Things to do in Delaware:

FOOD:
A Piece of India: Mmm...one of my favorite types of food is Indian (the other is Thai). This restaurant is located a little off campus in an old ranch style house. It seemed more formal and prices were around 10-12 for dinner. I would recommend going to buffet lunch there on Tuesdays or Sunday where it is only 8 dollars for a wide selection of good food. ****

Ali Babas: A Mediterranean restaurant serving Greek and Roman delights. The prices were very good, sandwiches ranged from $3:50-$5.50. With brightly colored walls and couches, it set a cross-cultural feeling and a great environment for large parties. I wouldn't recommend the entrees because although they are good, it is expensive for the amount you get. The vegetarian entree was really great for a sampling of various sauces and foods. Plus with all the material they give you, you can make two pitas out of it. ***

Cluck U: At SCU, we also have a cluck u. It's such a fun, college environment restaurant with yummy food and great deals. Try the 911 challenge which are hot wings made up from the hottest peppers in the world. ****

DP Doughs: The land of calzones. For 5.50 you get a humungous calzone and a drink. There are about 30 different varieties to choose from on the menu. Great food, can't go wrong! ***

Eastern Buffet: Right next to the mall, this little restaurant had a wide variety of food Chinese and Japanese food. It's like all you can eat mall food. If you're a UDel student, you receive an extra 10% off. (about 6 bucks) ***

Friendlys: A casual diner like Dennys where burgers come in baskets and there's really heavy food. Antenna and I shared the chicken fingers meal and it was enough for both of us. To our surprise, there's a summer special where we got a free sundae (2 scopes of ice cream, 1 topping, whipped cream and cherry) with our meal. Prices ranged from about 7-11 dollars. Great for a very laid-back meal.***

Grottos Pizza: A sit down pizza parlor situated right next to an arcade. The environment is fun and playful and they even make their pizzas with a cool swirl design of sauce and cheese. Service isn't that great, but the food is decent. **

Home Grown: A nice sit down restaurant with great food. Prices are more spending than the rest of main street ($8-$17), but the environment is very cozy. Service wasn't good though. ***

Klondike Kates: A group of us go weekly to 1/2 price Nacho Tuesdays. For 4.50 (originally priced 9.00), this is every college students dream. The platters are gigantic and they are probably the best nachos I've ever had. In a cascade of cheese, chili, sour cream, olives, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato and guacamole, I was always looking forward to Tuesdays. The rest of the menu is slightly spending since it is a ribs place ($15). ****

Peace of Pizza: A popular hangout for the UDel students and the greatest pizza parlor I've ever been to. Never will you get gourmet pizzas for only 2.50 a slice! Ridiculous, isn't it? It's sooo wonderful. The first day at the lab, all the researchers and Lori went there for lunch and it was amazing. If you're ever in the area, stop by and grab a slice. ****

Pita Pit: Pretty good pita place with lots of toppings to choose from. It's quick and the workers are really nice. I would recommend just walking over to Ali Babas for a pita because the portions are bigger for the same price. **

Ritas: Right by the Newark Movie Theater and Eastern Buffet, this little corner store is a stand where you can order water ice (Italian ice), custard (thick ice cream), soft pretzels, and various other snacks. Rita's reminds me of a 1950s place to sit on the street curb and talk with friends. It's great on a torrid day when you need a quick snack. Prices range only to about 2-3 dollars. ****

Timothys: Located in a desolate old building, I was apprehensive to walk in. It was a dimly lit, sit down restaurant. Prices ranged from ($8-$25). The food was really good (try the ribs!) and it was a fabulous place to hang out with friends. ****

GROCERY STORE:
CVS: Right next to Happy Harrys on Main Street, this place was kind of deserted. The prices were a couple cents more expensive but there are lots of things on sale. Watch for expiration date! I personally never go there~

Happy Harrys Discount Drug Store: On main street, this place was a life saver for fast supplies. Prices were very cheap and they had most of the stables. More popular with the UDel students than CVS.

PathMart: open 24 hours a day, this store is great those late night shopping excursions. A short drive away or a long walk there. Has tons of stuff at a great price. Tons of Udel students that you can't go without recognizing someone there.

Super Fresh: Although students say this place was more expensive, I found it just as cheap as Pathmark. A little closer than Pathmark and right next to California Movie Rental.

SHOPPING:

King of Prussa: Every girl's dream. TWO shopping malls right next to each other. This was the best mall ever. They had tons of great stores as well as a great selection in each store. Stores ranged from cheap to high end , every big department store I could think of, they had. The dome-like glass ceiling let in plenty of sunshine and I had great reception for my cell phone. I went on a shopping spree and found all these great deals. Bad news is that it's about 1.5 hrs from UDel but it is sooo great.

Christiana Mall: Decent sized mall with good stores but not alot of stuff inside each store. The mall was beautiful because there were all these water fountains adorning the walkway.

Dorm life

During my ten week stay at UDel, I stayed at the fabulous dorm on Ray street. When I arrived Sunday night, I was amazed at how large my room was. My roommate, Jess, and I lucked out and got a corner room which is a little larger and oh so much more spacious. Jess is the best and we became fast friends. She gave me a very thorough tour of the campus. Everyone in the building is an undergraduate researcher so it's nice to talk and chill with them at night. There are so many activities that the dorm puts on to help everyone get to know each other. Some activities include: whitewater rafting trips, weekend trips to DC or NY, etc. There are also activities to bond people in the dorms as the committee puts together ice cream socials and bbqs. To view picture, click: http://www.udel.edu/has/loc/ray_st.html

Transportation:
Philadelphia is the closest airport to the University of Delaware and let me tell you of the trouble I had of getting there and back. One way of getting to the airport was to ride the SEPTA to take you straight there ($7). The train station is located on South College and about a 40 minute walk from Ray Street. You need to ride the R2 to 30th street then switch to the R1 which goes directly to the airport. It took my an hour and a half to arrive since there was a half hour wait to switch trains.

To get back was much more difficult. As I learned the hard way, the SEPTA train to Newark only runs on the weekdays. On the weekend, there are limited trains running and the closest station to Newark is Wilmington. When I came back on Saturday night, the SEPTA train from the airport was closed but a bus ran to 30th street. The Shuttlebus at the airport didn't know if it went to Newark and the Dart bus line was closed. I arrived at 30th street, and rode the Amtrak train twenty minutes to get back to the train station is Newark. ($33) Total time to get back was four hours.

There's also a bus that we use for the dorm activities which costs 4 dollars.

First weekend: Left on Thursday to go to Brown University for the AAUW leadership conference. Had such a wonderful time meeting people and bonding; I came back feeling so empowered. I've never felt so comfortable with a group of strangers as we laughed the nights away.

Second weekend: Went up to Annapolis with a bunch of my roommate's friends to dog-sit. We then went to American University, got to take the metro, and saw the DC nightlife. The next day, we lounged at the pool which was so relaxing and I got a nice tan. After a few hours, we drove back into DC for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. It was one of the coolest events I've ever been to. I took tons of pictures of the Monument, the Capitol, the Museums. I had such a blast in DC and can't wait to go back

Third weekend: Since my roommate was gone for the fourth of July weekend, a couple of my friends spent the weekend over. We were baking brownies and cookies in the kitchen, hanging out in the dorms and talking to people. Didn't get much sleep at all but it was worth it! =) On Sunday, I went with the dorm to Baltimore for a day of adventure. About 15 of us went to the Aquarium ($17.50) and got to see a dolphin show. The displays there were so diverse, capturing different living environments from all over the world. There was a huge section of seahorses. I also got to see a couple clown fish which reminded me of Nemo. *smile* We also rode the water taxi around the harbor, went to the science museum (I wouldn't recommend it), then ate dinner in little italy. Came back at 9 exhausted from the trip.

Fourth weekend: I was actually on campus this weekend. On Friday, one of my friends stayed over since she was part of Discovery Days, which is a tour guide for high school students on their college search, and had to wake up at six am. We stayed up and chilled with a group of friends in the lounge to watch Sneakers. What an awesome movie about computer security and suspense. Although it was filmed in the nineties, it was very enjoyable and fun. Afterwards some people came over and played cards. On Saturday, Lewis was doing Discovery Days and he brought by the extra food and stalked up the lab. I got the chance to talk to Stacy, one of the Ph.d night shift people and she told me all the interesting stories about her life. Saturday night, my roommate invited me to one of her friend's apartment for a get-together and I brought about 8 of my friends. We got to play foosball (I totally dominated...okay, not really) and relax. The Sheryl, one of my friends took us to another party which was huge. I got to meet alot of other people and had a blast. Sunday a group of 7 of us went to King of Prussa and was there for six hours. We also went to the cheesecake factory afterwards. So much fun! I love it here in Delaware

Fifth weekend: Went to Rehoebath beach this weekend with 10 of my friends, and it was more fun than I expected. Granted there was a thin strip of sand along the coast, there were so many people tanning there. Embracing my inner child, I went and frolicked in the sand and body boarded in the waves. The beach always brings out an innocence in me where I am carefree and am living for the moment. The boys from London and I walked along the boardwalk for two hours looking in shops and eating the treats that are only available at seasides. We got a huge bucket of Trashers fries, got salt water taffy and cotton candy, and ate hamburgers. To top it off I gave them a quick tour of Hooters and we had a blast. Afterwards, we spent an hour at the local outlet malls and I bought a cute workout tanktop from Nike for only 20 bucks. Then our group went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. It was a quaint restaurant which served good-ole homecooked meals. On the ride back my roommate and I were blaring rock music and singing all the way back. How I love the summer.

ixth weekend: I left with the dorm in the morning to New York. I did alot of shopping then went to Soho for lunch with some of the people at this great cafe. The food was absolutely delicious. After much walking around, I met up with a couple of my friends from Westpoint. They showed me what the local life was in NYC and we went to watch bad boys two. Movie tickets were 10 dollars a person! YIKES! That night I met up with another of my friends and watched the broadway show RENT for the first time. I adored the show and was a total yuppie at the gift store, buying a shirt and the soundtrack to the show. My recommendation to anyone who wishes to see a good show would be to watch Rent. It's the best. I would have loved to stay there longer...

Seventh weekend: Hung out with the Udel people and had a few sleepovers in my room. It was great being with the girls and gossiping all night. We watched movies and baked cookies the entire weekend. It's wonderful not having any homework to worry about. On Sunday, I spent the day in the lab wrapping everything up and worked on graduate school stuff.

Eighth weekend: Guess what! I went to visit my boyfriend in Hawaii on a spontaneous whim. He plays in the annual tournament there and I flew over on Friday to watch. It was THE BEST tennis matches I've ever seen and he and his doubles partner won the entire tournament. It was great being out in the clear blue ocean and getting a tan. This trip was very much needed and was the most relaxing vacation.

Ninth weekend: Packed and went home this week. I'm going to miss Delaware so much!

PICTURE GALLERY:

UDEL CAMPUS