Cheesin' Mad Hard at the Campanile

I literally and figuratively woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  

The first half of my day was mostly focused on preparing for a walkout Rally taking place at El Cerrito High School. I was required to be on campus for Leadership at 6:30 AM sharp to help with decorating the gym, blowing up balloons, and managing activities and announcements. This normally wouldn’t have been as big of a deal had the mental and physical toll of trying to keep my asthma at bay and eyes from closing shut not made it very difficult for me to be present.  

Rally ended at exactly 3:45 PM, but we were officially done wrapping up around 4:00.

Deven and Robson trying to decide on what to eat.

Because both of my parents were busy with a speech and debate fundraiser over at Cal, I couldn’t get a ride home to freshen up for the meet and greet at 6:00 PM. Instead, Noor and I headed over to the El Cerrito Plaza to spend the remaining two hours.

  

We stopped at a Starbucks along the way to revive ourselves through caffeinated drinks. Noor ordered coffee, whereas I stuck with a good old cup of hot chocolate. I’m still at the ‘"coffee is too bitter for me" stage.

Afterwards, we went to Barnes and Noble. Stepping inside of the bookstore felt like being wrapped up in a giant warm blanket. Because both of us were exhausted and cold, we found somewhere to sit down and spent the rest of the time talking about college applications, junior year, and our hopes and expectations for the summer.

Share a Coke with Noor.

Several engaging conversations later, Noor and I received a text from Robson notifying us of his arrival at the El Cerrito Plaza BART Station. On our way there, we spotted Deven. Together we purchased Bart tickets and made our way up the escalator into the train.

Noor really does know her way around Berkeley; she singlehandedly guided us from the Downtown Berkeley BART station to House of Curries, an Indian and Pakistani restaurant located on Durant Ave. near Cal.  We arrived there in little time and made ourselves comfortable out on the patio. 

It took Deven, Noor, Robson, and I a while to figure out what to eat. We were provided with a menu packed full of delicious options. I ended up settling for the usual: palak paneer, pakoras, garlic naan, and a coke. The meal was exquisite- satisfying and full of flavor and I’m glad to have called it my last one before Ramadan started.

Deven shared details about his background and lifestyle with us throughout the dinner and we got to know him a little bit better. It turns out that as a cohort, we agree on a lot of the same views, which is a nice advantage because we will certainly be spending more time together. It was evident to me that the four of us would get  along well.

At House of Curries

During our time spent in Berkeley, Noor, Robson, Deven and I took lots of photos for our blogs. Many of these pictures were taken on our walk over to Sather Tower after we had finished eating. I was gratified to see the sun setting and nature everywhere around us but realized then, being the only one shivering, the great extent to which I am sensitive to cold weather.  Thank God we’re going to NY in the summer and not the winter.

  

Our cohort struck poses in front of anything that looked like it could be a nice enough background near the campanile. The area surrounding Sather Tower had picture perfect lighting and scenery. My iPhone camera certainly didn’t do it justice, but between Noor and I, we ended up capturing some really funny and special moments.  

Deven took a horrendous picture of me sporting some really awkward facial expressions. The others thought it was hilarious and had already dubbed it photo of the summer. I was not amused for obvious reasons. Here’s hoping that the photo doesn’t make it on the blogs. I was warned that it would, but I definitely don't think that the Internet is ready for that.

Soon enough it was 9:00 PM, time to head back to the El Cerrito Plaza BART Station and part ways. My dad was there to pick me up when we arrived approximately ten minutes later. The best part of my day had come to an end, but I was feeling immensely fortunate to be spending part of my summer with people I was capable of having a great time with.