We Like Grass

By Tamika Whitenack A week ago, I was sitting on the couch of an apartment in Hanover with Mariko and Cam watching The Book of Life, a lovely children's movie about being yourself with fun visuals and voices. That was the start of our wonderful little Thanksgiving get-away. It's hard for me to describe Thanksgiving break well, but it was a good time! I could in-depth tell you about the food, but I think the pictures in my last post tell a sufficient story. This is the first Thanksgiving I have not been home, and as is typical of all these first experiences that are a result of college, it makes me think and feel a lot. Additionally, I was working on a memoir piece for my freshman writing seminar in which I talked about family (specifically my grandparents), and food, and that also has me thinking. I've decided the most appropriate way to gather these thoughts is a list of things that I am grateful for, because that seems fitting for a belated Thanksgiving post. Things...

By Tamika Whitenack I don't have time to write a full post right now, but just to stay in contact with what I've been up to since I last blogged (over a week ago!), I'll share some good pictures of Thanksgiving food (and a Deece plate), plus a Vassar sunset and sunrise.

By Cameron Rusin Hi friends! These past two weekends have been insane, mostly with cross country shenanigans. I’m the most sleep deprived I’ve ever been in my entire life, so this blog might not make any sense. My apologies. Two weeks ago was NCAA regionals! TUXC is literally nationally known for its fans, aka the Crazies, and this was my first time taking part in that which was awesome. Nine people from each team were still running/being alternates, but everyone else on the guys and girls teams plus a bunch of track runners got up bright and early and drove to a golf course in Maine. We then stripped down to spandex and sports bras, covered ourselves in blue and brown body paint, and proceeded to go completely nuts. The next two hours were then spent running around the course yelling and carrying giant cardboard cutouts of all of the racers’ heads. You’ll have to trust me that this was incredibly fun, but this, as with most of the events described in this post, probably c...

I woke up past 1 in the afternoon today from a bunch of crazy weird dreams, which is probably an indication that I should sleep earlier. I definitely know I’ll have to next quarter, since the physics class I signed up for is at 8 AM four days a week…I’ve heard many good things about the professor, at least (but his tests seem to be insanely difficult, which I look forward to). It may not look like much, but this will hit around 1600ft (hopefully!) In the area of rocketry, there have been several advancements! On Saturday, the Prometheus team (the competition team I’ll be officially joining soon) launched our test rocket Minion to a vertical distance of around 2000 ft. (video below), 1000 less than anticipated since it was unstable from mass that we didn’t account for. I wasn’t there, but I’ll be going out to the site soon anyways to launch my own rocket, which is nearing completion. I picked up the completed printed nose cone today, which looks amazing as heck, and also obta...

By Tamika Whitenack Welcome to Tamika's College Dining Experience! On the menu this week: Tuesday: Black Bean Tacos -Our slow-cook in mini rice cooker technique creates black beans that are soft and full of flavor. The aromatics of cilantro, garlic, and onion will delight both your taste buds and linger in your dorm room, creating a garlicky ambience in which to enjoy your meal -Tortillas are served warm and softened from the steam of black-beans cooking, producing a unique black-bean infused texture -served with a side of roasted cauliflower on a bed of baby spinach Wednesday: International Vegan Desserts Biscotti -The hazelnut cinnamon vanilla biscotti will surprise you with their subtle almond extract flavor. The crunch and sweetness of these cookies pairs wonderfully with coffee for a late afternoon treat -Drizzled with dark chocolate Sesame Cookies -These simple sesame cookies have a strong tahini flavor and a crumbly melt-in-your-mouth texture thanks to our ...

By Tamika Whitenack What to talk about? I've had several ideas of what to talk about lately, I think I'll touch on time and also coming home (I'm going home in a little more than a month!! wow) But first, a few updates. It snowed this morning!! It was enchanting and very distracting from Spanish class. It didn't last for long on the ground, but it was so magical to see it falling from the sky. I'm excited for future snow. Also, so far I'm finding the cold (our temperatures have been in the 30s, sometimes lower, sometimes a little higher) wonderful! It's quite invigorating and makes me run faster, plus it means I can wear all my lovely sweaters and fleece. Hooray. The only bad thing is that I am super dry all the time and may have given myself a weird cold-burn by running in the cold with shorts instead of leggings. Oops. Food updates: I made a vegan chocolate cake for my ALANA Center boss's birthday on Friday, and it was very well received! The r...

By Emma Regev  Hello friends!!!  I am writing to you from a duvet cover in the park —  a weekend pastime that has become a favorite of mine. This Duvet Cover in the Park is bittersweet, though, because it’s our last day on the kibbutz! Tomorrow we’ll wake up bright and early and drive about two hours to the town of Hod Hasharon, a suburb outside of Tel Aviv. This means that we are officially transitioning from shorashim (roots), to chava (farm… there’s a historical meaning to it). What this means for us is that we’ll no longer be spending our days learning, but instead we’ll be leaders in year-round programming in our sister youth movement, Hanoar Haoved. I’m not entirely sure what this will look like, so I’ll get back to you once I’ve figured it out. What it definitely means is that I’ll be living in an entirely different house in a different place with different roommates and a real city to explore. Don’t get me wrong, I love how beautiful and quiet the kibbutz...

By Cameron Rusin Hi Friends! Apologies for how long it’s been since I last posted… I’ve actually had more free time than I know what to do with for the past week but I just couldn’t think of anything worthwhile to write about, but now I do! Some background: In 1956, the City of Medford Historical Society ended up with a cannon that they had nothing to do with, so gave it to Tufts for various reasons. Tufts, also having nothing to do with it, placed it on a small patch of grass next to the chapel (Apparently it’s facing Harvard on purpose, but I’m not even sure it’s facing the correct direction to do that). It led a peaceful life for a couple of years, being removed once for repairs then staying gone for awhile because sentiment towards the Vietnam War, then was brought back 1977. That year some students painted The Cannon black to protest Tufts’ support of the Marcos family in the Philippines then another group of students repainted The Cannon because they were opposed to th...

By Tamika Whitenack This blog has 2 parts. The first is about my life right now, or rather my life this past week. It was actually a very good week for me! I'm pretty busy with classes and lots of extracurriculars (this week I went to the first Asian Students' Committee meeting and also Multiracial Biracial Student's Association, which has had meetings for a while but I hadn't gone yet). Preregistration is also coming up, which is very exciting!! But also a little stressful. I'll share more once I actually know what classes I'm trying to get next semester. This weekend was full of food, which I will mostly share about through pics. I helped with scallion pancakes and dumplings for ASA Night Market, made pumpkin pie with Food Rescue, and had another Sunday morning kitchen party featuring chickpea curry, kale, bulgur, fontina biscuits, pumpkin cookies, and a small batch of sesame cookies. See the pics at the bottom of this post! Now, for part two of the blo...