Caltech

The Caltech Nuances

Question from a prefrosh: What do you do for fun? How can Caltech be such a happy place?

Boring answer: I engage myself in various activities around campus, from music groups to house events. I also make sure I sleep well and 

Not boring answer: As an admissions blogger, I have gotten myself into appreciating subtle nuances from everyday life or from my past. Every single one of the quotations of the day (yes, I am generally grammatically incorrect) is from listening to everything around me and appreciating the humor. Also, I take pictures to capture whatever is going on around me (as you can see from my blogs), and I really appreciate the ~500 photos I take per term.

First, I accredit my appreciation of Caltech around me to my friends (both Averites and non-Averites). They make situations easier to overcome, from collaboration on homework to the laughs we share. They even tell me to take pictures for the blogs and offer corny quotations to consider (though some are not appropriate for the internet).

One of our late-night study groups/problem set crunching for physics in the SAC (notice my thermos of coffee). From left to right: Ryan, Kevin, Daniel, Michael, Chiraag, and the turned chair that belongs to Carla.

A late night run to Chouse after working on physics. Guess what movie is on the screen? Clue: “None shall pass.” Sometimes at Chouse we get physics epiphanies (caffeine? I think so).

What we do between lunch and biology: make works of modern art.

At Chandler’s Cheese Night, someone decided to wear the Chinese flag. It may be offensive (I am sorry if it is), but that person has guts.

Carla modeling for the camera at CDS’s Western Barbecue Dinner.

Second, I thank my house-mates for giving me a support group and quasi-family at Caltech. When I fell sick at the end of last quarter, my neighbor Grace kept me company in my room when my roommate was not there. I am thankful for their presence every time I see them in the halls or around campus. I can’t say that my support group/quasi-family is higher or lower than my friends (though there is a lot of overlap between the groups); they are just on another dimension.

Another physics study group (only I am not in the practical track of physics). How many Averites can you get in a double? There are more behind the door.

Our supportive food rep wearing a Cheese Hat during Cheese Night.

Everyone, including the RAs, signing cards for custodian appreciation day.

Third, I appreciate the professors having a sense of humor when they teach and trying to connect to the students with their material.

How our physics professor makes breakfast in the morning: using inductance to fry an egg.

Now where did that ring go?

There are some notable saying from classes and strange occurrences. During PS12 today, Dean Kiewiet said, “You know what the best thing about being the US president? To become the ex-president of the United States.” Also, I found it fascinating that an advisor on one of my high school science fair projects was actually my Bi1 professor’s first postdoctoral scholar, as my professor and I were discussing during an ombudsmen meeting at the Athenaeum about bacteria using different heavy metals in respiration.

Finally, I appreciate the cultures/nuances of other houses. I can’t give specifics because it would be a Rotation Violation, but pictures can be interpreted in multiple ways.

I saw this in front of Lloyd at the beginning of term.

Alley 7 at Dabney: Sometimes I join in their hallway study groups.

Mark becoming the Amazing Spiderman by climbing onto Dabney’s walls.

More Dabney antics...Housing Night (formerly referred to as Gangsta/Mafia Night but was deemed offensive), where all the houses lose some sort of furniture to the Darbs. We lost our cushions but not the ping-pong table (which George was so smart on keeping in his small single).

The van of belongings.

Avery umbrellas and more.

The next day, after Blacker Interhouse, Grace, Winnie, and I got all the furniture back to Avery. We had to steal someone’s cart, though.

I notice that it’s the nuances that make a school a great place to be. If someone is cranky about a school they attend, they probably haven’t stopped to smell the roses and appreciate the little things that make the school really awesome. Reflecting back on 5/6 of my freshman year, I remember my fearful self when my parents abandoned me to go to the parent orientation. It started with a simple Fibonacci amoeba game, and it blossomed from there.

Quote of the day: From one of our physics professors, Sunil Golwala. “Now to answer an everyday question: What size of magnet do you need for the LHC (Large Hadron Collider)? It’s not just something you do in your garage.”

Where's the Party Tonight?

Question from a prefrosh: So, what are Caltech parties like?

The houses generally hold parties at Caltech. The preparation is a way for the house to bond and for the frosh to learn valuable skills. Especially for Interhouse, freshmen are expected to contribute a lot because of their freer schedules, their lack of major requirements, and the need to pass down skills. For Interhouse parties we build and make everything in the party: the decorations, the food, the dance platform, and the murals. I am actually amazed that I would see amazing parties in college (I'm not a party person, in general), especially considering the Caltech stereotype.

I saw different types of parties throughout April (and May 1). From my count, 2 Interhouse parties, 1 intercollege party, 2 campus-wide non-Interhouse parties, and 2 birthday parties.

I didn’t go to Lloyd’s Interhouse (the theme was Game of Thrones), but I got a picture of the dragon they built.

Caltech hosted Harvey-Mudd for the “Spring Fling” in the RF courtyard. FYI The red wristbands were the only way to enter the party for alcohol safety: either you were on the bus from HMC or in one of the houses from Caltech, indication that you did not come to the party by driving yourself.

The party featured Mannion food of hot dogs, churros, and pretzels.

The Frosh Party (the freshmen run the party) in Ruddock. The theme was “Donner Party.” Quite morbid, if you ask me (ignore the postcard and focus on the longhorn skull).

Ruddock’s famous milkshakes.

Playing Blackjack with chips for cool prizes. The cups have milkshakes in them.

Meanwhile, Blacker’s courtyard the night before its Interhouse.

The night of the party, and the theme is Lord of the Rings! Photo credits to Christine Sun.

Oooh...pretty fountain in the dining hall! Overall, the party was phenomenal.

A battle scene with...gummy warriors, brownie mountains, and Rice Krispie fortresses?
Photo credits to Christine Sun.

The “worker frosh,” or the frosh in charge of organizing the party, Ingrid, dressed as Sauron. She’s on stilts.

This isn’t really a party, but Cheese Night at Chandler. I am split about if it was a brilliant idea (the food was really good) or stupid (read: people allergic to milk because of casein, which even vegan cheese has). Count the number of cheese hats (worn by house food reps).

Birthday parties in Avery. This one was Sophia’s. We like making the cakes from scratch.

Happy Birthday, Murtaza! S’more cake and shaved ice for all!

Quote of the day: Kevin’s lines never cease to amaze me. When looking at the variety of food on Cheese Night, he said, “Well, if CDS decides to have a Cheese Night, I guess they better milk it for all it’s worth.”

Music MADness

This weekend was a music-packed weekend for me. I really like music-packed weekends because they motivate me to study during any little spare time and keep me focused on getting through the weekend.

First, the Caltech Y (imagine a YMCA branch at Caltech but without the athletic facilities and at base in a house on Wilson Avenue) had Make A Difference Day on Saturday. Different activities for MAD Day were nature restoration, crafts for kids, educational reform, and elderly care. I went to the old age home on Del Mar and Catalina to play music. Our group (Anna and Eddie on violin, John on cello, and I on viola) performed the second and third movements of Haydn’s Emperor Quartet. I think it went well overall, though I feel really bad when I had a violin-viola note mixup during one of the movements. It was a good practice run for the chamber concert <note to self: practice more>.

Vivian, Alina, Jade, and John performing. We performed right before them. John plays viola for this group and cello for ours, as the music program is short on both instruments.

The jazz group was really good! I wanted to know what pieces they played, but the Shazam app on the iPhone couldn’t identify them.

We concluded MAD Day with a barbecue at the Caltech Y.

This was, by far, my favorite music even ever because I played for an audience who appreciates me playing, who won’t be critical and have full faith in what I do, and who make me feel I have purpose. Afterwards, I was awed at the type of residents at the old age home. One of them is 94 years old and was a pilot during World War II, and she flew a plane about two months ago. I gained a strong sense of appreciation of the joy my music brought to them, as, after all the turmoil and times they have seen, they still have hope and see good in future generations. I look forward to visiting next year for MAD Day.

It was a beautiful day, and as I walked back, I decided to stalk a wedding.

The Caltech-Occidental Symphony performed the last regular concerts for the year. Last week was a killer week because we had 3 rehearsals for the weekend madness: on Sunday, Tuesday, and a dress rehearsal on Friday (the last of which made our conductor extremely angry). The Occidental concert was a few hours after MAD Day, so I crammed in some work, realized at 6:10 PM that the carpools were leaving at 6:15 (because of the anger from the night before), and dashed down Holliston wearing jeans and carrying a bag of clothes, my violin, and music. After all the frenzy, the concert went extremely well. The next day, we had a huge turnout at Caltech, and the audience enjoyed themselves. We played Movement 4 of Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 3 (a theme with 12 variations), Mendelssohn’s Symphony 5, Suppe’s “Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna” Overture, and two pieces with our guest soloist Danielle Belén (Carmen Fantasie by Borne/Sarasate and The Hot Canary). The audience was captured by her brilliance, and I was in awe afterwards.

Straightening out/adjusting instruments during intermission.

Sven (foreground) and a Ph1c TA (background) looking dapper in tuxedos.

Danielle and our graduating concertmaster Yousi. He had a solo in the Tchaikovsky piece. Both were... phenomenal.

The audience coming back in...a view from the back.

Our conductor Allen Gross, who teaches at Occidental, and future concertmaster Misha, a sophomore Flem-Skurve in bioengineering, in thought before the second half.

The concert went so well that an audience member told Allen that hearing us play “is one of the things that makes life worth living.”

Quote of the Day: I always wondered why music has such a profound impact on people and makes the world, for a moment, stand still. In the words of Karl Paulnack, who teaches at the Boston Conservatory, “...music is seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects.”

Prefrosh Weekend DAY 2

Day 2 of PFW was quite...the opposite of Day 1. Look at the pictures closely (or wait till the end of the post) and you will understand. It was definitely a PFW unlike any other.

Caltech Prank Club at its best. Molecules everywhere! These are ammonia and water in Millikan Pond. And Adam is caught guilty...

Chlorophyll at Throop Pond.

Benzene at 22 Gates.

Nucleic acids in the Gene Pool (picture taken from Facebook).

Caffeine near Red Door Café (picture taken from Facebook).

Daniel and John representing Quiz Bowl at the club fair in Bechtel Mall.

Kayaking in Millikan Pond.

Avery Game Night!

Ruddock converted a room into a hot tub!

Ruddock had a mini golf course in the alleys.

A special contraption to send a ball upstairs.

Forgive the poor lighting, but Ricketts’s Open Mic Night.

Blacker’s Deconstruction event. It involved sledgehammers. Lots of them.

After Lloyd’s Midnight Capture the Flag came the end of PFW. When I woke up the next morning my prefrosh left, heading off to another college admit weekend. It was my first PFW (I was at other college events during last year’s PFW, but I visited Caltech the Monday before), and I think admissions did a really good job with getting the prefrosh excited for Caltech. We finally got to relax after PFW.

In Avery’s outer courtyard Club Latino held its annual event. I snapped some pictures while going to the library.

Dancing

Orxata and hibiscus tea.

Artwork.

Students enjoying the free food.

The Caltech Jazz Festival in the Gates Courtyard.

Quote of the day: Xander, a member of Caltech’s Pranking Club and the PFW Student Committee, asked “As you're walking around campus this morning, look around you (just look around you). Do you see anything different, anything that wasn't there yesterday?” The best answer? “rain.”

Back in Action PART 2

Here is the second (and last) part of the “Back in Action” blogs. This one will focus on the non-academic life.

April at Caltech means a slew of events. I think pictures would accurately describe what was going on. First, PFW/PFF preparations. We were scrambling to get prefrosh matched to hosts and getting new hosts. Houses were preparing their events for prefrosh.

Stegosaurus model in Fleming’s courtyard?

It’s a water slide! I wonder how safe it is...

There were ~300 prefrosh attending PFW, so we are making badges and folders here.

The last of my postcard writing (and a really messy desk) but during spring break and at home. I think I have written enough postcards (probably 30-40 cards) this year. I hope you prefrosh enjoyed them!

Over break, Caltech’s Directory sent out an email for a raffle for a ticket to the Southern California Distinguished Speakers series. This month, Yo-Yo Ma was lecturing at the Pasadena Civic Center, and I was pretty excited to attend. I entered the raffle, and, to my luck, I won a ticket! The Wednesday of first week a bunch of students, the Fleming RAs, and I attended the lecture. He spoke on the theme “Who am I, and what is my purpose in this world?” and tied it into the phases of his life. He tied it together with playing the Bach Cello Suite No. 1 at various parts and various times in his life. It was really touching to see some of the pictures he brought. This was the second time I heard him play: the first time was in high school when the music department of my high school attended one of San Francisco Symphony’s practice sessions, and Yo-Yo Ma was a guest soloist for a cello concerto by either Shostakovich or Tchaikovsky. His playing was phenomenal. I had a second opportunity to listen to him lecture (a year later) at a community college, but I had a physics test the next day, so I gave the tickets to my violin teacher (who also plays the cello) and his wife. I was touched when Yo-Yo Ma said it was special to perform on children’s shows like Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I remember watching those episodes while growing up!

Quite a snazzy deal! A $53 ticket for free!

Posing for the camera while we wait for the other carpool of students.

So many distinguished speakers! I wish I was there for the 2001-2, 2002-3, and last year’s series.

I snuck in a picture of his lecture. It was fascinating. His playing was phenomenal.

The Saturday after term started was eventful. First, it was President Chameau's birthday and the atheltic barbecue for spring athletes (NCAA Student Recognition Week), so a lot of us were out wishing him a happy birthday and getting free food. Afterwards, Avery also had its annual dumpling-making event. I was pretty excited because I always wanted to know how to make dumplings. They are folded the same way as empañadas, and I remember watching a road block on The Amazing Race 20 about making empañadas in Argentina, so it went fast.

Pork dumpling stuffing!

Making pork dumplings!

Vegetable dumpling stuffing!

Avion and Arun making vegetable dumplings!

Quote of the day: I will credit admissions/me for this quote. While stuffing folders and badges, I was excited to see the last name “Beaver” for one of the prefrosh. One of the admissions officers said, “Now, how awesome of a last name is that?” Later on, I mentioned it to the prefrosh, and s/he said “Thank you! Go beavers!”

Prefrosh Weekend DAY 1

Prefrosh weekend has just passed by! I have pictures! There are lots of pictures from Day 1!

The beginning of PFW. Prefrosh filling an already-crowded physics recitation section.

Hi Reyna! This is my prefrosh.

Prefrosh walking down San Pasqual Mall probably to the welcome event.

Three prefrosh and a pre-prefrosh enjoying the beautiful weather.

The welcoming admissions staff and volunteers!

Debbie and Demetrius sharing a laugh.

The check-in tent.

Caltech Class of 20??

Caroline talking to a family.

Breakdown of the front: Stabbing balloons shows an admissions officer's alter ego.

Prefrosh at the Blog with the Blogger event! I helped with the prefrosh blogs with pictures

Muneeb (back) and Brad (front) talking to the prefrosh.

My awesome blogging boss, Jann, talking to a parent.

Avery dinner is so crowded!

Prefrosh at dinner!

Prefrosh hanging out in the Flounge.

The final Fleming water slide.

Dabney had a Couch Fort event. They also have a fund to buy ridiculous stuff. Looks like they bought out Costco’s giant teddy bears!

This bear looks hung over.

Quote of the day: I finally had an excuse to use one of my favorite movie lines when I saw the teddy bears. “Its...so...FLUFFY!” By the way, Despicable Me 2 is coming out!!! Here’s the teaser trailer (which was out a while ago).

 

Back in Action PART 1

It has been a while since I posted anything up to the blogs, but I promise I have enough to make up 2 (3...4?) blogs.

It feels great to be back on campus for spring quarter. The weather is amazing, and I will try to vary up the places I am studying in order to retain information (there are funny ways the brain recalls things, which is why some people study well with listening to music). For me, I take in the sounds of the environment and the physical sense of being to get things done, as I am not the fan of monotony.

The first of my new study locations: Ruddock’s dining hall, where I review my PS12 notes and write my daily question.

 

Aww...one of my study spots (the olive tree in front of Fleming) is occupied by a tour group.:( We have had a lot of tours because of the many high school spring breaks.

 

The third of my multiple new study locations: the bleachers near the tennis courts. It’s sunny, warm, I get fresh air, it's isolated, and it's close to PS12.

The first part of the “Back in Action” blogs will be about academics. Let me give you some insight into my classes.

I am still on core classes. I have Ma1c (the practical track-not proof-based math but more like learning the new techniques), Ph1c (the analytical track-relativity, vector calculus, and magnetism making the ultimate physics class), just like last term, Ph8 (a circuitry lab class), and PE (Zumba, which is harder than it looks and breaks out a sweat really fast). The newest additions to my schedule are Bi1 (introductory biology) and PS12 (introductory political science).

Bi1 got completely revamped for this year. We don’t have a textbook (to my relief because I would not want to carry 1200 pages of painful detail on my back) but instead a course reader consisting of articles on the latest research in the field of biology. Our first homework assignment was how to read a scientific article. I really appreciated that assignment because it let me have some patience in reading an article word-for-word and comprehending what a scientist was saying (though I felt and detested the “academese” <read: verbose writing> of scientists that my history professor from fall quarter despised). We are first going over evolution and how we trace back and categorize species. We recently read an article about tracing species back by RNA evidence (the 16S gene, which every species of organism has). We discussed in our recitation section if there were other ways to trace the evolution of life.

 

If you are interested in reading the article on the magnetic field stuff, here you go!

In PS12 we finished discussing the origins of political theory (starting with Thomas Hobbes). His theory is pretty depressing; he believes that mankind’s primary interest is to avoid an untimely and painful death. Hobbes follows that because of this theory, mankind needs a sovereign (self-preservation) in order to prevent his worst fear and than mankind should give up all his rights towards this sovereign in order to maintain peace (the social contract). I think Hobbes also proposed preemptive violence in order to maintain the peace.  Hobbes’s theories are quite fascinating but quite unrealistic. We got into discussions about his work Leviathan and whether mankind can cooperate. For “homework” we have to watch movies and write papers on them. I don’t mind writing so much because I have been blogging for admissions, and I feel it has broken my fear of communicating by the written word. However, I am not the biggest fan of Clint Eastwood movies (Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby were not my cups of tea, though the Academy rated them well).

What I find fascinating about my classes this term is how they tie into other classes I have taken or into each other. First, calculus and physics, where we use the del operator and find its use in electromagnetism. Second, physics and biology, where there are ways certain bacteria utilize magnetic field to search for microaerobic environments to survive (my biology professors were excited to hear that the practical physics track read about this in their section). Third, biology and political science: the need for social interaction is in mankind’s genes, and that is why human cooperation is possible (and why the worst punishment possible is solitary confinement). Fourth, political science and philosophy. Everything I have learned so far in political science I learned in my philosophy class last quarter, and it makes me gain a deeper understanding of the material from last quarter.

On another academic side, I declared my major as Applied and Computational Mathematics! And, my SURF is confirmed (I submitted my documents today). I will be working at JPL in oceanography, geophysics, and statistics. Pasadena summer, here I come!

Quote of the day: Dean Kiewiet teaches PS12 at Caltech. We were discussing how the prisoner’s dilemma is the E. coli of political science research. However, he mentioned that it does not apply when dating (in a 50-50 situation). His advice? “Always listen to the girl. I have been married for 33 years, and I assure you it works.”

Spring Prospects and Winter Reflections

As winter spring break draws to a close (I miss Pasadena weather, as it has been pretty glum most of break), I have my hopes and ambitions for the spring quarter and thoughts on winter term.

First, I hope I can keep a high caliber of performance throughout the quarter. I’m pretty excited for all my classes, and I want to be more diligent than I was last quarter. I will have to take my classes pretty seriously because I am on grades. Having two quarters on pass/fail were a blessing because I took on the role of a crash test dummy and figured out what abused me the most, what saved my neck, what sticky situations I may land in <read: concert marathons and 3-day weekends>, and what breathing room I will receive <read: week after midterms weekend>.

Winter quarter revealed a lot about me that I didn’t suspect. 

In high school I would study the minimal amount for math and science classes and scrape through with an A on a lot of assignments. At Caltech, I noticed that studying extra for any assignment, even if it is take-home, helps me a lot. I remember the last take-home physics quiz of the winter quarter. I studied a lot for it because I did not have 90 continuous minutes to take it from concert weekend (studying and a math problem set filled in the gaps of time). Then, I fell sick and lost two days from vomiting and a persistent fever. When I was healthy enough to take the quiz, I was extremely confident because I was recalling equations, differentiation techniques, and concepts on the back of my hand. Ignoring my two silly mistakes, I did extremely well on the quiz.

I also noticed that I do better on assignments that I complete as much as I can by myself and then collaborating. It reminds me of high school, where I worked independently for homework and reviewing, and I knew where I stood as an individual. With the collaboration policy, I believe I should expand on my independent study skills from high school rather than rely on it completely. After all, I don’t have miniature, portable versions of my friends when I take my exams and when I have in-class exams in Bi1 this quarter.

I really look forward to spring quarter, on a different aspect. One, I will finally experience a real Ditch Day, although ditch day is always tomorrow (and encouragement to sleep early)! Two, I finally will declare my major: Applied and Computational Mathematics! This means I will get a more permanent advisor and work my career towards something more meaningful.

Spring quarter is bittersweet. I will no longer be at the bottom of the hierarchy. I no longer feel young  because of the coming Class of 2016. It is great to be a year older and a year wiser, but I enjoyed the feeling of youth and will feel a bit empty without some of it. Nevertheless, the beauties of life come with age and experience.

Also, Happy Easter! As I can’t physically give you candy, here are some awesome pictures from Costco!

Milk and dark chocolate bunnies in cages! Yummy!

These chocolate chicks are really cute!

A chocolate chicken? Hmm...

Random Costco find: Since when did they start selling lemon rice?

Only at Costco can you get GIANT TEDDY BEARS!!! I wanted one, but I have no where to put it.

Quote of the day: To quote my friend, Daniel: “‘April is the cruelest month...’ Damn right T.S. Eliot: that's when pass/fail ends.”

A different kind of education

First, some administrative business. I made the grave error of calling Kip Thorne “a friend of Prof. Hawking.” I need to add more detail. Let me say “colleague and long-time collaborator” along with “friend” to relieve my conscience.

While everyone is either staying at Caltech, traveling abroad, or participating in ASB (Alternative Spring Break), I decided to take the more...traditional approach and spend my two weeks at home.

I definitely learned a lot in the first week of break. Nothing STEM-related (well, maybe a little), but definitely lessons to last me a while.

On Saturday morning it was raining pretty hard in Pasadena and Burbank, and I knew there would be some form of flight delay. Sadly, my flight to San Jose was cancelled, and my checked-in bags were on the plane. In a mad rush to get home, I ended up taking a flight an hour later to Oakland instead of waiting for three hours for a flight to San Jose. It worked out nicely, though. When my parents picked me up from Oakland we decided to spend some time in Berkeley (which is right next to Oakland) simply because it is a nice place to wander around during the day. The audacity and free-spirit of students and the number of vegetarian restaurants around the campus make Berkeley quite a fascinating place (aside from the free parking for Nobel Laureates, the protests, and whatnot). After our visit we picked up my bags from San Jose which, thankfully, is on the way home.

Oh, how I missed the bay. A view of the bay from Oakland Airport.

Some chemistry humor on a restaurant window. Note that there are two Lawrence National Laboratories: one is Lawrence Berkeley NL (on top of UC Berkeley), and the other is Lawrence Livermore NL (in Livermore, CA, more inland). LBNL teases LLNL for not being the original Lawrence Lab, which is true.

Self-explanatory. Only at Berkeley :)

Moral of this scenario: Sometimes life throws at you lemons so you can make lemonade. Or, for me, if life gives you overripe bananas, make banana bread.

Over this break I have had the chance to improve my culinary skills. Last summer our family went to India for a few weeks. We needed to finish our fruits and vegetables we had before we left (we turned off our refrigerator because it needed to be moved for some floor renovations occurring). Anyways, with bruising apples, almost overripe bananas, and a HUGE zucchini, I decided to improvise a zucchini-banana bread recipe. I had to account for no eggs at home (by religion) and using whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. The loaves came out pretty well, after that much guesswork, but were oily and didn’t rise too much. Fast-forwarding to this break, I wanted to perfect the recipe. I accounted for the oiliness by reducing the oil and adding yogurt after I noticed the oily feeling after eating French fries goes down when I eat certain dairy products.

 Lesson 1: Mixing everything by hand is ten times easier, cleaner, and rewarding than using a machine.

Lesson 2: Bananas and walnuts make the perfect combination.

Lesson 3: Grease the parchment paper well so that the loaf comes off easily.

Lesson 4: Round loaves bake better than the traditional rectangular loaf.

I can thankfully say these loaves were perfect. They were not oily, the color inside the loaf was beautiful, the banana was consistent in the loaf, my parents enjoy it more than I do (which says something because normally we don’t eat many desserts), and my mom’s friends are asking me for the recipe.

Aside from the baking, I have gained a larger appreciation for whatever grows in our backyard. Currently we have a lot of fruits in season.

We grow avocados, and our refrigerator has a drawer full of them. We end up making guacamole every other day.

My dad decided to start an herb garden. We have a variety of herbs (basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, etc), but now we grow too much parsley, so what to do but make quinoa tabouleh (after getting bored or parsley pesto)? 

Tangerines are growing so well! I finally mastered peeling a tangerine in one peel. Tip: The smaller ones are sweeter.

Oranges galore! We get them year-round, and we haven’t bought juice in a long time (the picture is sideways).

Guavas are a common Mexican and Indian fruit, but I am not the biggest fan of them.

Aside from the food, I am starting to pick up a little Hindi (it is not my native language). My mother tongue is laced with Sanskrit, and a month of Netflix means unlimited Bollywood movies (old and new), so I am picking up more words with every movie I watch, and my parents both know Hindi, so they help with the understanding. I probably have the vocabulary of a two year-old right now.

After all the cooking, watching movies, music practice, and being lazy at home (which is very healthy), I decided to try out Zumba at the local YMCA. Normally I enjoy running and lifting weights, but I got into the Zumba class because I saw a long line in front of the multipurpose room the first Monday evening of break and joined in. Zumba is aerobic dancing with inspiration from different dance styles (mostly Latin dance) like mamba, samba, salsa, cha-cha, hip-hop, and swing. I really like it (and I am signed up for it next quarter), but I have to admit that a lot of parents can move their bodies much better than many high school and college students I know.

The Zumba class has about 70 people in it. It is harder than it looks. In this samba-inspired routine the instructor told all the men to stand in the front. It was...entertaining.

Quote of the day: Seen in front of the same Berkeley restaurant...

Food, glorious food!

First, some administrative business. Caltech’s regular decisions have come out already. For those of you accepted, welcome to the Class of 2016! I look forward to meeting you at CIAD/PFF/PFW during April. If I have any advice for PFW, don’t forget shower shoes, a towel, a sleeping bag (albeit my roommate and I have an extra mattress, but that’s because we are that awesome), AND your parents (they will be well-informed at PFW). Undergrad admissions has some fun stuff planned out, so you should definitely make the effort to come to the admit events.

You get cool stuff, too! This stressball brain is from my PFW, and it still sits in my dorm.

Anyways, some good(ish) news. My lab results from my illness came in the first day of finals week. There were no signs of food poisoning nor dehydration. It turned out to be a viral flu, and I am not the only one to have it. Just two hours east of Caltech (in Indian Wells), eight tennis players had to withdraw from the WTA/ATP1000 event because of the said bug (even Roger Federer was sick, but he won! YAY). You can read the article here: http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news?slug=reu-indianvirus_pix

I started eating normal food this weekend, and I never felt so disgusted of soda, saltines, and pasta and so loving of Greek and Indian yogurt (there is a difference, as Greek yogurt is really thick while Indian yogurt/curd keeps a loose shape from the whey) and curry. As I was still transitioning from the lack of food to normal meals, I eat about half of what I normally do (and instead of three meals, I have ended up snacking). I think I have a constant fear of throwing up ever since that concert night, and I have a slight aversion to food. Nevertheless, my increased aversion to food didn’t stop Caltech and the members of its community from providing insane amounts of food on campus.

On the weekdays during the quarter Caltech has four main ways of distributing food: house dinners, open kitchen (where from 7 to 11 AM and 2 to 5 PM the North, South, and Avery kitchens have drinks, cereal, dairy products, and salad and sandwich fixings, like opening the fridge at home), d(eclining)-bal(ance) food, and “free food” events (FFE). For the third part, students can freely spend it in Chandler, the South Kitchens for lunch, the C(onvenience)-Store, Red Door Cafe, Cafe at Broad, and C(offee)house. In second and third quarter students get $475 in dbal and $400 in first quarter (because of Rotation meals, which are like house dinners but extend to lunches). Aside from the above food, there are random FFEs because of special occasions. ASCIT has “Midnight Donuts”  where at midnight on Wednesday of Week 8 there are A LOT of donuts, milk, and orange juice for students to eat. Plus, there are Pizza Classes (every week), Student-Faculty Lunches (once a month), and Frosh Women’s Lunches (FWL, every other week), and club lunches.

During finals week we have “Snake Kits”, where, from 8 to 10 PM on two days of the week, the North Kitchen has yummy snacks for students to power through finals.

 

Food! I ate the cheese and cookie while taking my 4-hour chemistry final, and the rest (except for the potstickers, which were really greasy and therefore disposed of) I saved for breakfast (we have a small fridge in our room). I’ll explain the instant-noodle box soon.

There is also “Midnight Breakfast” (yes, the breakfast always advertised by Caltech), where, at midnight, students have breakfast because of studying for finals. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

People at Midnight Breakfast.

Midnight breakfast. Cinnamon-raisin bread, a crepe, and STRAWBERRIES GALORE! (I just took a physics final, and I had no appetite for dinner, so the food was needed).

However, the next day (or that same day?) was Pi Day, which means Tom Mannion provides, on 3-14 at 1:59 AM, 26 pies of 5 varieties on the Olive Walk. I was too tired and knew I had to take my chemistry final the next day and was too full from midnight breakfast, so I missed out on eating pie on Pi Day.

I forgot another source of food: the lovely members of the Avery community. Averites have a love for baking/cooking/culinary arts (and we live really close to Del Mar, so we have easy access to off-campus). People will always be baking cookies, keeping cakes/food from Tom Mannion’s cooking class, celebrating birthdays, and the likes. The RAs and AC of Avery also bake cookies and have snack carts during finals and midterms week. Anyways, March 14th also happened to be White Day (kind of like friendship day in Japan). I had mentioned that the Avery guys had made cookies and cards for Valentine’s Day, so the Avery girls did something special for the guys. We made Twix cheesecakes with Oreo crusts and, using the leftover Italian soda bottles from Interhouse, created notes for the guys.

Mini cheesecakes to be delivered.

We monopolized an RA’s kitchen to make the cheesecakes.

Sorting out the bottles to deliver to the 169 Avery guys in the house, off-campus, and in other houses.

Hi Jessica! I see another avid iPhone photographer.

And here comes my (and a lot of people’s) “first world problem” at Caltech (you can play the world’s smallest violin out of sorrow if you must). 

I am fortunate for the presence of so much food, but I really don’t know the capacity of any person’s stomach. I had a free lunch or two every week in some shape or form (pizza class+SFL+FWL+Caltech SWE), I stay in Avery because of the distance to the coffeehouse and the presence of food in Avery through open kitchen and culinary flair and because I have a small fridge in my room with food to defrost over the weekend for dietary needs and conveniences (and with yogurt from Trader Joe’s because the yogurt in the C-Store has gelatin); I lose appetite whenever I cook, and because I am vegetarian, whatever I buy tends to cost less. Yes, quite a lotto-show sentence.

I had a huge dilemma at the end of term: I had about $130 in dbal to spend in about a week because dbal ends at noon on the Saturday after finals. I knew what I had to do: raid the C-Store for non-perishables. The problem lies in this: I can’t buy much in the C-Store that is healthy, non-perishable, and worth my effort. I would buy instant noodles and cans of soup if they were vegetarian, granola bars and crackers if they didn’t have flax seed (which is not good for asthmatics), fruit juices if they didn’t have grapes and pineapple (allergies), and soda if I had the ability to finish at least one cup (unless I am sick, but I had enough soda the week before). Therefore, what to do but buy out the C-Store’s stash of Dasani 1-liter water bottles and Powerade (and a couple of smoothies and packs of dark chocolate M&Ms to finish the change)?

I took the bottles by shifts. Day 1: 13 water bottles carried in a Ramen box.

Day 2: 12 more water bottles and 1 bottle of Powerade.

Day 3: 24 bottles of Powerade. Half my desk space is devoted to the bottles.

Why did I spend it specifically on water and Powerade? Staying in Pasadena for the spring and summer means living through the heat, and dehydration can be a serious problem in California (dryness+heat=summer ovens). I would have bought food for the food drive that occurs every quarter, but I already help out the hungry every year, so I decided to spend the dbal for myself. Looking at next quarter, I shouldn’t be in the same quagmire because I have no pizza classes, and I am ready to declare my major when I come back from spring break.

I wonder, though. Where will I put all those bottles? Hmm...I’ll figure it out.

Quote of the day: On March 12, I attended the Stephen Hawking lecture on black holes. It was amazing, and I am even more humbled by Prof. Hawking because, although so knowledgeable, he had a great sense of humor <read: jokes about French people, running away with a beautiful alien, criticizing Disney, and spaghetti analogies>. The lecture was pretty short (45 minutes, but understandable because of his restriction in communication). I mentioned to my friend John that, as Shakespeare says, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” His response, “But that’s from Shakespeare’s longest play.”