Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Irresistably Good Pesto Chicken Melt

Today's adventure to Philadelphia's Magic Gardens was amazing and I had the feels of being back in Berkeley. The mirrored murals and unique products to produce the murals seem so familiar. There are numerous art murals and artwork created by recyclable products later pasted onto a canvas or wall to incorporate a never before created unique piece of art. My schedule was nicely packed for the whole day to keep me busy and tired but I enjoyed every single second of it.

I woke up at 7:20AM and remembered that I had left my morning essentials tool kit in Elexis' room so I quickly got ready and headed to her room to brush my teeth. She was fully awake and dressed but her face says otherwise. The constant yawns and closing of eyes tells me that she woke up just a tad too early. I urged her to sleep a bit more before meeting up with rest of the cohort at 8AM for breakfast at the Commons. She declined and decided to get an early start with her blog. I was amazed by her persistence so I quickly got ready too and we headed out to get some breakfast. For once the Commons had something other than wheat pancakes: french toast. I was so happy when I saw squares and squares of toast being served to the public and I requested for an additional one. Of course, while there are improvements to the hot food section, the fruits section is in declination. The honeydew and papaya tastes rather sour-y and unfresh, in a way. I can taste the mild alcohol flavor in it from it being too sour. We finished our breakfast and walked to the lawn in front of McNeil building at 8:50AM. The teaching fellows were there so we said our greetings and situated ourselves within the Qi Gong circle. Again, it starts off my day with an empty and innocent head so I'm glad I could be able to dump useless stuff out and insert more interesting facts and opinions later today.
Some of the many unique portrayals of different cultures around the world
The morning session could relate to practically everyone because anyone would have had some sort of understanding of what a religion is and what is does or even an affiliation with one. I, in particular, consider myself not affiliated to any religion but both of my parents are Buddhism so occasionally I attend temples with my family and friends because that is "the" religion. My whole family tree instituted Buddhism as part of our heritage so it is "normal" to become and stay Buddhism. That being said, my parents moved to America and our peripheral vision has widened after a decade we've been at California. Their motto of educating me about religions in general would be, " We will take you to get accustomed to Buddhism religions and practices, but when you grow up you'll decide for yourself for what you want to believe in." We had a quick lunch because we needed to be in time for our mini Student Fellow lunch talk. Carly wanted to check up with us to make sure we had no problems in terms of unable to express our true inner feelings. I, personally, do not prefer to share my very personal experiences so sometimes my shoulders shudder from how personal people take the conversations. The deep examples are just on a whole entire level. We arrived shortly at the Magic Gardens and it shone brigghly in the sun and blinded our eyes because of the reflection of the beet bottles and glasses. Isaiah Zagar is the founder and creator of Philadelphia Magic Gardens so just being able to meet him and have an intimate discussion with him in person was an honor. His dedication to his murals and neighborhood has far exceeded what "normal" artists would do. He chanced South Street from being on the verge of demolition to a rich artists' neighborhood today.

The "Garden"
We got back to the Quad at around 5:10PM and we got ready to burn off what we ate during lunch. When we got to the gym, it was unusually crowded of people going in and out. I wonder why is it that people would pick a Tuesday to do all of the about: weight training, rock climbing, treadmilling. We got our one hour and half worth of exercising and showered afterwards in the neat, clean, water-full stalls. Cosi, arguably one of the best restaurants in town, was picked for our dinner options and it was definitely worth the money paid for our pesto chicken melts, mac n cheese n bacon, etc. We conversed about the last two days worth of learning and shared about our visits and trips for both programs: the Physics and Social Justice programs. It was a day full of learning and playing indeed.
How cool is this layout?

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