Having to Detach

Today was almost very routine-like, I went for a run, had breakfast, showered and got dressed, and went to the ILR library to do research for my negative constructive. As I walked outside of the ILR building to go to Trillium, it was pouring rain. I was feeling lazy that morning so I only had sandals on and considered just not eating lunch because the rain was so heavy. Luckily, I'm in Ithaca so within 3 minutes it stopped raining and I was good to go. I found that Sam was having lunch with a bunch of students so I joined in. The topic of conversation was a debate team that was debating the actual format of Policy debate, and how privileged kids were able to go to debate camps and such so they had an advantage in debating. I don't know the whole story, but apparently they went to collegiate competitions and beat Northwestern.

In class, we continued discussion about similar things. We first went over the syllabus and Sam asked if we felt like we had really met the objectives. Most of us said yes for almost everything. He also said there are two important things in life, to never give up and think for yourself. We also spent some of the class going over framing and watched videos about it. We also got on the topic of racism, because of everything that has been going on lately. There's even racism in debate sometimes, and that's why the format of Policy is being fought. It was a very interesting and engaging lecture. That's what I love about the class, we still talk about current events and what's happening in the world, in addition to sharing our experiences and opinions. The subject matter for debate is so broad, and I don't think you can experience such broad topics in any other class.

Henry, the current Cornell under-grad, shared with us an article from the Atlantic, by Ta-Nehisi Coates and it really talks about everything that has been going on. Makes me realize I probably should be reading the newspaper more often, they have some great writers. After class, he offered to give us tour of Statler Hall, since he is in the Hotel School. The building is very modern and beautiful, but the tour was more than that. He recommended classes from the Hotel School that even if we're majoring in something else, we should really take. The cool thing is that apparently you can be a hospitality lawyer through the Hotel School, and I had no idea. The Hotel School allows a lot of flexibility with the classes you can take and almost every "hotelie" has a job right after graduating. I didn't think Hotel Operations and Hospitality was for me, but the school seems like a good fit.

Menu at Pizza Aroma

Pupusaaaaas

Amelia, Rachel, and I went to the library to either work or watch Netflix. Personally, I worked. Once I was done and satisfied, I met up with Paula only to find out hiking club wasn't happening today. We went up to our friend Eva's room in Donlon and decided to go the Commons. My friend Valeria had told us there was a place that sold Pupusas, which is a Salvadorian food. Paula and Eva had both never tried them so I was excited to have them try Pupusas out. The place is called Pizza Aroma, which doesn't sound too Latino, but on the outside it had the photo of Pupusas, Tamales, Albondigas, and other Latino foods. Not just that, but they were playing lots of Mexican music. We got our food and I was content with it, they weren't exactly like the ones I usually eat, but it was impossible for them to be. Paula and Eva really liked them too.

Super yummy, so worth it

Afterwards, we wandered into a Movie Poster store, which was extremely cool. A lot of the posters seemed vintage, and were probably really expensive. They also sold comic and anime books among DVDs and VHS. I loved the store, a lot. It had a lot of character and you don't really see Movie Poster stores often. Then, I got ice cream at 15 below, and it was a large amount but delicious. We were in the Commons for about 2 hours until it was getting dark so we caught the bus back to campus.

Once back on campus, we went up to Donlon to hang out. Our friend Victoria came in and she was really emotional about going back home. I think all of us present almost started crying, because we've gotten so close these past three weeks and it's hard to say goodbye.