Haverford House

Last night I went to my first professional sporting event! I feel pretty lucky that for my first pro ball game I

1. Got to experience it with famously (some might say infamously) enthusiastic phans
2. Saw the home team win 2:4!
3. Had access to what Food Network has named the #1 ballpark food for vegetarians
4. Had an amazing view of the Philadephia skyline
5. (Despite the fact that I had a nosebleed seat) both felt like I had a good view of the game and had access to what the stadium’s website says is a video display “which is the largest in the National League and among the largest in the world.”
6. Was inspired me to look up fun facts about the Phillies. For instance, that for two seasons our mascot was the Blue Jay.

From my seat at the 8/24Phillies game against the Nationals

The summer internship program at the Center for Public Health Research drew to a close this July, and Haverford was well represented! Four generations of Haverford students were present at the interns’ poster session, including past and present Public Health Fellows Peter(s) Block and Sacci, summer interns Kate Donches and Hiba Dhanani, and founding Director Stan Miller. The presentations went well and lunch was provided, so it was an all around great day.

Left to right: Peter Block (’11), Kate Donches (’14), Dr. Stan Miller (’77), Hiba Dhanani (’14), and Peter Sacci (’12…that’s me)

It’s been almost a month since we’ve moved into Haverford House, and, after a valiant effort, I’m realizing that it is physically impossible to go to every market, march, and museum that happens on any given day in Philly. There are simply too many incredible things going on at once! Neverthless, the thought of missing any of them bothers me. So, until I can sit still and chill out about the fact that we live in the coolest neighborhood, one tool I’ve used in maximizing my ability to go everywhere and see everything is…biking!

I’ve always liked cycling, but, thanks in part to an awesome tour led by Chloe Tucker and Parker Snowe during our orientation week, that like has turned into a newfound love.

Just a few of the endless advantages to biking, in a nutshell:
1) I can get home from work around 5, buy my fresh produce in Clarke Park, my Q-tips at CVS, and the most delicious Baklava in the country from Manakeesh, all in under twenty minutes–which leaves enough time to catch an outdoor movie on the Schuylkill or grab a happy hour beer with some friends at Dock Street.
2) I can whiz over to the bike path near Cobbs Creek for a much-needed nature fix after a day spent in the office.
3) I can head east on Spruce and let the downhill breeze cure the near-permanent sweat stains that haunt almost anyone enduring the wrath of Philadelphia humidity.

A wishlist of destinations I’d like to bike to in the future:
1) Valley Forge
2) Over the Ben Franklin Bridge into New Jersey
3) Bartram’s Garden

Suggestions for other places to visit by bike would be much appreciated!