Need a Break?

Need a break from homework? Wanna get out of that boring dorm room and be entertained by Moroccan belly dancers?

photo by me

In that case...Merrakesh is the place for you! This place has everything! The environment is awesome and it will put all your worries aside. I walked in and right away the lightening made my body go from tight and stressed to extreme relaxation. You sit on low to the floor on hassocks and eat with your hands. Yes, that's right, I said eat with your hands. This is not like a Chinese restaurant when you can ask for forks and knifes instead of chop sticks, it is straight hands or get the h*** outta here! Micaela Capelle attended Merrakesh and thought "this place is amazing! It is definitely hard to get past the norm of not eating with utensils." The belly dancer was hilarious, she even made me get up and learn how to belly dance with her. "I never knew my daughter could dance like that!!!" said Heather McCluskie. "I had quite the experience." I apologize for the quality of this video below but the lighting in there was really dark...I learned how to belly dance so please take the time to watch the video all the way through :)

But honestly, overall...the food is awesomazing (yes awesome + amazing) and you definitely get your money's worth.  It is a 5 course meal and lemme tell you, it is one of those meals that you gotta unbutton your pants by the time you get to the last course.  Seriously it is a perfect place for a college student to get out of the commons food and see how food and culture can brighten your day :)

Outsiders

I think it is pretty safe to say that if you are not from Portland or if you haven't spent a good amount of time in Portland then you may be in for a culture shock.  Portland is a "different" place. When I describe Portland to people I always say "You can be whoever you want to be here and you will be accepted." The atmosphere here is different.  As my mum always says, "Portland is filled with granola tree hugger people." Whatever that means...but seriously, Portland is green, in EVERY way they can be.

photo by me

I met up with some "outsiders" as you would call it and asked for their opinions of Portland. These outsiders were from Malibu and play baseball for Pepperdine.  They were here to play our baseball team this weekend and my friend Ellen Parker knew some of the players.  Ryan is a junior at Pepperdine and is originally from Arizona so his first comment was that it is "f***ing cold here!" It was funny because today just happened to be a "nice" day in Portland. Brian, also from a warm city (San Diego) could not understand why people would live here..."it rains all the time, I don't get why people like this." When they went down to 23rd they were really in for a treat.  Brian was very intrigued by all of the Portlanders walking around.  He saw someone stripping on the street, someone doing a weird dance, and a man walking around with an oar in his hand. Needless to say, Portland is entertaining. Ryan kept on saying "I could honestly just sit here and watch people for hours." I explained to him how I sometimes take time out of my day to go downtown just to people watch. I don't see it as a waste of time, but as being productive. Do you know how interesting people are? It's crazy! After being on 23rd for quite some time Ryan and Brian finally began to understand Portland a little more. We laughed about how their baseball games will potentially, most likely be canceled due the rain.

google images

Portland is WEIRD, so much so that it is written on the side of a building in downtown Portland..so much so that there are bumper stickers that read "Keep Portland Weird" everyone knows it and that is why they love it here; I mean, that's why I love it here. If Portland wasn't weird then I don't know what it would be....

Weather's April Fool's Joke?

Since August the weather has been nothing but (as an Arizonan would describe) TERRIBLE!  This April Fool's, the weather felt as though it was a good idea to play a prank on Portland by bringing us the hottest day of the year so far. NOT OKAY. The University of Portland turned around; our school looked like a fun place to be with people outside barbecuing and playing games outside. People in front of Fields and Schoenfeldt were launching water balloons and people were walking around in dresses and shorts with smiles on their faces.  

photo by me

 

Tell me why the weather has such a huge impact on us?  People come out of their caves and all the whiteness is finally exposed to that beautiful thing we call the sun.  I swear my hair has gotten darker and my Vitamin D dosage is in need.  I now understand this thing called seasonal depression.  I went around school and asked some people how they felt about this funny prank from the sky. 

“I was really happy when the sun came out because I’ve been really low on vitamin D.” –Ellen Parker

Well Ellen, as a word of advice… go back to the sun. According to About.com there are two main ways of receiving Vitamin D: expose to sunlight and drinking one cup of vitamin D fortified milk (this supplies about one-fourth of the estimated daily need).   But Natural Home Remedies explains that even though drinking a glass of milk daily is a good way to increase your Vitamin D intake; the best source is still the sun. 

“I’m definitely more hyper/excited/enthusiastic/productive when the sun’s out.” –Kaileah Balwin

I would have to agree with Kaileah.  I am a way more exciting person when the sun it out.  I think many people would agree!  While I was reading on the Mayo Clinic, I saw an article about seasonal depression and how addressing the problem can help you keep your mood and motivation steady throughout the year.  So maybe that’s what’s wrong with us??

“I’m going to have to buy a happy lamp pretty soon…” –Monica Kendall

Yes! I looked up these “happy lamps” and I found that exposure to a ‘light bath’ received from a Philips EnergyLight can restore the well being and energy levels that you feel in summer. 

“Got a little glimpse of what we could have but we don’t…it was a sad realization.” –Arianna Nassib

Ugh…I hate this. I looked at weather.com for the 10-day forecast and it looks like we’ve got a high of 46, 45, 45, 40, 37, 38, 41, 47, 47, 44… Sad.

 “There was sunshine and then misty rain within the same hour…never a dull moment with weather in the Pacific NW!” –Andriana Alexis

Ya know, Andriana I sometimes wish there were some dull moments where I knew what the weather was going to be like, that way I wouldn’t have to change my outfits one hundred times!