Dorm Potatoes: how NOT to cook in your dorm room

In which I talk about how it only took 7 hours to make potatoes in our dorm room

Photos from POV

We have had crazy success with People of Vermont so far! Already, 71 people have liked the page, and we've only done one day of photos! Jan-Luis and I are so excited to keep it going! I know most of you have seen the page, but I just wanted to share some of my favorite photos here.

This girl was just absolutely wonderful. I don't think she stopped smiling the entire time we were talking to her. We had been watching her for a few minutes beforehand (we were all in a crowd of people watching a street performer) and we kept gushing over her jacket and skirt. Finally, we walked over and asked her for her photo. She was just so instantly happy and willing to be a model for a few minutes. It was joyous.

 This woman, Camille, is definitely one of the most fabulous women I have ever met. She was so ready for her photograph to be taken, but she wasn't overly cocky. When we asked for a shot of her, she whipped out her sunglasses and pulled a pose. She was so friendly and excited.

 This photo took some work. We were walking past an alleyway and could see them skating on a wheelchair ramp. Jan-Luis didn't want to approach them at first because they looked intimidating (which they did). However, Erica and I pushed him and he (warily) asked for their photo. They, too, were immediately excited. We got a few good action shots, but the group photo had the best group dynamic. It really shows their personalities. I love how they completely defied the stereotype. 

Kathleen is definitely my favorite person we have photographed so far. She was so spirited and absolutely filled with joy. She had no hesitation to tell us her stories and interact with us. She was insanely inspirational. Before she walked away (to talk to a street musician), she bowed to us and said "It's good to meet old friends for the first time."

If I could choose anyone to run our country, it would be her.

Those are my favorites from what we managed to grab on our first day out. We got so lucky; no one said no to being photographed and put online. Burlington has some wonderful and amazing people in it, and I'm so excited to meet more of them. :)

Saturdays in Burlington

So for the past few weeks, my friends and I have made Saturdays into Burlington trips. We usually hit City Market for groceries and the farmer's market for fresh veggies and granola. Afterward, we always end up wandering around Church Street. Church Street is always really nice on Saturdays, even when it's cold and raining (like it was today).
Today, we had a specific mission. My friend Jan-Luis and I have started (tentatively) a project we are calling "People Of Vermont." POV is a spin-off of Humans of New York, a beautiful and poetically comedic blog. JLo, Erica (my roommate), and I took some awesome pictures of people today and had some great conversations.
Despite the pre-winter chill, there were a lot of really talented street performers out today. One guy, John Stork, juggled fire while balancing on four chairs and a table, then added another chair ad did a handstand on the whole stack. He was hilarious. We also talked to (and photographed) five or six street musicians. We even found a band, Tricky Britches, who had such a smooth sound and awesome group dynamic. Most of the music played on Church Street is similar in style, but we managed to find an Iranian boy playing freestyle acoustic guitar, and his talent was extraordinary. After listening to a bunch of music and watching performers, we walked down an alley to the park, where a group of teenagers were skateboarding. They looked intimidating at first, but when we asked them for their photographs, they immediately got excited and really into it. They ended up being really friendly.
At one point, I even ran into someone I knew! We went up to her at first because her hair was colored so beautifully, but when she told us her name, I realized I knew her. She went to the Champlain College Young Writers Conference last year as a mentor. I went as an attendee. I told her I recognized her, and she remembered me as well! It was just a nice reminder of the small world we live in. :)

POV is brand new, so everyone should go like it! We will be posting the photos from today throughout the week. :)