October: The Month of All Play and No Work

Over Fall Break (Oct. 14-18), I went to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on a backpacking trip through Outdoor Adventures. I had never been further north than Mackinac Island in Michigan before, so this was my first time in the UP and seeing Lake Superior. I was really struck by how beautiful the lakeshore was. It was cold (high 30s) and wet and rainy everyday, but the trip was still very awesome and very much worth it. I met a lot of really fun, awesome people and learned a lot about backpacking- from how to properly pack a backpack to how to pitch a tent to how to cook in the backcountry. I definitely want to plan my own backpacking trip when the weather gets nicer! Any suggestions for where to go?

Our campsite the first night near the Fox River

Sunset over Lake Superior

My 50 lb. companion on the trip

Chapel Rock

Hillary cooking stirfry

Hashbrowns and cheese! I was surprised at how good the food was. 

A final glimpse of sunshine and fast-approaching rain clouds

Hillary and I

Beautiful sandstone cliffs 

After coming back from backpacking on Tuesday evening, I didn't stay put in Ann Arbor for long. I spent Wednesday and Thursday studying for midterms and going to class, but was off to Halloweekends at Cedar Point by Friday afternoon. 

I love amusement parks at night!

Angela and Katie @ Power Tower

Darren @ Power Tower

One of the monsters that contributed to my elevated heart rate and near loss of my voice from screaming 

The next day I had an amazing, HUGE brunch at Angelo's

Deep-fried french toast. Omnomnom. I never said my amazing meal was healthy :)

and spent some time in the Arb...

... where quidditch was being played!

Before going to PHANTOGRAM!

Sara Barthel aka Mrs. Phantogram

The lights at this show were insane. Seizure-inducing insane. To give you an idea of what I mean, take a look at the lights in the video below (apologies for the horrible sound quality). 

Now imagine that with a bajillion lasers and even more flashing for a prolonged period time. Yep. Insanity. Happy halloween weekend! 

Cafeteria Chai!

Despite the fact that this is my fourth year living in the dorms and eating dorm food, I hadn't ventured over to the hot drink section of the cafeteria until today. I always thought that there were only coffee supplies and herbal tea bags there (neither of which I drink very often), but after drinking some gas station coffee this past weekend and deciding it was tolerable, I thought I'd try some cafeteria coffee to help me stay up to study for my endocrinology exam tomorrow (I am super behind on studying cause I spent Fall Study Break backpacking at Pictured Rocks- blog post and pics to come). To my pleasant surprise, I found some chai tea powder! I used three teaspoons of the chai tea powder plus one teaspoon of the hot chocolate powder, and the end product was deliciousness. I can't believe I didn't know there was chai in the cafeteria all this time. Trying to acquire a taste for dorm coffee (and just coffee in general) will have to wait for another day.

Beirut @ Royal Oak (10/11)

I have a weird fascination with marquees. They make everything feel so grand. 

Part of Nantes, one of my favorite Beirut songs. Some nice light action going on.

I can never find a setting on my camera that will take good pictures, especially in the dark, so I tried fireworks mode. Fail. Long exposure shots are cool- not ones like this though.

Hailey and Amy!

Hailey, Amy, and I (Photo cred: Ionut)

We were in line waiting to buy some merch about ten minutes after the show ended, and we heard Beirut playing again! The merch line was jam-packed, and as soon as the music started again EVERYONE sprinted to see what was going on. I caught the tail end of it here.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Photo cred: Hillary

They were delicious! The recipe we used is here, and we added unsweetened coconut to the frosting. Brian showed us a new way to eat cupcakes- you take the top off and make a sandwich out of it. This prevents frosting from getting on your face and for inexplicable reasons also makes the cupcake taste better. Pretty sure I am never going to eat cupcakes the same way again.

~ Rachna

Where are the jobs?!

Here's one of the first things I saw this morning on my BBC News homepage:

Shortly after I read this, my mom called and asked me (yet again) about what I am planning to do next year. I assured her that I would go online and look at the possibilities right away and e-mail her my findings. Here I am, FIVE HOURS later with... well, a whole lotta nothing. I guess hospitals don't really have internships. Those that do want students already enrolled in med school. Post-bacc programs want people who haven't taken most of the pre-med science courses yet. Everything else requires "experience"- that elusive thing that every employer wants and every college student is trying to get but everywhere we go to try and get it they say "prior experience necessary." Who takes people without experience these days? Send 'em my way because I can't find them. BBC, way to get my hopes up.

~ Rachna

The Beginning of an Era

Over the past few months I've been checking other blogs really regularly and thought it would be interesting to try and keep one myself, if only as an online diary that no one but me reads. And what better time to start blogging than when I have a huge stack of homework I need to finish?

I recently decided to take a year off after I graduate and have no clue what I will be doing in that time, so I want to document my journey to wherever it is I end up. My neuroscience and philosophy education have had many intangible benefits and have profoundly changed my perspective on life, but I am not certain how this is going to translate into a job or internship to sustain me for a year. I am really excited about the possibilities but nervous because everything is so uncertain right now. 

This semester, I am taking far fewer classes than I have taken before and have cut back on my extracurricular involvement somewhat, so I have much more time to do the things that are important in life: go on adventures with friends, have long chats over chai, read for leisure, do crosswords, play boardgames, fly kites, swing in the park, go to concerts, etc. 

Here are a few pictures from things I've been up to lately:

Rolling down a hill at ArtPrize with Maggie and Hillary- I was hesitant at first, but it was well-worth being dizzy and looking ridiculous

A sand painting by Joe Mangrum, one of my favorite works at ArtPrize

I met Priscilla Ahn after her concert at the Ark! (Photo cred: Hillary)

Happy Friday!

~ Rachna