Summer Plans: Volunteering, Movies, and Going to India!

Helle everyone! I hope your summer is going well so far. I am so excited for the rest of my summer because I have a lot of fun stuff lined up!

Three times a week I volunteer at the Crane Estate in Ipswich. The Crane Estate is one of the many Trustee of Reservations properties. There are tours at the great house, a tour of the grounds, and picturesque views from almost any place on the property. I work at the Casino, no, it is not a place for gambling. It was a place for the Crane's and their guests to relax and have a good time. Outside of the Casino there used to be a saltwater pool that was filled in by Mrs Crane, so the Casino was the place to cool down after a fun afternoon in the pool. Here are some pictures of the estate that I've taken during the last few weeks. 

A photo of the house during the kite festival 

The view from the house's cupola. Wouldn't this be nice for a summer home? 

Some of the salt marshes around the property

View from the Grande Allée (the rolling hills in the second photo)

On days when I am not working at the Crane Estate I am working with four of my fellow Northern Ireland students on a research paper for one of the undergraduate journals on campus. We all have our different sections to write. I am writing about some of the cultural challenges to integrated education. Going back through our notes and watching the videos (haven't seen them yet? I'll insert them below!) has made me nostalgic for one of the best trips of my life! The first video is the more academic one and the second one is the vlog style video.

Speaking of traveling, I am lucky enough to go to some amazing places this summer. First I am going to New York with my parents for Fourth of July weekend. We are seeing a Broadway musical (Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Darren Criss!!) and going on a cool walking tour of the High-line and Greenwich Village. I hope to take some amazing photos. In late July my mom is going on a business trip to India and I am incredibly lucky enough to go with her! We are going to New Delhi and Bangalore, with an overnight trip to see the Taj Mahal. Words cannot describe how excited I am for this trip! I have two trips in August. One is a four day family trip to Toronto, Canada (where I lived for three years) to see some of my mom's old colleagues and poke around our old haunts. Lastly, the four of us are going to Florida!! The first half of the week will be in Orlando to go to Walt Disney World and the second half of the week will be spent in St Petersburg to see friends! I want to see if St Petersburg has changed since I've last been there (last Thanksgiving). I can't wait to go on these four trips and to write all about them. 

As far as movies go, I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron three times (AMAZING!), Mad Max: Fury Road once (Go Furiosa), and Jurassic World (Chris Pratt!) . I am looking forward to seeing Ant Man and Inside Out. Any other movies that I should look out for? Let me know in the comments!

I know that this summer is going to go by super fast! before I know it I'll be starting classes back at American! I hope that everyone has had a good start to their summer and has fun things planned.

See you soon,

Kara

A Week of Movies

Last week I saw three movies with friends and family. I love going to the movie and escaping to another world for a few hours. I like every genre of movie, except horror films. My favorite films range from Midnight in Paris to The Avengers to Harry Potter to Frozen, so it is no surprise that I saw a variety of movies last week.

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So last Tuesday, a friend and I saw Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. It is an action film about a soldier named Cage (Cruise) who is stuck in a time loop and has to try to stop a war against aliens, with the help of Rita (Blunt). I thought that the movie was entertaining and funny, but not amazing. While I didn't love it, I was glad to get out of the Florida heat for a while.

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The next day (I know, I'm crazy) a few friends and I saw Chef written, directed and starring Jon Favreau. Favreau plays Chef Carl Casper who quits his job in a restaurant after a bad review and decided to open a food truck. I loved this movie for many reasons. One is Jon Favreau, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey, Jr. back together after Iron Man 2. The second reason is the story itself, it was heartwarming and funny. The third reason is the food. This movie should come as a movie-dinner combo because you will leave the theater hungry! I almost wish that there was a cookbook with all the recipes from the film including: garlic and olive oil spaghetti that Scarlett Johansson eats, a cuban sandwich (including all the variations) and the infamous molten chocolate lava cake. All in all, I would watch Chef again in a heartbeat.

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Dad and I saw Begin Again on Friday and it was a perfect way to end this movie filled week. It stars Mark Ruffalo as an unemployed music producer, who meets and works with Kiera Knightly who is a singer-songwriter who came to the city with her, now, ex-boyfriend played by Adam Levine. I thought this was a really beautiful story and the songs were gorgeous. This is the first time I have heard Kiera Knightley sing, and she was actually very good! It was another awesome film that I can see myself watching again and again.

Overall I would give each of the movies these ratings:
Edge of Tomorrow: 5/10
Chef: 9/10
Begin Again: 8/10

Did you guys like this type of post? If you did, let me know! If you did not, let me know!

Thanks for reading!