Saturday, July 1, 2017

Little Things Mean a Lot

Admiring the artwork
I was under the impression that the weather here in Ithaca would be predictable. It turns out that it has a personality of its own. At times, it gets hot and humid. I would say unbearable, but then again, I’ve spent summer in South Asia.

There are random showers too. The sky provides no warnings; it will pour down on you out of nowhere. When it rains, the water is warm and may leave you feeling gross. Sometimes, I even get the urge to play in it.

Today was one of those muggy, damp days. I slept in and ended up missing breakfast. In my defense, we didn’t have class so it wasn’t exactly the end of the world. Nonetheless, I was hungry. It’s a good thing that my friend Julia and I had planned on hanging out.

Robson joined in and the three of us made our way to Trillium dining hall. We found out when we arrived that RPCC was the only cafeteria open to Summer College Students on weekends. Because College Town is another 15-minute walk from Trillium, Julia, Robson, and I went in that direction instead.

Painting Inside Sangam
Currency Wall
Sangam, the small traditional Indian restaurant in which we had our brunch provided an all you can eat buffet. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I literally gasped upon seeing all of my favorites laid out on a table for me to enjoy. Never did I ever think that I would be as happy to see the food that I usually eat on a daily basis. Naan, Karhai, Gobi, Saag, Biryani, you name it; home, that’s what the food reminded me of. It helped that the desserts, homemade gulab jamun (chickpea, syrup covered donuts) and kheer (rice pudding), tasted heavenly.

I want to read them all
Writing about the flavors is enough to make my mouth water, but certainly wasn’t the only thing that made the time I spent there so enjoyable. There was a certain feel to the decoration and placement of objects around that room. A giant sitar sat towards the front, paintings portraying life in the Indian subcontinent were plastered across walls, and old Bollywood music from my childhood days played in the background. I felt the lump in the back of my throat kind of nostalgia if you get my drift.

They also had a wall full of currency from nations around the world. I personally found that very interesting, it’s something that I would want to do with my room. According to the cashier, customers are usually the ones that bring them the different kinds of money. 

I felt like I was at Hogwarts
Me and Julia at Cascadilla Falls
Afterward, we attempted to walk back to our dorms. “Attempted” is the right word, because the food was filling and eating it made moving even a little bit difficult. Thankfully, we managed to make it halfway but then stumbled upon Cascadilla Gorge. I will say that this was hands down one of the most naturally beautiful places that I have ever been in my life. It gave me the chance to not only take lots of pretty pictures but also let go of built up stress and tension and have a legitimate conversation with my friends.

We decided then that it was finally time to see the infamous Hogwarts (Uris) library. The rain practically drowned us on our way there but we made it in the end. The inside of the building is an architectural masterpiece. It has been built with all things stunning in mind and has a huge collection of books ranging from Irish manuscripts to Arab, Turkish, and Persian poetry.  One of these days, I’m going to dedicate my time to solely reading and studying in that space and pretending that I too live in a magical world.

At around 8 PM, Sultana, Robson, and I went over to the Libe Slope to watch the sunset yet again. This time around, we came prepared with books and towels, but it started raining and there was lightning so we were forced to leave.

Sultana. She's literal happiness.
Sultana made it her mission to find these blogs and in her attempts to Google Robson finally did. Apparently, we are bookmarked as one of her favorites, so it would only be fair for me to properly introduce her. We’re in the same course and have gotten very close this past week. Sadly, she’s from New York and won’t be coming out to California with me for the rest of the summer, but I guarantee we’ll keep in touch. Who knew belting out songs in Hindi and making Muslim puns could be this fun. I love everything about Sultana’s personality and sense of humor, she’s beautiful inside and out.

I’m glad that this opportunity has allowed me to get closer to individuals such as her.

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