Sat-u-rated: Filled completely with something that permeates or pervades; a color not mixed with white; a pure unmixed color.
One early morning on the Wild Coast of South Africa, the colors of a sunrise saturated my world. And for a moment, my world was golden.
Trip taken 2011. This post is in response to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.
I learned a new word when I visited American University last April. Wonk.
According to Merriam-Webster, a wonk is: “a person who knows a lot about the details of a particular field (such as politics) and often talks a lot about that field.” According to American University, its students are wonks: smart + passionate + focused + engaged.
While American University is technically located in DC, it is a 15-minute Metro ride from downtown. A free shuttle drives its passengers from the Tenleytown/AU Metro stop past the Department of Homeland Security to the 84-acre campus.
After a film about life on campus (one of the better ones we’ve seen) and a brief introduction by an admissions officer, my son and I followed our tour guide around campus, visiting a dorm and the quad. We learned a few statistics: not only is American University the largest school of international affairs in the country, its students are the country’s most politically active; 70 percent study abroad, and 84 percent complete an internship before graduating.
About half of the 13,000 students at American are grad students; in 2012, there were only 6,776 undergrad. The university’s 61 bachelors, 54 masters, 11 doctoral degrees, and JD are taught at its seven schools and colleges. The average classroom size is 22, and the maximum class size is 66, according to our tour guide.
Unlike urban George Washington University, American University has a campus feel. The main university buildings, including the library and the Kay Spiritual Life Center (which houses 25 different groups of faith), surround the Main Quad.
As we walked, students milled about, entering various buildings.
There was not the energy and excitement of a city campus, instead there was more of an academic feel. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons American calls its students wonks.
To be a wonk is to know (wonk spelled backward).
Trip taken: April 2013.
In the middle of Washington, D.C., just four blocks from the White House, is The George Washington University; its Foggy Bottom campus barely defined, as university buildings blend in with other buildings in the city.
We got off the Metro at the Foggy Bottom stop at 23rd and I Streets and made our way through busy intersections to the Admissions Welcome Center, a few blocks away. At the appointed time, we joined a few hundred other high schoolers and their parents for an information session and a tour.
The George Washington University is one of the bigger schools we’ve visited, with 25,000 students at three campuses (Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon in Washington and the GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, VA). Of those 25,000, however, only 10,464 are undergraduate students, 55 percent of them female. The average class size is 28, and the student-faculty ratio is 13:1.
We learned that the university’s motto is knowledge in action: through service, internships, and research. We learned that there are over six academic schools and 70 majors. Fifty-five percent of the students study abroad and 92 percent intern. The freshmen have a required day of service, and students all over campus logged in over 250,000 hours of service in 2012.
GW ranked number 40 in 2012 in a list of the most expensive schools (its tuition and fees in 2013-2014 are $47,343 and that’s not including room and board). It also must rank one of the highest for dining. There is only one dining common at George Washington, and most students don’t eat there. At least that’s what our tour guide said. Instead, students eat with the public at the several restaurants and take-out places interspersed among the university buildings on J Street or wherever their GWorld card is accepted. When we asked for a recommendation for lunch, typical of where the students eat, our tour guide recommended Tonic, a restaurant where a cheeseburger costs $12 and macaroni and cheese is $13.
Whatever the cost, there is an energy at George Washington that we haven’t encountered at other universities; a vitality and excitement among the students who talk about their experiences: running to climb a tree after the inauguration, interning on Capitol Hill, and attending one of the 150 guest speeches at the Eliot School of International Affairs.
I didn’t have to travel far to capture this frog on film. He (or she!) climbed up my front storm door and hung out for awhile one hot summer night. Perhaps it was cooler against the glass.
With his white belly and toes that are not completely webbed, it looks like he might be a wood frog (Rana sylvatica), a frog which lives in the northeastern U.S. in forests or woodland areas. To see some other unusual points of view, click here.
Trip taken July 2013.
I just made the best cookies. No, really, they are so good. They happen to be gluten free, egg free, and if you’re picky about the chocolate chips, they’re dairy free, lactose free, and vegan as well. But don’t let that stop you from trying them.
The cookies are chewy and chocolaty (yes, chocolaty is a real word, also spelled chocolatey), and you can’t stop at just one. So, what’s the secret? The cookies are made with oat flour, which gives them texture and chewiness, and coconut oil, which gives them a hint of coconut (use canola oil if you don’t like coconut). If you’re not gluten free, just replace the gluten-free flour with wheat flour and omit the xanthan gum, though I can’t vouch for that change in the recipe.
Have you heard of BabyCakes NYC Bakery? The creator of this yummy recipe, Erin McKenna, is also the founder of that bakery. And next time you’re in New York City, you just may want to make a trip to 248 Broome Street and try out one of their cupcakes, like we did on our last trip. Or you can visit them in Hollywood or in Orlando, too.
I found the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. You can print it here or read it below. You can also find it in the cookbook “BabyCakes Covers the Classics.” Here it is:
BABYCAKES NYC CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Ingredients
1-½ cups gluten-free oat flour
1 cup gluten-free all purpose baking flour (Bob’s Red Mill!)
1 cup organic sugar
¼ cup flaxseed meal
¼ cup arrowroot starch (good with cornstarch if you don’t have arrowroot starch)
1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (fine without it)
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons melted, refined coconut oil or canola oil
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1 cup gluten-free, dairy free chocolate chips (I added a few more)
Directions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, flaxseed meal, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Add the coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla and stir with a rubber spatula until a thick dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Step 3: Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1-1/2 inches apart.
Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, and bake for 7 minutes more, or until the cookies are golden brown and firm. Let stand on the baking sheets for 15 minutes before eating.
Snapshots and Sojourns 