Every time I venture down to Schwartz to see a play I am always amazed. I leave the venue feeling like I experienced something that I will never get to fully appreciate in that time and space ever again. This play left a different after taste in my mouth. I was looking forward to seeing it because it was so heavily advertised and a friend of mine had a substantial role in the play, so I was looking forward to seeing all of his hard work pay off. The woman who played the wife in the play did such a great job that afterwards when all the actors were outside I was afraid to talk to her because she did such a good job embodying her character that in real life I thought she was the same mentally ill and lost woman. When in actuality she was very sweet and easy to talk to. My favorite actor would have to be the young woman who played Hattie, Jim’s sister. Hattie was played by a freshmen that I have known since the summer. She went to a performing arts high school in New York City, but I did not know she would knock my socks off. She did such an amazing job acting that the audience could feel her carrying the heavy burden of her character. I remember telling her the next day what great of a job she did and how she definitely stole the show. So I asked her how long they had been rehearsing for the play. I assumed that they started preparing for the shows since last semester, but she told me that they only started rehearsing in March. I was shocked that in such a short amount of time they could pull off  such a well done show!

Last Sunday was the first time I heard the Cornell symphony orchestra perform. They took their audience on an hour and a half long journey at Bailey hall. I remember seeing their posters all of campus and I was so excited that they would be playing Tchaikovsky. I listen to Tchaikovsky and other classical composers when I need to do some deep mode studying. They played a favorite of mine Romeo and Juliet. It’s one of those pieces that everyone has heard, but they just don’t know the name of it. I even saw some acquaintances in the orchestra that I had no clue would be there. I enjoyed the guest director because he smiled a lot and shook the hands of the first stand each time he came out. I grew up playing the violin so I was excited to see a performance. I love looking at the left hand of the string players because I like seeing their fingers work and how effortlessly and swift the whole process is. Just thinking about how we are able to do two things at once, moving your left hand moving across the four strings doing vebrato and then your right hand has the bow increasing and decreasing the volume and crossing strings, and on top of it all your eyes are reading the music and you are counting without looking at your hands. The whole process seems nonchalant, while doing it, but when you take a minute to reflect on all that is happening you realize just how beautiful it is .

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to Cornell cinema to watch a film. I knew that it was going to be about Gypsies. I did not know much, but I knew it was not going to be my big fat American Gypsy wedding or Gypsy sisters. I had a feeling that it was going to be a story of pain, slavery, and salvation. I was unaware that the film was not in English and that subtitles would be available.

One of my favorite movies is a Bollywood film almost entirely in Hindi and some French and smigin of English, it did not deter away from my appreciation of the film because it is such a lively story, a story of hope and growing pains, something that I think we can all relate to.

The film that I watched about Romanian Gypsy was hard to follow, vulgar at many times, and tasteless in more than a few scenes, there was even someone in the row behind me that fell asleep.

There were parts that I was able to digest such as when the king’s wife has an affair with her slave who happens to be a Gypsy. This Gypsy ends up escaping so the king sets a bail for him. A man and son go after the Gypsy to restore the king’s honor in order for the king to disgrace and torture the Gypsy. The king ends up cutting off the Gypsy’s manhood so that he can never have another affair, even though people have told him that his wife lured the Gypsy man and not the other way around. I was saddened by the little Gypsy boy who was also captured that just wanted to be sold to a good master, he advertised himself in public promoting his good cooking skills and loyalty.

Dukhtar is a film that everyone has been talking about.  The film won an Oscar for crying out loud! I had very little background knowledge going into this movie. All I knew was that the film was about a child bride from a country in the middle east and that the director of film is a Pakistani woman. This movie was more than just what the reviews of it had to say, this was more or a less a love story. The film exemplified a mother’s love for her child and the extent that one is willing to go to ensure the safety and happiness of their child. This movie did not even focus on the actual child marriage. It showed that the girl’s father was left in a desolate situation where he essentially had to give up his small child for marriage to preserve the honor of their family. The father was not happy to do it, but the film made it seem like he was cornered into that unfortunate situation. I think a lot of the time westerners only get one side of the story, they do not get to see the other side. The film showcased that the daughter and wife are not just disposable members of the family because the father and the daughter’s husband to be are on a desperate hunt to find them. Even though they are portrayed as property, they are sheltered and treated in a delicate manner compared to men. They are not valued equally to men, but it shows that there is a greater complexity to their culture than meets the eye. The end of the film left me satisfied. The mother gets to see her mother again after many years apart, presumably because her husband would not allow her to visit her mother. While visiting her mother she gets shot and it is not known whether she survives or not, but at least she was free for a time.

DREAM Cornell is a cohort of students who are undocumented or allies of undocumented students. The round table discussion itself was something that we need to have more on campus. I think that it is important to discuss controversial, uncomfortable , and underrepresented issues so that more students are aware of what people in our community face everyday. I was surprised to learn that there are more undocumented Asians on campus than any other ethnic group. I enjoyed how the panel discussed the differences in their community from others and how that affects whether or not they come out as undocumented.  I was aware that the DREAM act and DACA are far from perfect, but I did not know how much of a burden the paper work is. Students that apply are not guaranteed approval. I particularly enjoyed the conversation about our administrations recent financial aid reform. In it undocumented students that grew up in America receive federal aid just like a documented student would, but as this progress occurred international students were thrown under the bus. Now international students are not accepted on a need blind basis, but on a need aware basis. This means that when international students apply to Cornell they have to demonstrate that they can pay tuition. This change is disgusting and undermines the mantra of our university, “any person any study”. DREAM Cornell discussed how depriving international students was wrong and did not align with the groups overall cause. DREAM Cornell also does outreach with the greater Ithaca community. It was so inspiring to meet such eloquent students that are able to talk about such an uncomfortable topic with a diverse group.