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Jazz at the Sculpture Garden

On By laurakisthardtIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Jazz NightTonight is wrapping up my first weekend living in DC. I couldn’t have planned a more perfect weekend.

Friday night I went with several of the roommates to Jazz at the Sculpture Garden. The concerts are completely free. There is a different artist each week, we heard the Speakers of the House. Lots of food trucks parked nearby and I picked up dinner there. I highly recommend anyone in the DC area for the summer to go check out this concert series.

After listening to Jazz and drinking lots of sangria, we headed out to the bars. We ended up starting the night at Nellie’s, a gay bar. This was surprisingly my first time at a gay bar. We later went to Local 16 which had a really nice rooftop patio, but reminded me of City and East on the inside (only JCU friends will know that gem!).

Saturday was an uneventful day.

serenafitSunday I woke up and did Serena Fit in the morning with four of the guys from the house. Serena was an awesome fitness instructor. She kicked our butts! Luckily I was able to stick it out the whole time… can’t say the same for all of the guys!

After Serena Fit, we stopped by the Bloomingdale Farmer’s Market where Ari was representing PureJoy. PureJoy is organic baby food. Right now they deliver locally to families in the DC area. While at the market, I stopped at a booth with some yummy looking samples. I found out that the booth was run by Joe Yonan, Washington Post food editor. He was selling his cookbook, “Eat Your Vegetables.” I was really excited since the subtitle is “Bold recipes for the single cook.” I’m always interested in cookbooks that are aimed towards smaller portion sizes so I don’t have tons of leftovers. The two samples that he provided were delicous, so I will try and recreate them soon.withrobin

Once we got back to the house, everyone showered and then a group of us went out again to Trader Joe’s. Every Sunday night we have family dinner so we picked up stuff for family dinner.

On my to do list for this week is to find a salon in DC so I can get my hair cut, preferably an Aveda salon. My next post I am going to write about the laundry service that Krash uses, don’t worry it’s actually pretty cool! 

Settling into DC

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It has been over a year since my last blog post and I have had lots of exciting adventures since Lebanon. But now I’m in the midst of my biggest adventure in all of my 23 years…

Krash WorkspaceOn Sunday, I packed up my parent’s Honda Pilot and we drove the 342 miles from Hudson, Ohio to my new home for the next four months in Washington DC!

I am relocating to DC, but for my first few months here I will be staying in a community called Krash. Krash has just launched in DC with a location in the Bloomingdale neighborhood. There are 14 other Krashers staying here with me. They are all involved with really cool projects, internships, start ups, etc.

Every Sunday Krashers have family dinner. After I was settled in this past Sunday, I went down for family dinner. It was a great opportunity to meet many of the other residents and some of their friends as well. I was very impressed by some of the dishes brought by my roommates. For example, one roommate grilled amazing shrimp kabobs and another made a delicious corn, black bean, and avocado salad. In addition to impressive culinary skills, it was fascinating to talk with my roommates Krash3aabout all of their ideas and projects. The creative energy is contagious and I am excited to see what the next few months have in store.

Some more about Krash: Krash was founded in Boston. There are three Krashpads in Boston, three in New York City, and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace across the country (and soon the world!). Krash is a full service short term housing solution. Residents can focus on their startups, personal projects, and interests, rather than worry about the logistics of their living situation. Some amenities provided by Krash are a twice weekly cleaning service, linen service, gourmet kitchens stocked with staples, and much more.

There are no TV’s in any Krash locations because the emphasis is on the experience, Krash4abuilding relationships and learning from the other roommates. Although, here in Bloomingdale (and all other Krashpads) we do a have a large projector screen so we are able to congregate together and watch the World Cup!

So that is a little about Krash and my start to DC. I hope to post many more updates over the next few weeks! Please let me know if there is anything specific you would like to hear about. It is easiest for me to share here so I can inform everyone.

Youth, Sports, Politics, and Society in Lebanon – Simon Abi Ramia

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The GRE is only 3 days away! In the mean time, I want to feature this great post from one of my fellow travelers, Holly Jordan. She has shared this transcript of our meeting with Simon Abi Ramia, a member of the Lebanese Parliament. Enjoy!

jordanhollya's avatarHolly A. Jordan

On June 29, the LSF met with Simon Abi Ramia, President of Youth & Sports Committee of the parliament of Lebanon.  Our discussion was widespread, focusing on sports and youth (of course) but also on politics, religion, and society within Lebanon.  His insight touched upon many of the national and regional issues currently in play in Lebanon.

My 110+ wpm typing speed meant I was able to take transcript-level notes of this meeting, and with Abi Ramia’s kind permission, I am now able to share it with you.  I think this is a great insight into exactly what kinds of meetings we had.

If you would, could you please talk about the recent programs you’ve put forth, namely the Outdoor Lebanon and the National Youth Policy?

AR – There is a difference between the Ministry and the Youth Committee in Lebanon.  We have the government and under it we…

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Bike Tour of Cleveland

On By laurakisthardtIn Cleveland1 Comment

So this post is a little different than anything I’ve posted so far, but now that I’m back in Ohio my adventures have not ended! Last weekend my dad and I went on a bike tour of Cleveland with Bob’s Bike Tours. Special shout out to Melissa Zapata who actually told me about the LivingSocial deal for the tour.

Bob offers three different tours: Best Location in the Nation, Moses Cleveland, and the Historic Neighborhood tour. Best Location in the Nation is basically the highlights of Cleveland for those who are not from around here. Moses Cleveland is focused downtown, shorter and an easier bike ride than the other options.

Photo source: http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=CM

If you are from the area, I would recommend the Historic Neighborhood tour. We saw the highlights, but also learned some new interesting facts about our city and saw some more unique things off the beaten path.

The bike tours all meet across from Progressive Field, formerly Jacob’s Field, home to the Cleveland Indians. Bikes, helmets, and water are all provided. Also the bikes have a very small Velcro pouch in between the handlebars so you can put your keys, wallet, or camera inside.

Off we went on our bike tour, but we didn’t go very far before we stopped. Bob pointed out a special bench behind the Q. The bench has colorful food all around it, but if you didn’t know it was there you would certainly miss it. The bench commemorates the Central Market that was located on the land that is now occupied by the Q and Progressive field. I had no idea this market existed. I just love learning new things about Cleveland!

We biked on through East 4th (where Pickwick and Frolic, House of Blues, and the Corner Alley are located, among many others!) and stopped in the Arcade for a minute. We continued on to a parking deck next to City Hall, Willard Park and the Free Stamp. This parking deck provided some great views of the Cleveland Brown’s Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We paid a visit to Public Square before leaving the East Side and saw the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

Photo source: http://allthingsclevelandohio.blogspot.com/2007/12/cleveland-city-of-bridges.html

Crossing the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge (aka the Detroit Superior Bridge) was the most challenging part of the bike ride. So don’t worry, the bike ride was not exhausting. We toured around Ohio City (obviously stopped to see West Side Market and Great Lakes Brewery!) and Tremont and then went back across the Hope Memorial Bridge. I love the Guardians of Traffic on this bridge. I think they are such a unique feature to Cleveland.

Overall, I really enjoyed the bike tour and learned a lot of new facts about Cleveland. I would recommend the tour for locals as an enjoyable way to spend a beautiful day or if you have out of town friends or family visit it is a great way to see all the highlights of Cleveland.

Check out Bob’s website here to book your own tour: www.bobsbiketours.com

And here’s an article I found with lots more information about many of the “icons” I named in my post: Cleveland Magazine – Iconic Cleveland

P.S. My summary of the tour left out some details, so if you decide to do the tour there will still be surprises for you! All along the tour Bob was sharing information and I was always learning new little tidbits about the highlights of Cleveland.

We were a little sweaty by the end of the tour!

Welcome

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I’m currently preparing for my trip to Lebanon and am excited to begin regularly blogging on the trip. Please sign up now to receive updates via email every time I post while in Lebanon. In the mean time, I thought I’d share the reading list that was provided by NCUSAR. I requested all of these books from the library and am slowly making my way through them before the trip. The ones that I don’t finish before the trip, I hope to read when I get back.

  1. Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon by Robert Fisk
  2. Spirit of the Phoenix: Beirut and the Story of Lebanon by Tim Llewellyn
  3. Lebanon: A House Divided by Sandra Mackey
  4. The Hills of Adonis: A Journey in Lebanon by Colin Thubron
  5. A History of Modern Lebanon by Fawwaz Traboulsi
  6. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran — Currently reading this one and loving it so far!
  7. Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky by Assaf Kfoury
  8. House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid