About Barnabas

I'm a junior economics and business administration double major. I like to make people guess things. I like to play sports but I hate working out. I speak French and I can do long division in my head sometimes.

Bruges

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Barnabas

In order to get my visa, I had to get a checkup to make sure I wasn’t choc-full of diseases. When I told my doctor where I was going, he had only one thing to say to me: visit Bruges! And doctors can’t be wrong can they?!

The first canal we came to. It was so beautiful. So was the rest of the town. This post will be mostly pictures because there’s only so much I can say. Basically, Bruges is the most beautiful city in the entire world. It is full of cobblestones, old houses, intricate churches, canals, nice cars, and, of course, a lot of friends to share it with!

For Dad: Bruges wasn’t full of bikes like Amsterdam is (that might be because it was freezing),
but there were bike lanes everywhere, including lots of contraflow lanes like this one .

The Markt, i.e. the big square downtown.

In my opinion, the absolute coolest thing in the city. Bruges is known for its crocheted lace, and this was a ten foot tall map of the city made out of crocheted lace! It is so detailed it even includes street names. I was blown away by it.

If you have good eyes you can see that behind the map is a canal, and across the canal a row of brick houses.

We stopped for fries and beers at a nice restaurant near a thrift store that we spent a good amount of time perusing.

Trying on hats and looking at pretty birds in the thrift shop. I bough a Mickey/Minnie Mouse pillow, Kaan got a scarf because he was so cold.

Terrible picture, but these little birds had such colorful chests, I especially
loved the teal chested one on the left.

We saw this house and decided we wanted to live here one day:

Welcome Home!!

In our future neighborhood people park their bikes on the street and leave
them there all day.

Like I did in Davis, CA, modelling the width of a street using my body

Rapunzel?

We needed two more people to achieve victory!

Giving a rousing speech from 50 feet up

This house was just like the house from Death of a
Salesman and I loved it.

Freshly made in front of us. I got chocolate all over my beard and somehow
a bit ended up up by my ear.

Kaan enjoyed his too

Italian sized coffee

Some people were fed up with my camera by the end of the day

Rapunzel’s twin brother, Bropunzel?

I regret not trying one of these chocolate covered oranges.

Completely by chance, after taking about four wrong turns, Canada and I stumbled upon this beauty.

I came home 40 euros poorer, but with quite the haul.

Postcards, shoes, incense (don’t ask, Canada’s fault), a pillow, two things for
my key chain, and a pint of delicious cider.

I got home just in time for the perfect end to the perfect day: the first Spring Training game, on mlb.tv thanks to Salim and Katrina!

Jonny Gomes, probably our new platoon left fielder, ceding most time to Daniel Nava. Rays radio commentators during the game today, however, seem to think he should start and that he will do some damage. His career 109 OPS+ tempers those expectations a bit.

I didn’t even care that I had to watch “vintage” Lackey load the bases before he recorded an out, or that we lost: Red Sox baseball is Red Sox baseball. Also Iggy absolutely hammered a high fastball over the Faux Monster, so I’m gonna go ahead and fall head first for that red herring. When he’s hitting .248 in June at Pawtucket you can say, “I told you so!”

BRASSERIE DE LA SENNE – A BREWERY IN BRUSSELS

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Barnabas

Last week the student volunteers at Université Saint Louis organized a trip to a local brewery for us exchange students. We met at the local metro station, rode the subway a few stops, walked for 10 minutes, and arrived at an old warehouse that was recently transformed into la Brasserie de la Senne.

Our tour was given by one of the co-owners of the brewery. He explained that, like most small brewing companies, he and his partner started out by home brewing in their basements. Later, as their beers became more and more popular they decided they needed to expand. That was when they bought an old warehouse in the city and worked for a few years turning it into a working brewery.

Our guide explained to us that they based their entire business on one simple rule: make beer that they want to drink. Instead of following current trends or trying to appear fancy, they want to cater to their own tastes. If other people happen to like it too, more’s the better.
They also wanted to truly be a beer from Brussels, by Brussels, and for Brussels. They felt strongly that having a brewery in the actual city was important (there’s only one other brewery in Brussels), and despite heavy foreign demand they primarily sell to Belgian stores.

Our tour was short, but in about 45 minutes we were really able to understand where beer comes from and how it is made. He took us to each stage of production and explained how the processes occur that transform water, hops, and barley into a beer. He gave us hops to taste and showed us how hops of different colors produce different beers. It was really remarkable how much he knew and how he was able to explain the relatively complex scientific process in an understandable way off the top of his head, in his second language.

Hops. They tasted a little like bitter sunflower seeds, but I don’t
think I’m gonna start eating them during baseball games.

Of course, like any brewery tour, we finished by drinking some beers. We enjoyed tasting three different kinds of beer, and one of the Italians may have purchased a dozen to go. Overall the brewery trip was a great success; now we need to visit the second Brussels brewery to compare!

P.S. Can you tell how cold it was that day? Brrrrrr!

Belgian Food

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Barnabas

Food

One of the best things about being in Europe is getting a chance to eat some new, delicious foods. Every day I encounter something different and I almost always love it.

First, I live with Marco, who is from a small town near Rome. And boy can he cook. He always says that cooking calms him down, puts his mind at ease, and he has an apron in every house: one here, one at his parents house, one at his grandmother’s house. Marco cooks every day and almost always invites everyone he can to join him.

I also eat out a little bit. My favorite thing to buy is a mitraillette (literally, a machine gun), which is a baguette sliced open, lathered in sauce, lined with lettuce, onions, carrots, etc, filled with meat, and then covered in french fries (some places will put some more sauce on top of the fries). Maison Antoine in Etterbeek is the best known “fritkot” (french fry place), but you can find good fries and good mitraillettes anywhere in the city, including a nice store 1 block from my house.

I also get a ton of other good food all the time. Don’t be too jealous:

Rachele (Italian) made a delicious omelette with potatoes at Simone’s birthday celebration

Eeva and Minttu enjoy some delicious coffee after failing to do so in McDonalds.

The Carrefours Express by my house has fresh orange juice, where you can see the oranges being squeezed right in front of you. Delicious.

If you’ve ever been to the science museum tell me this doesn’t make you think of that huge ball thing that everyone would stand and stare at for hours on end.

I don’t even know what kind of cheese this is, but it looked good at Carrefours so I bought it. That was two days ago. Now it’s gone.

On a lazy Monday I grabbed a snack at Carrefours and watched Disney movies all day.

I was convinced to go to a club last Saturday because it promised free food. Needless to say, the presentation was impeccable, if the servings were a little small.

Mardi Gras, Belgium Style

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Barnabas

Tuesday was Mardi Gras, so about 10 international students and I took the train to Binche, a small city near the French border, for Belgium’s most famous Carnivale celebrations. The Binche Carnivale is known for colorful costumes and the throwing of oranges.

Binche train station

The outside of the train station

We left school at noon and walked to Gare du Nord, where we boarded the 12:32 for Binche. As did a million other people. The train was filled to capacity, people standing in the aisles and sitting on the floor in the spaces between compartments. When we finally arrived and several hundred people wanted to leave the station at once, the geniuses at Binche decided it was probably a really good idea to only open one (1!) door in the station, so everyone just stood around in the platform for a while until the crowd slowly filtered out.

In costume throwing oranges

Marco, Lera, and I, staying warm by making funny faces

Have I ever told you Niklas hates having his picture taken? Well he does. Hates it.

Once we were finally outside we meandered downtown, got some fries and some cheeseburgers, huddled together for warmth and waited for the parade to start. Once it finally happened we mostly just tried to catch as many oranges as possible, like kids that just want Jolly Ranchers at every Fourth of July parade ever.

Hind, Lera, Lydia, and Maria got us some nice oranges

Finally, pockets filled with oranges, we made it back to the train station and rode back to Brussels. Some of us may have slept the entire way, but not before posing with some heroic looking statues first.

I really wanted to climb in onto the statue but Niklas wouldn’t let me

So Laure tried to push me in instead

Belgium

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Barnabas

So last semester I wrote a lot about trying to go to Belgium this semester. Well guess what? Endless paperwork, 3 trips to the embassy and 1 trip to to consulate later, I got my visa, and I am currently sitting in my apartment in Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode, a highly Turkish neighborhood in Brussels, Belgium.

I’ve been here for 11 days. So far, it’s been a whirlwind and I’ve spent money at an incredibly unsustainable pace so far. I’ve been all over the city, both walking and on public transportation, I’ve been to classes in English and classes in French, I’ve eaten lots of foods and tried lots of Belgian beers. I’ve been overwhelmed by how awesome Europe is and I’ve been overwhelmed by how much I miss America. I’ve bought a cell phone and a Skype webcam, and impressed lots of Belgians with my French skills. I’ve done so much it feels like I’ve been here for 2 months, not less than 2 weeks.

The Highlights:
-Meeting tons of Europeans. The program I’m in (“Erasmus”) is designed to allow European students to study somewhere else in Europe for a semester. So most of the time I’ve been exploring the city with my new Italian, Finnish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Spanish, Moroccan, Canadian, and Turkish friends.
-French Fries are from Belgium. They are so good here. They are also served everywhere, in fancy restaurants and in Greek restaurants and in Chinese restaurants and just everywhere. The best thing to get that’s frie-inclusive is a mitraillette (a machine gun): they take some french bread, cut it open, put some meat and if you’re lucky some veggies inside, then toss in a bunch of fries, then pour a few ounces of your favorite sauce on top, then try to close it. It”s so yummy.
-Walking. I walk so much here. I walk to school and back to my apartment and then back to meet some friends downtown and then we walk together to get some food, and we walk around because the sun is finally out and then we walk to Grand Place to check out the cool gargoyle-ish statues and then we walk to Rue Neuve to do a little window shopping and then we walk back to Saint-Josse because it’s late and we have some homework to do.
-The Italians can cook. Marco and Simone, both from central Italy, can cook as well as anyone I’ve ever met in my life. And they love to do it. So every couple nights I find myself eating some variant of pasta, always with a homemade sauce and complimented with deliciously cooked veggies. I’ve never eaten better in my life.
-Being allowed into bars. Makes life a lot easier.

Comedian

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Barnabas

We got an awesome break from final papers, projects, and studying: Tim Young, who has appeared on Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, and E, came to McDaniel to perform. For the students. For free. McDaniel has brought a few comedians on campus before (of varying humor) and every single one always starts the same way: making fun the corn fields they drove through to get here. Every single comedian. I don;t know if it’s a secret code among comedians to start by talking about the place they are performing, but they all do it. All of them. Every time.

Anyway, Tim started off unspectacularly, by trying to make fun of a few people in the room, but eventually found his niche: short people. He had an entire line of jokes about how a midget could never be president, and how a protest of angry dwarves (dwarfs? my computer thinks so) would just make people laugh. A bit of back story: my freshman year roommate is really short. Not midget short, but short, and he has the ego the size of Texas, which makes him seem shorter by comparison. So of course we make fun of his height all the time. Anyway Tim starts telling these short people jokes, and the whole place is chuckling but (my friends) Ryan, Becky and I are just laughing and laughing and laughing. I suppose he appreciated the laughter, because he just plowed on through. He then moved on to some other funny topics, but in my mind he couldn’t possibly top the dwarf jokes.

I had to duck out after an hour to go play soccer, but the whole experience reminded me of what my education really is. Yes we come here to learn, but we also come here to be in a great environment with other young adults. College is not designed to stress people out, it’s designed to help people learn. Events like school-sponsored comedians show me that McDaniel is not only interested in making us memorize information but also in helping us stay calm, relaxed, and laughing.

The Day After

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Barnabas

Big News: My acceptance letter for my study abroad came today! I’M GOING TO BELGIUM!!

But this post is about what I did on Black Friday. Quickly, for anyone thinking about visiting Boston: 1. Go to Harvard Square and take in all the smart people. 2. Go to a Red Sox game; Bruins and Celtics aren’t the same, Patriots is too expensive. 3. Get a cannoli from Mike’s Pastries in the North End. 4. Understand that the North End is directly south of East Boston. Also South Boston is directly east of the South End. The South End and South Boston are both north of the geographic center of Boston. 5. Ride the T. It’s cheap and fairly quick, and helps you discover new muscles. 6. Climb the Bunker Hill Monument. It’s the Washington Monument for northerners. 7. Go to Fanueil Hall and watch YAK (You Already Know), a group of dancers that performs pretty much 365 days per year. They are pretty good performers but excellent businessmen. 8. Eat a burrito at Boca Grande Tacqueria and then one from Anna’s Tacqueria and compare. They both have multiple locations and are owned by two Chinese siblings that have become such competitors, they no longer speak to one another. 9. Find two places in your favorite Boston movie. I know pretty where everything in The Town was shot, and my brother once found the house used in Good Will Hunting. 10. Find the tombs of 5 famous people. Robby and I found John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Sam Adams in about three minutes. We also found the Sam Adams brewery, but it’s only 4 blocks from my house.

I hope everybody gained 5 pounds, because I know I did. (Only half joking, I had a lot of pie.) Black Friday is supposed to be a day of shopping, but my family has our own traditions instead. My friend and I were (rudely? sadly? predictably?) awoken at 9:00 AM, and we thought we smelled bacon. Nope. Just meatballs in the oven. So we ate cereal and headed out to The Christmas Place, “The Largest Christmas Store in New England.” Every year they are open only from October through Christmas Eve, and they sell anything anyone could ever want that has to do with Christmas – except, (unfortunately? sadly? predictably?) nothing with the name “Barnabas” on it.

We bought a few ornaments and wreaths, and then headed out to our favorite location: the Blue Hills. If you like nature and are visiting Boston, please, please go for a hike in the Blue Hills. They are close to the city, they are forested, and they are beautiful. We went for a hike, built a fire and roasted hot dogs, and climbed a few trees and a particularly large boulder. In the summer I earn myself some extra money by lifeguarding at one of the lakes in the area, and in the winter we skate there too! Sometimes, if we’re lucky, there will be a friendly ice fisherman that will let us real in a fish with him.

Finally we came home, ate the spaghetti and meatballs (not bacon) Mom had prepared, and sat back to watch Elf. If you’ve never seen Elf, go see it. It’s one of the best Christmas movies ever and it’s both funny and touching. One of my toughest fraternity brothers says Elf is his favorite movie. My 26 year old sister says its in her top 5. Somehow, my parents had never seen it, so we helped them enjoy it by explaining the parts their old ears couldn’t hear. (Yes, they’re old: Thanksgiving Day was their 32nd anniversary!). Finally we played Bananagrams (our new favorite game) and did a little homework. Thanksgiving was fun; so was Black Friday.

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Barnabas

T-Day is awesome. First there’s food, then there’s football, then there’s still two more days before I have to do any homework. Thanksgiving is like a mini-Christmas, and Christmas is hands down the best holiday (just look at the music it inspires! Unmatched!). Thanksgiving is the rare time when everything is looking up: the semester is gonna end soon, your family isn’t sick of you yet, and you have yet to gain 10 pounds.

Today I tried to decide which food I like better: stuffing or pumpkin pie. It’s impossible to choose! Stuffing is so delicious, just the right amount of moisture, some salt and some mystery seasonings, I could eat piles and piles of it. But pumpkin pie, oh pumpkin pie is just so smooth, sweet without being sugary, I could eat an entire pie with a spoon in about 4 minutes. The only thing I’m sure of is that they both taste best when Mom makes them!

We are about to go to our friends’ house. They have a large family. They have three sets of twins, at least one child in his 30′s and at least five kiddos under the age of 10. Let’s see if I can name them, in order: Ian, Erika, Alyssa, Matthew, Megan, Kate and Mariah, Nate, Ben, Suzanna, (here come the little ones I can never remember) Caleb and Joshua, and Grace and Joseph! Whew, got them all (with minimal cheating). We have had a few Thanksgivings with them in the past, and there’s always something fun to do or some child to play with. Here’s looking forward to an awesome day of eating, playing football, and sleeping. Go Patriots!

Driving

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Barnabas

Yesterday I began my season of travel with easily the worst part: driving. Driving a lot. Driving in a small car. Driving at night. Driving in a car that was made in 1992. Driving through New York City.

Fortunately, I had my friend, Robby and my sister, Polly, and a bunch of snacks, songs, and iPhones. We found the most interesting route out of Maryland (27 to 30 to PA, 94 to 15 to 78 all the way to New Jersey). We left at about 6:30, hit some minor traffic in PA and finally pulled into my driveway at about 3:30 this morning! While the drive sucked, this will be the first Thanksgiving I’ve spent at home since high school. We are missing 2 of my siblings (and a sister in law), but we will be going to an old friend’s house in Lowell for the feast tomorrow.

In other big news, I secured my summer job already! In the past my brother, Salim, my sister, Keziah, and I have all life-guarded at a small pond just south of Boston, and next year I will be doing the same. The pond is located at a state run vacation destination that features about 20 one room cabins, none of which have electricity or running water. My family has been staying there during the summer since I was 3 months old. Needless to say, I know how to start a fire with just one match. I am very excited to work there again, but the main perk is that I can live at home, bike to work every day, and save my money!! I will be graduating sooner than I realize, and need to have something ready so I don’t end up in Mom’s basement forever.

Sick

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Barnabas

I woke up Saturday morning and my throat was killing me. My neck was swollen like a softball and it hurt to talk too much. So I took it easy, watched the football game (tried to stay warm underneath tons of blankets), and went to bed early. Sunday morning? Same thing, along with a little fatigue. Now, normally, I just put my mind over matter, go about my business, and let my cold run its course. Unfortunately, one of my close friends had mono last month, so I wasn’t taking any chances.

Monday morning I walked into the college’s health center, and told them my concerns. They were extremely helpful, but unlike the last time I went in, they didn’t have an available appointment until later that afternoon. Never to fear, my friend Becky stepped up and drove me to the hospital. It was only the 2nd time I’ve been to the ER (stitches from a wiffle-ball injury when I was 11), but I really don’t mind hospitals at all. So I checked in, gave a good amount of blood, got an IV (for really no reason other than that I had to stay and wait for the tests, so what the heck?), and sat there and waited.

My tests came back negative! Not only for mono, but for the flu and for strep too! So riding the high of the good news (and the IV), I went back to school, did my work, and slept in. Today I’m feeling better and hopefully I can kick this thing soon.

Stories from the Hill

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