Thursday night activities

Thursday, November 29

There are so many things to do at Skidmore. There were at least four events I wanted to attend on Thursday alone and it was impossible to attend them all. The Honors Forum has a series of panel discussions called "Shades of Grey"(recently changed to "Degrees of Grey") and Thursday nights' specific topic was about Global Warming.

There was a movie sponsored by the Black Faculty and Staff Group on campus immediately following the "Degrees of Grey" discussion.

The "tree lighting" ceremony is one of my favorite traditions on campus and was going on Thursday night as well.

Rithmos is one of the many talented dance groups on campus and they were performing on Thursday night too!

The Victorian Street Walk was also going on and this was what we ended doing. It was very hard to find parking (we drove from home) but once we did we strolled into town to see a huge crowd (over 21,000 people attended last year) scattered across Broadway. I was only able to snap 3 photos before my camera battery ran out.
Inside the first store we stopped into. We enjoyed the free Masala Chai tea here.

One of Skidmore's own a cappella groups!

We enjoyed free warm cider and cookies all around town. We wanted to get some kettle corn, but the line was too long and we had to rush back to campus to catch our next event, The Cherry Orchard.

Anton Chekhov's play written in the early 1900's was one of the many productions the theatre department puts on per semester. It was featured in our Theatre Open House a weak earlier and had rave reviews from the audience. Kudos to the entire cast and staff of the production. You guys are incredibly talented and hard-working!

Decisions, decisions, decisions

It is restaurant week in Saratoga. There are a number of restaurants in town that feature pre-set menus for $18.19 (Saratoga was founded in the year 1819).

We are planning to go to one of the restaurants on Tuesday night. We hope to to return downtown on Thursday for the Victorian Street Walk

We can't decide on Hattie's or One Caroline.

Hattie's chef was featured on "Throwdown with Bobby Flay."
One Caroline was featured on "Rachel Ray's $40 a day". This restaurant features incredible live music (see Sarah Pedinotti if you have the chance!) in addition to their great food. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

It's easy to see why the Skidmore community is so lucky to have Saratoga Springs!

Great Conference!

I had the opportunity to attend the cFES National Conference last weekend! It was an incredible conference for many reasons; networking (Aloha to my new friends from Hawaii), professional development, and brainstorming were all very easy to do at the conference. I don't think I've been to a conference so chock full of speakers who challenged, provoked and inspired educators to continue in our efforts to promote early college awareness in under served populations across the United States.

The Mario Pena Award was given out to two very hard-working people. Phil Smith, Dean of Admission Emeritus at Williams College, and our very own Mary Lou Bates, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Skidmore College!

I forgot to mention the conference was held just north of Saratoga Springs at the Sagamore Resort.

The view from our room
Another pic from our room

Another post about food!

We had a group of prospective students visit us on campus last night so I had the chance to go to dinner in the D-hall with them. The lunches (as I have posted) are very good, but this dinner was amazing!



Carved turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes and more!
The pumpkin cheesecake was so good!
Crepes!

Seafood Paella!



Cranberry relish on the left!

NCAA tournament home game!

Our field hockey team recently hosted a home game for the NCAA tournament. It was on a Wednesday afternoon and I was able to attend.

Congrats to the field hockey team who has been nationally ranked all season long! Beau Breslin's Scribner Seminar "The Killing State" held class at the game (It was a "do or die" single-elmination game)

Go team!

Final score: 2-0 Skidmore!

Congratulations to Gail Cummings-Danson

Shortly after I graduated from Skidmore, I filled a survey out to reflect on my Skidmore experience. I specifically remember suggesting Skidmore continue to raise the profile of the athletics program. Skidmore has done just that over the last ten years and it starts from the top down. Our president, Phillip Glotzbach, is an avid supporter of athletics and the hiring of our (relatively) new athletic director, Gail Cummings-Danson, is a testament to our commitment to the student-athlete experience. We now have the Thoroughbred Society, a group of student athletes who are recognized for a GPA of 3.67 or above! The last induction ceremony honored over 70 (seventy) student-athletes!

Gail was recently inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Megan Buchanan, our Associate Athletic Director extraordinaire, organized a surprise party for Gail.
Surprise!

Trek to MUWCI

I was driven to the airport shortly after my breakfast to catch my flight to Pune. My airline had no record of my reservation even though I showed them my confirmation email and number. After purchasing (another) seat on the plane, I had to rush to catch my plane.

I arrived in Pune a short twenty minutes later and found the driver from MUWCI (Mahindra United World College India). Little did I know I was on the same flight as two other college representatives from College of the Atlantic also traveling to MUWCI. All three of us crammed into a "Jeep" and hung on for a nearly two hour ride (due to traffic) through the Indian countryside. MUWCI, like all UWC schools, is an incredible place because of it's location. It is located among the poorest villages in India and this impacts the "community interaction" projects available to students.













I arrived at MUWCI where Mike McGahan, the college advisor, showed me to my "residence house." The accommodations were much nicer than I expected and I was excited
to spend the next 20 hours at MUWCI.

The front of my residence at MUWCI
My room at MUWCI. Thanks again Mike!

The view from MUWCI

A pathway on MUWCI's campus



I had lunch in the dining hall and got to feel the energy the students on campus exude. I appreciated the opportunity to be able to spend a prolonged period of time on campus (at all my school visits) because I'm able to really experience the daily culture of the school.

One of my three meals at MUWCI


After a wholesome lunch, I presented to a much larger group of students than I expected. Many students that were not necessarily interested in Skidmore came to the my presentation to see a video (youtube link coming soon) they had heard about. Shortly before leaving for India, I was able to catch two MUWCI alums who are first-year students at Skidmore. We filmed a video greeting to their classmates. (Thanks again to Matt in the Media Lab for help with the video!!)

I met with a couple of students individually after my presentation and suddenly it was time for me to go on my "community interaction" trip. I met 14 MUWCI students at the Social Center. We squeezed into two jeeps and headed down the road to a local orphanage. We spent the late afternoon playing and socializing with local orphans. I was prohibited from taking photos but I'm sure you can imagine the scene. Some of the MUWCI students have been visiting this orphanage for two years but even the newer MUWCI students had a great impact on the orphans.MUWCI students posing in front of the orphanage

Breakfast in the hotel

I woke up early after a much needed sleep in my hotel room. I rushed downstairs to enjoy the buffet breakfast. I didn't know when the next time I would get to eat so I quickly put my eating skills to the test.


Assorted fruit juices
Bhaji (but I don't know if this dish was correctly marked)
Poori

India!

I arrived in Mumbai late at night and locate the driver from the hotel. This was my first confirmation of finally being in India! The ride to the hotel was a mix of horn-honking, pedestrian-dodging, breath-holding and overall a great cultural introduction to India. I still haven't slowed down enough to formulate my thoughts on the driving in India but I do know it definitely is not for the faint of heart!

India, I'm almost (maybe) there!

I could add another long post about more trials and tribulations in order to get to India, but instead, I'll just give you the abridged "poetic" version (tribute to Darren Drabek).

Inclement Weather
Five hours in Albany Airport
Remarkable Sprint
Out of breath
Flightless
Howard Johnson Hotel overnight
Day two, Check in and spend Eight hours in the Airport
Flight leaves
Fifteen hours straight
Touchdown Mumbai

India, here I (maybe) come

I have been planning to visit India for the past two years. Last year's trip was canceled at the last minute because I did not have the visa needed to enter the country. This year, I started the visa process as soon as I got back from my early trip to Asia (see first few posts in my blog). I needed to renew my passport inorder to get a visa (because it was within six months of expiration). The morning arrived for me to turn in my paper work and I arrived to the Counsulate General's Office to find out India has decided to outsource their visa service. This meant an entirely different application (online only) and different photo requirements (two of the same picture instead of one). To make a painfully long story short, after several day trips to New York City, I finally received my visa. If anyone is considering a trip to India, feel free to contact me for some tips in securing your visa.