty of them to share with you! Sorry, in advance for the plethora of pictures!

2011 team picture (courtesy of gwsport.com)

My teammates and I wanted to see if I could fit into our large travel bags....

In a locker room before a match

Pre-match team bonding in locker room

Eating fabulous ribs on an away trip



Look at that block!

My roommate/ teammate's awesome hops

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Mac's senior night

We made a scrapbook for Mac (in honor of senior night)-this was my page.

Well, I must go finish a paper I have due tomorrow. Here is just a short list of other posts that you have to look forward to from me in the next few weeks:

-What I did over my Thanksgiving break

-My final exam period post and review of this semester’s classes

-Funny video from Colonial Invasion

-Drive-in movie adventure

-Special post about my beloved, 11-0 undefeated Green Bay Packers (if you read any of my posts from last year, you HAD to know this one was coming eventually)

-Plus more (I don’t want to give away all of my secrets yet).

As always, feel free to email me with any questions, cbgraf@gwmail.gwu.edu

-Christie

Back from the driest desert on earth

Finally, my long awaited trip to San Pedro de Atacama is over. After too many hours on an uncomfortable overnight bus and too much sand stuck to all of us, my friends and I are back in Arica at our apartment. I won't hold out too long on the photos, because they're amazing!! I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel there.

Salt cave (yes, I did lick the wall- it was a once in a lifetime opportunity)

Valle de la Muerte (Valley of Death, animals used to wander off from their herders and get lost within the mountains in this valley)

Salar de Atacama (salt flat)

Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos (National Reserve of Flamingoes)

Geysers Tatio (We woke up at 4 AM to drive 2 hours into the mountains to see these amazing geysers in the early morning)

Termas (natural hot springs near the geysers)

Llamas

Jewelry store in downtown San Pedro

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa

GW Men's Basketball Off To Impressive Start

Raise High has been chosen as the theme for this basketball season and The GW Men’s basketball team is off to an impressive hoping to raise not only our school colors high, but also our hopes of achieving national dominance. The GW Men’s team has out of the gate begun an impressive season.

In the first game of the regular season they dominated the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore at the Charles E. Smith Center with a 64-48 win.

The men then hit the trail to Berkley, California where they took on the then 24^th-ranked Cal Berkley Golden Bears in the first game of the CBE Classic and despite playing a close first 10 minutes, dropped their first game of the season 81-54. This game against Cal was part of the larger CBE Classic tournament sponsored by Progressive and took the Colonial men to a Subregional Tournament at Bowling Green State University where they faced the host school, Austin Peay State University and the University of Detroit Mercy. In this tournament, the Colonials blasted out Detroit Mercy as well as Bowling Green, but played a very close game with the strong Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay before emerging victorious with a 54-52 victory. The Colonials finished this part of the tournament as the Bowling Green Subregional Champions!

 

In the upcoming days, the Colonials will travel to play the Big 12 powerhouse Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas to start the month of December. They will then come back home to the DC area to take on the 2010 Final Four local foe, the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams, in the 17th Annual BB&T Classic in the Verizon Center a few blocks away from campus in DC’s Chinatown.

Tony Taylor and Aaron Ware
named BGSU regional MVP's

Be sure to look for the Colonials on the big screen and in the rankings. I think we are off to a great start and have a great season ahead of us. Raise High the Buff and Blue!

On an admissions note, we were so pleased with all of our early decision applicants and our officers are busy reviewing your applications. We hope you had a fantastic (and relaxing) Thanksgiving break and look forward to making your day soon! As always, shoot me any question or reach out to me if I can assist you in any way. I am more then happy to help or find an answer for you if I don’t know it for some reason. Until then, I’ll keep you posted on out NCAA tournament bound Colonials!

Peace, Love and Hippos

Brandon Moore 

brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu

San Pedro de Atacama

Tonight, my friends and I are leaving overnight on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, the most beautiful city in the driest place on earth- the Atacama Desert. I could not be more excited! We have been talking about making this trip all semester and we finally found a good time for everyone to leave behind work, travel there, and spend some time enjoying the touristy aspects of northern Chile.

A total of 6 of us will be going together, and there are many other people from our program who are traveling there on their way back up from Santiago and other cities. We are staying in a hostel close to the center of town and the owner of the hostel is picking us up and dropping us off at the bus station- a nice welcome to the city. We are planning on bringing lots of food and water because the town itself is extremely touristy and prices are supposed to be ridiculous, but we are still looking forward to some culinary adventures in tourist-land.

On top of all this, we are planning on going on some amazing tours to sight-seeing spots around the area. Right now, we’re hoping to make it to a valley that looks like the surface of the moon, gysers, lagoons, and a salt flat. I found some pictures online but hopefully these won’t even compare to the sights we will see on my trip!

Valley of the Moon

Laguna

Geysers

Salt flat

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu

- Marisa

Halfway through November

Hi everyone!! As November is already halfway over, I am happy to announce that I have finished the first draft of my independent study project for my study abroad program. This is a little ahead of schedule in terms of how I expected things to go, but really perfect because now I have the chance to relax, enjoy my last two (?! CRAZY) weeks in Arica, Chile, and start thinking about other things.

Because I am in the southern hemisphere, things are really heating up. It’s been hard to wear jeans outside without sweating buckets and our apartment doesn’t have air conditioning so instead we try to take advantage of the wind by keeping windows open during the day. A plus of having summer right now is the produce available- lots of delicious fruits and veggies are popping up at the farmers market and my roommates and I are taking advantage of them! While the north of Chile doesn’t have any fresh berries, my favorite part of summer, I managed to find some frozen raspberries to add to my granola in the morning. We have been cooking up a storm in our apartment, including some of my favorite dishes! We made a tomato orange soup from scratch that emulated my favorite soup from Elephant’s Deli in Portland, Oregon. We have made lots of sautéed veggies, lentil dishes, fajitas made an appearance, and even homemade pasta sauces! It has been really great to have our own space and to cook for ourselves after living in homestays where white bread was the norm.

Since we’ve either been in classes all week or writing these 20+ page papers while we’ve been in Arica, we are trying to take full advantage of the city. Yesterday, we finally made it to the pizza place everyone claims to be the best in the city. The only other pizza we’d had before this was a gross pizza with corn kernels and soft crust, so we figured anything would be an improvement. The best part about the pizza place was that it was INSIDE the large supermarket here- and the pizza was DELICIOUS! Thin crust, good tomato sauce, and plenty of cheese, olives, and mushrooms. They deliver, so we may be taking advantage of that again.

We have a few other things we’d like to do, like spend time at the beach and meander around downtown, so hopefully those things will all happen in the next two weeks before our Independent Study Project Presentations and the end of the program! 

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu

- Marisa

Being really cultured.

Last night, my co-worker and I went to see the the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center.  I got 2 free tickets on MyTix--it's a program run by The Kennedy Center that gives out free tickets (by raffle) each week.  You can also buy reduced-price tickets most days through MyTix.  It's really great.  I only entered it a few weeks, maybe 3, before I won!  I asked around who like Brahms--easier to find someone than I thought it would be!  My friend (and co-worker) was totally into it, so we made an evening out of it!

It was really fantastic; the Kennedy Center is beautiful, so just being there on a cold fall evening was nice in itself.  Then, there was the live music and dancing on the north "Millenium Stage", which is open to all, and of course our show was really, really good.  Beethoven and Brahms were performed beautifully (to my unrefined ears, at least), and the soloist Leonidas Kavakos put on a good show with the amazing symphony backing him up.  Totally fun.

In addition, I saw a former professor there!  It was really funny--this city is just so small.  And the Kennedy Center is where you're gonna bump into people.  Well, the upper-crust people you may happen to know.  Also, call me crazy, but I really think Wolf Blitzer was there as well.  It REALLY looked like him, and he'd be the type to see the symphony on a Thursday night.  He lives nearby, after all!

So I will certainly be signing up for MyTix every week, here's hoping I get one again soon!  But not too soon, I'm already seeing The Nutcracker there in a few weeks.  Can't go too often, that's over-exposure.  Plus it's a bit exhausting being so gosh-darn worldly!

As always, email me with questions and the like!  shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3 Shireen

Food Truck Overload?

So I already ate lunch at a truck once this week.  Today, I went to TWO others.  TWO.  I guess my motive was to make up for not being able to next week (and seriously dieting from now 'til Thanksgiving so I don't bloat like a balloon...).

I got lunch at Cajunators, the beautifully-painted Cajun-Creole food truck.  Then for dessert (a few hours later, mind you), I got a cupcake from Sweetbites!  I gotta say, I was *very* pleased with both!

At Cajunators, I got some spicy but satisfying Chicken Gumbo to chase away the cold day between classes, and it was rather heavenly.  The chicken and andouille sausage flavors melded into the mix in an altogether satisfying fashion.  It was pretty cold today, so I really needed something hot and HOT to warm me up.  That did the trick.

A few hours later, my tummy wanted something sweet (or rather, my taste buds did...).  I was going to chase it away with a cup of slightly-sweetened coffee back at home, but on my way back, I passed the sweetbites truck.  I couldn't turn it down, especially since 1) I've never been to *any* dessert trucks, and 2) They were featuring a new Salted Caramel cupcake.  You cannot say no to caramel and chocolate.  Or at least I can't!

The icing was fabulous.  I'm something of an icing connoisseur, and this stuff was on par.  Don't let the "salted" in the title scare you, you barely taste it.  It's just enough to give the sweet caramel a kick and compliment the sweet, sweet chocolate cake.  Overall, a double-win on the culinary end.

Cajunators, if you couldn't tell!

and the Sweetbites truck!

Email with questions about GW, college in general, or how I haven't gained the Freshman Fifteen--(though I still have another year to take care of college weight gain, here's hoping I bypass that!)--shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3 Shireen

The BIGGEST Cheese

In my food truck journey, I sampled The Big Cheese truck today at Metro Center.  If you know where that is, you realize it's a bit far from campus--about a 1/2 hour walk--but the weather was just gorgeous today!  I had to venture out and take a nice stroll in my free time.  And as a reward for about two hours of walking around the city aimlessly, I stopped at the food trucks on my way home.  Perfect afternoon!

I got the Thrilled Cheese (hehehe get it?), which is Chipotle cheddar, chopped jalapenos, and tasty guacamole all grilled together on sourdough.  It was fabulous!  Not too spicy but enough kick to get ya going!  And the guacamole wasn't too pureed and smooth that you couldn't even tell it had avocado in it--this was the real deal.

One thing, though: they didn't cut my sandwich in half!  I think this was an oversight, because I mentioned it to a friend and she said that wasn't the case with any sandwiches she'd gotten from them, but it did make it a bit tough to eat!  Though still entirely worth it.

Email with questions about GW, DC, or the college process in general!  shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3 Shireen

Weekend of Fantastic GW Sports

When you think of DC, the first thing that comes to mind is not usually sports. However, GW has changed that concept for many opposing college athletes this weekend.

For starters, the Men's basketball team started off the weekend with their first decisive regular season win against the University of Maryland- Eastern Shore. At a packed Smith Center following a 3 hour tailgate that closed the street in front of the arena, the era of Mike Lonergan here at GW began with a 64-48 victory. The GW men are now in Berkeley, California, warming up before tonight's big game against the PAC-12's #24 ranked California Golden Bears. The men will be playing at Haas Pavilion and this will be a huge first test for them. Try and catch the game if you get ESPNU or listen for what is bound to be an upset win in the newspapers tomorrow. Raise High the Buff and Blue!

Secondly, the Men's soccer team won a huge semi-final match in the Atlantic-10 Conference tournament Friday night by defeating the La Salle Explorers 2-1 in double OT. The tournament, being held in St. Louis, concludes after today's (Sunday's) 2:00 championship match between GW and Xavier. This is bound to be a good match that hopefully ends in GW's favor and propels our squad into the NCAA tournament. 

Finally, the GW Women's Volleyball team concluded their regular season by upsetting the Fordham Ram's at Rose Hill on Senior Night in a huge 3-2 win. This final win of the regular season is expected to propel the women to the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament to be held at the University of Dayton in 4 days with GW entering as a 4th seed. This will surely be a tough couple of matches in "enemy territory," but it is a feat our ladies can handle. Congratulations on achieving a 20 win season ladies and we look forward to more post season victories. 

So as you watch ESPN before bed or open your morning news paper, be sure to look in the headlines for GW. We are bound to be there...where we belong. 

As always, if you have any questions about any part of the admissions process feel more than happy to e-mail me. Thank you to all of you who have submitted ED 1 applications! Best of luck to you and we look forward to receiving the rest of your applications.

Peace, Love and Hippos,

Brandon Moore

brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu

(Another) Eid Banquet!

Tonight, I went to the Muslim Students’ Association Eid Al-Adha Banquet.  (I know, I’m being so interfaith-y this week!)  Now, as I may have said before, I’m not Muslim, so I’ve never celebrated Eid until this year, first at the MSA’s Eid Banquet in September for Eid ul-Fitr, and now for Eid Al-Adha!

I really enjoy all these religion-based events because though I don’t subscribe to any one religion, I was raised Catholic and still celebrate the big Christian holidays.  I knew quite a bit about Jewish tradition because so many of my high school friends are Jewish, but I didn’t have much exposure to Islam (weird given my name and background, eh?)

I’m also a religion minor, so it’s great to see everything I’m learning in all my classes in action, as well as how modern Muslims practice in comparison to all the Middle Ages (and earlier) theologians and philosophers that dominate so much of my religion homework. 

There was also henna!  So I of course had to get all painted up--I love it!  Here are some pictures of my lovely body art:

When it was first applied--the dark stuff dries and crumbles off, leaving behind...

... all this loveliness!

Cute, no?  All that added up to a good night!

With questions about anything, email: shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3 Shireen

Registration for classes from abroad!

Thanks to FOFAC, the Focus on Fall Abroad Community (more info here!) that I am involved in for next semester, I have gotten lots of perks from being abroad this fall semester!

• First, I was able to choose my roommates and have a confirmed room on campus next semester in Amsterdam Hall. We already know where we will be living and don't have to stress out wondering if GW Housing wil find us a place or not.
• Next semester, there will be lots of cultural activities in the dorm emphasizing the sharing of our abroad experiences- everyone will get a taste of each others' time abroad!
• Most importantly: I was able to register super early (Nov 4th when my regular registration would have been today) and get the classes I wanted to with the schedule I wanted to!

Thankfully, my internet was up and running when I needed to register. I logged on and inputted all the classes and wanted and instantly I had a schedule that I am looking forward to! Here are my classes for next semester:

ECON 2180 Survey of International Economics

Basic concepts of international trade and international finance, with emphasis on policy issues.

PUBH 1101 Introduction to Public Health and Health Services

Introduction to aspects of public health and health services, including health services administration and policy, maternal and child health, environmental health, and health promotion.

GEOG 2133 People, Land, and Food

Domestication and dispersal of plants and animals; development of agricultural systems; spatial disparities in world food production, demand, and distribution.

PSC 2337 Development Politics

An examination of how and why political systems develop the way they do. Why do some countries develop into democracies, while others become authoritarian? How do class conflict, the nature of the elite, and the political culture affect the development of political institutions?

WSTU 2120 Introduction to Women's Studies

A multidisciplinary examination of historical conditions, cultural norms, and social institutions that define women's status in Western culture. Experiences of girls and women in various racial–ethnic, class, and age groups. Alternative visions for women's (and, by implication, men's) roles and status. Sophomore standing required. I am really excited for my schedule, and to top it off, I have big chunks of time on Mon/Wed/Fri where hopefully I can find somewhere to intern or volunteer to take up those chunks. I am really looking forward to being back on campus now that I am excited for these classes and my living situation! Questions? marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu - Marisa

Interfaith Dinner

Tuesday night, my friends and I went to the 10^th annual Interfaith Dinner in the Grand Ballroom.  It was a nice night with food, music, and merriment, but also sharing of religions and cultures rather than the ever-so-common separatism among the religions

The theme of this year’s dinner was “better together”, and each religious student group shared pieces from their holy books that emphasized that theme, often in the native tongue of the religion and then an English translation.  The musical performances also emphasized tolerance, spreading hope and love, and giving peace a chance.  It was just lovely!

It’s always nice to see people of different backgrounds coming together to share common goals and beliefs, but it’s especially nice when different religions come together, especially since religion is so often something that divides peoples rather than its intent of helping people.  This dinner affirmed my belief that religion actually can do good!  Who would have thought, eh?

If you’re interested in joining a religion-based student group at GW, we have them in droves!  I wrote a post about it a while back, but there’s also plenty of info on the student org website where you can find all you need to know. 

Questions? Write me!  shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

~~~Shireen

Independent Study Project

Now that it is November, I finally get to dedicate all my time to my research, enjoying Arica, and living with friends! Through the SIT abroad platform, we get a month at the end of the program to pursue any project related to the public health theme in any part of Chile. I decided to come back to Arica since I already had connections in the public hospital and want to work with the Aymara population that is most concentrated here.

I have already started getting a few things in order. For my research, I need to identify Aymara ascendance from the birth records in the hospital. I have already been in touch with people from CONADI (National Corporation for Indigenous Development), as they have a ongoing research project identifying these last names in the region of Arica and Parinacota. I was able to get my hands on this precious book and photocopy it so now I have just been going through my data identifying which names could be Aymara! The Aymara keep their father and mothers’ last names, so it is easy to see the Aymara lineage as it is passed down generation to generation.

I also was able to be part of a birth last night in the hospital! A woman had recently given birth to a premature but healthy baby girl when I arrived at the hospital, and since there weren’t going to be any more births last night, my advisor quickly rushed me in to watch the process the mother goes through post-birth of removing the placenta, etc. I won’t go into too many details but it was really interesting to be able to watch and ask questions while the nurse-midwife was with the mother. Afterwards, I watched as they prepared the baby to be with her mother- literally enveloping her in 4 layers of clothing while she was still under a hot lamp. The baby reached her tiny hand to try to grab mine while the nurse and her aunt clothed her.

All of these experiences have been really amazing so far and I’m excited to keep you all updated on my research.


Email me if you have any questions! marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa 

Chilenismos and medical terms

Over the past 2+ months, I have been exposed to Chilean Spanish. This Spanish is not the kind you learn in the classroom- Chilean Spanish doesn’t only vary in accent, but also in vocabulary. There are so many slang words that are widely used by the population, both young and old, that it took awhile to adjust and incorporate them into my own Spanish. These words are referred to as “chilenismos.” Thankfully, we learned a lot in Spanish class as the teachers wanted to get us up to speed quite quickly and be able to talk with locals. I thought I would share some of the most popular, and some of my favorites:

Po: This is always added to the end of a sentence, like “uhh” or “yeah” in the English language. In answering a question, you could say “si, po.”

Cachai: Do you understand? Get it?

Completo: The new invention of a hot dog slathered in sauerkraut, tomato, avocado, and mayonnaise- a street food favorite.

Al tiro: Immediately, in a second.

Manjar: the Chilean word for “dulce de leche,” or caramelized condensed milk.

Tecito/once: Snack time that replaces dinner here, with bread, cheese, tea

Pololo: boyfriend, as “novio,” the normal word in Spanish for boyfriend, means fiancée

Bajonear: Late night munchies, after the discos close and people go eat empanadas

If you are interested in more, check out this website I found! 

In addition to the Chilenismos, we have been learning a lot of medical vocabulary through our excursions and independent study project work. It’s nice to have a hang of medical Spanish and I hope it comes in handy in the future. In the beginning, we all fumbled a lot to translate specific words and professions in the clinics but now referring to a maternity nurse as a “matrona” is easy, and they are distinguishable by their uniform colors too which is nice.

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu

- Marisa

Most Politically Active University FTW!

According to The Princeton Review, GW was rated to have the most politically active student body!  Check it:

So, yay!  Good for us!  I'd definitely have to agree with their assessment--and then some.  Our location just blocks from the White House is a huge plus for everyone who wants to get involved; it's hard *not* to go to that rally you were invited to when it's only a 15 minute walk.  With countless hill/lobbyist/White House/everything else political interns, we work for that credit, and by George, I think we've earned it!  It's hard to find someone here who isn't interested in politics, even med students and the engineering kids have an interest in DC political culture and the workings of politics.  How could you not?  It's literally everywhere around us!

Keep emailing, I love it!  shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

~~~ Shireen

Lobster and Nostalgia

Today, I continued on my food truck quest by visiting the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck when they were parked right outside of Duques.  This may have been my favorite yet—and that’s quite a statement since I’ve really loved them all so far.  The thing is, I love lobster more than most other foods; I’d totally be ok with eating it every day.  Apparently slaves in New England revolted so that they wouldn’t have to eat lobster every day, and got it cut down to 5 days a week.  How crazy is that?  And now it’s a delicacy.  Go figure.

Now, not only do I love lobster, but I love Maine lobster—I’m all about lobster rolls, lobster chowder, and popovers with blueberry jam and a cup of lobster bisque on a chilly early-summer afternoon in Maine.  These are specific memories I have from many summers spent up in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park with my family, so I’m a bit of a connoisseur of Maine lobster.  It’s something I take seriously, so I was going to be a tough critic of Red Hook.  They had my childhood memories in their hands.

Of course, I wasn’t disappointed.  I got a classic Maine-style lobster roll, and it was absolutely exquisite. Maine-style rolls are coated with a very light, slightly lemony mayo-based sauce, and Connecticut-style is poached in butter—Red Hook has both, but I’m partial to the Maine, of course.  Also, it’s just slightly healthier!  The Connecticut-style just drips butter.  Anyway, the bread on mine was crisped just right, and absolutely overflowing with big chunks of lobster.  The sauce was perfectly light, not clumpy like mayonnaise can sometimes get, and with just a bit of lemon to compliment the lobster.  A sprinkle of old bay and a pickle on the side sealed the deal: awesome lunch.

So as I said, this was my favorite so far—but who knows?  It’s possible that my next venture will trump this one.  We shall see!  The only way I’ll find out is to keep lunching!

Send me emails!  I love reading and responding: shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3 Shireen

Bariloche, Argentina

Finally- MARISA MAKES IT TO ARGENTINAAAAAA!!!!!!!

While Pucon was beautifully diverse in its eating culture, nothing prepared us for the shock of Bariloche, Argentina. After hopping over the border by bus and eating delicious trout for lunch on the way, we finally arrived in Bariloche, the chocolate and ski capital of Western Argentina. The purpose of the trip was to interact with Argentinean Mapuches and talk about issues of nationality and identity, which would have been amazingly interesting had we been able to. There were issues due to the erupting volcano further south and the lecturers were not able to make it to Bariloche.

Rapanui Chocolates

While this was disappointing for everyone, we had the day free instead to wander around the street of chocolate and taste and indulge in every possible combination of chocolate. I bought a few key treasures- including chocolate covered raspberries (!!!) and orange peels, but those were saved for later since each store gives you a sample and I was already overwhelmed by the time we finished our rounds. It was a fun and relaxing two days in Argentina, but I would have preferred having more time there to soak in Argentinean culture, the accent, and more of the food. I did have a signature Argentinean steak, a cut called bife de chorizo, and it was delicious! 

Chocolate stores galore

The cathedral we saw, but since it's almost summer there was no snow!

I hope to be back in Argentina someday… I don’t think I did the country justice.

- Marisa

Love in the Time of Appendicitis

Last week I had appendicitis, which wasn't so great. But along the way I learned some very important facts about GW, which was pretty great.

Let's explain this by the numbers:

0. The number of dollars it cost me to get EMeRG, GW's all-volunteer, student-run, on-campus paramedic and ambulance service, to drive me to the hospital.

600+. According to folks I've spoken to about this, the number of dollars it would have cost to have been driven two blocks from Student Health Services to the GW Hospital (if there was no EMeRG, I would have had to pay for a ride from DC Fire and EMS).

1. The number of operational ambulances EMeRG has right now.

Sweden's colors are the same as GW's...

So all in all, pretty great deal we have going here at GW. As a senior, I figured I'd never need to be hospitalized while still at college--but life has a way of surprising you. It's good to know that not only do we have a free ambulance service on campus, but we have a great hospital too. (If it's good enough for former Vice President Cheney, it's good enough for me.)

Coincidence, or Conspiracy?

For students with other problems, there's other support services too--Student Health Services for regular check-ups and outpatient care, the University Counseling Center for mental health issues, and a host of others.

In all seriousness, you'll probably never be provided for as well as during your time here at GW.

Adam
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Questions or comments about Stockholm on the Potomac? Send them to me at ash1290@gwmail.gwu.edu

Pucón, "entrance of the cordillera"

Driving to Pucon was an amazing drive- as we got closer and closer, Volcano Villarica peered down at us, breathing smoke into the air. The lake is picturesque outside of the town of Villarica, but we continued past to our cabins further towards the mountain. 

Volcano Villarica

The town of Pucon was super touristy, which was perfect for those of us craving American style pizza, salads, and vegetarian food. One restaurant called Ecolé had an amazing cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, and zucchini mix with peanut and coconut curry sauce. Basically, a culinary introduction to what we were to encounter in Bariloche! 

Cute Ecolé restaurant

"As famous as the hostal itself, the ¡école! restaurant is one of the best vegetarian (fish included) restaurants in Chile. From the homemade granola and yogurt breakfasts to snacks of vegetarian nachos and burritos, or a spicy salmon yellow curry or robust vegetarian lasagna, you will never be disappointed. Stop by and have a real coffee or Kunstmann in the evening." -LonelyPlanet Guide book

Indoor/outdoor hot springs we went to

Town of Pucón

I also managed to find the Patagonia store and now have a cool Patagonia in Pucón sticker, a beautiful ceramic store where I bought a turquoise bowl, and other artisan shops. The lakes and rivers all around Pucon are full of trout and salmon, and one artist I found had money pouches made of dyed salmon skin!


I can't believe this is part of my program sometimes.. it really has been an amazing adventure and our program has facilitated and planned all these excursions!
- Marisa