What We're Up To: First Installment

While this blog is great for passing along useful information, we also want to be able to give you a glimpse into our lives in New Haven and the surrounding area. Don't get us wrong: you are our first priority this summer. But, when we're not answering emails, posting on Facebook, drafting schedules, and wrangling deans (let's be real), we plan on having fun this summer, too.

For these purposes, we're going to ditch the formal third person and speak in our own voices in our sections. While we do hang out a lot, we are not actually connected at the brain.


Patrick

This past weekend, I went into New York City to visit friends I haven't seen in awhile and to go to the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park. Yes, believe it or not, there is BBQ in the Northeast. I was surprised, too. And it was good. Even bigger surprise. I also went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time. I am a huge van Gogh enthusiast, so I got to see a bunch of stuff he painted while he was in Arles and Saint-Rémy, where I studied for a summer. I attended church at Christ Church Methodist, whose senior pastor is a YDS alumnus and a member of the Board of Advisors (essentially the Board of Trustees for YDS). I also finally figured out how the NYC subway system works, which is a great thing. How the city works south of 14th St. is still a complete mystery though...

I will be back in New York weekend after next for Pride. I don't do the Pride circuit like some of my friends (Boston, Providence, and New York are on consecutive weekends), but like the sense of community and support that Pride brings. Last year, I marched in Boston Pride with a thurible and three Episcopal bishops (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island) behind me.

I have a series of projects that I had been wanting to do, but hadn't gotten around to because of classes or something like that... The first of these was potting herbs on my windowsill in my apartment. I now have flourishing parsley, thyme, rosemary, and spearmint ready for use in cooking, including a pretty amazing gazpacho I made last week.

Upcoming over the next two weeks in New Haven is the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, which is a large festival of music, performances, talks, and seminars that take place mostly in open spaces in the city (including the New Haven Green). I am especially looking forward to the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a concert by Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, and Lizz Wright, and attending several of the more in-depth views of New Haven.

Esther


My biggest summer adventure will kick off this weekend when I fly away to Scotland for two weeks of family fun in the Highlands. I'll be traveling all over the country with my parents, two sisters, and my sister's husband, making stops in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, St. Andrew's, and many other beautiful and historic places. I'm sure the next installment of "What We're Up To" will have a bit more about this (fingers crossed) amazing vacation.

Fun in the sun with my roommate and Div
friends at the Div School Apartments!

I have been spending much of my free time preparing for PhD applications, so I have spent less time away from New Haven (or from my computer) than I would like. I do sometimes get out to the Divinity School Farm to pull weeds the size of toddlers and harvest hundreds of snap peas from my plot - if anyone knows of any creative uses for snap peas I would love to hear them. On the lovelier days I try to spend at least a few afternoon hours reading outside, or drinking rum and cokes with my roommate, but on the grey days I mostly sit curled up in my armchair with tea and convictions. Thankfully there is quite a cohort of YDS students around New Haven for the summer, so we've had some fun cookouts and dance parties which are a lovely break from PhD essays.

Sometimes we just hang out with Dale Peterson,
Dean of Students, and drink 5 gallon buckets
of Sweet Tea.

Recently I have started playing weekly trivia at Anna Liffey's Pub with a group of YDS students, alumni, and staff, and we're not too shabby. Well, sometimes we're really shabby, but one week we came in first place, so I like to think that's the only week that counts. This summer has provided me with the opportunity to explore downtown New Haven a bit more than I could during the year because I have more free time and there are far fewer people milling about. In the past two weeks alone I've stopped by six bars and restaurants I'd never been to before, all of which warrant a return visit. I've also had the pleasure of introducing some friends to my favorite place in New Haven (that I've mentioned before and will certainly mention again), Miya's Sushi.

I did have one rather memorable trip to Boston where I spent hours in a trampoline park called Sky Zone Sports which is everything you would imagine it to be: filled with children, smelling of sweat, and amazing. I've also taken a really great trip with friends and roommates out to Sleeping Giant, which will be featured in an upcoming post on The Great Outdoors, and have re-watched all of Firefly. All in all I can't complain, but hopefully by our second installment I will have some better stories to share.