Shannon, ‘09

Hello all,

This is a very special day, as it is the DAY BEFORE SPRING BREAK!!! Can you perceive my enthusiasm? Yes yes, tomorrow marks the beginning of spring break and I am more than excited about this for several reasons of course. But before moving on to spring break, I wanted to share some of my pictures and whatnot from my time in NJ/NYC last weekend.

One of the awesome things about being on the east coast, and especially in Richmond, has been the close access to the big east coast cities. I know Richmond and NYC might seem like they’re impossibly far away from each other (at least that’s what I thought beforehand), but it’s an easy 6-8 hour bus ride that you can take overnight, and thus arrive early the next morning (ok, so you’re probably going to be very tired and groggy like I was, but it’s worth it in the end!) and have a whole weekend away if you so choose. For me, I have family and friends in the NJ/NYC area, and as this weekend was one of my only available weekends for the next month or so, I decided to take a trip up there with my boyfriend, who also has family and friends to visit in NYC/NJ. My brother graduated from NYU last year, so he’s living in Brooklyn now. I got to visit with him and listen to his Jazz/Hip Hop band rehearsal which was nothing less than incredible. Most of the guys in his band are NYU music school grads, or other extremelyyyyy talented musicians. Seriously, I got to enjoy some of the most creative fusions of music I’ve ever heard. Afterwards, my brother was so kind as to take myself and his girlfriend out to great Japanese. Sooo, all of that was a treat to say the least

Nice shot of NYC

From there I met up with my boyfriend (who had been in NJ visiting family) and an old Richmond friend, Rorie Norton (just graduated 2007!), who’s living up in Manhattan and starting law school in the fall. We had breakfast together at this deli, and it was so nice to catch up. He is definitely one of the coolest/fun people I’ve ever met, and not having him at Richmond this semester has been a loss But that’s why Richmond’s location is so great as it allows affordable trips to go visit friends not too far away. I have another friend who’s traveling to DC this weekend/week (for spring break) to visit a close friend and recent grad of UR, so the possibilities of visiting friends in nearby cities in seemingly endless. Well, maybe not so much, but I think you know what I mean.

The three of us at breakfast in Manhattan.

After breakfast, my boyfriend and I headed back to NJ to spend the rest of the day with some of his family. We had a really nice time there, and as his family is of course Peruvian like him, we enjoyed an amazingly delicious meal cooked by his uncle’s good friend from Peru. (I’ve added a picture of it below!!) Seriously, everyone needs to go try Peruvian food somewhere! I think you see what I mean from the picture…

Peruvian home-cooked meal we ate on Sunday afternoon. You have fish on the right, onions, rice, an egg/potatoes/shrimp covered in a delicious sauce made of who-knows-what, and the lime that you can squeeze onto anything and everything. YUUUMMM!!!!!!!

Finally, I just wanted to add a little note in here about the amazing dance show I stage managed (I work at the Modlin Art Center on campus) last night. A dance group from India came and put on an hour and a half long show both Tuesday and Wednesday night. It was INCREDIBLE!!! There were 5 female dancers, and 4 male musicians. Everything seemed so authentic, beautiful, and it was truly one of the most beautiful forms of art I’ve ever witnessed. I found a picture of their group online that is below. This is just one of the absolutely amazing and diverse shows that students have [most of the time, free] access to that are going on throughout the semester.

Photo of the Nrityagram dance ensemble taken from the internet.

Anyways, I still have to finish a take-home mid-term due for tomorrow before I get on the flight with my “Global Health and Humans Rights” class and head to Lima, Peru! I know I’ll have a lot to say when I get back, so be ready!

I hope everyone has an awesome break, and even if you’re not on break (which you will be soon enough- no worries!), have a great, relaxing weekend and week.

Take care as always,

Shannon