Category Archives: New Experience

Travel to The Windy City – Chicago

By Kamila Dautnokova

New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas…there are so many exciting cities to visit in America that sometimes others get overlooked by international students looking for somewhere new to travel. Yes, all of the above cities are amazing, and I have enjoyed visiting them very much, but the city of Chicago also made an unforgettable impression on me. In some ways it is similar to Manhattan, but in my opinion is somehow more spacious, more clean, and more comfortable. The architecture in Chicago is amazing, and isn’t quite as overwhelming as some of the skyscrapers in New York can be. Chicago is an amazing city that I hope to return to soon, and here are some reasons why you should visit!

Located on the southwest coast of Lake Michigan in Illinois, Chicago is the third largest city in the United States (after New York and Los Angeles), the second most important financial center of the country (after New York), and the largest transport hub in North America. Being the largest city in the entire Midwest, it is also the largest transportation, industrial, economic, and cultural center in North America. As a stronghold of the Democrats, many well-known politicians have come out of Chicago, including Barack Obama (senator from Illinois). The unofficial name of the city is the Windy City and speaking from personal experience, this is accurate–the Chicago winter is freezing.

Photo by Cole Parsons on Unsplash

Chicago is a “city of skyscrapers”, and is home to lots of interesting sites to see and places for hiking. There are many parks, recreation areas, beaches, museums, theaters, and restaurants. In my opinion, the first thing to do in Chicago once you arrive is to wander aimlessly. The city itself is one giant landmark, where the streets are narrow, and the skyscrapers are so tall that you need to tilt your head fully to see the top of them.

Millennium Park is a green park in downtown Chicago the size of fourteen football fields. There are bizarre sculptures, concert zones, and benches to sit and relax. The famous Crown Fountain is also located there – two fifteen-meter glass blocks, on which video images of Chicagoans are broadcast. Millennium Park is the center of Chicago’s social life. Entrance is free everywhere. Volunteers lead tours of the park, tourists watch spiders through microscopes, and actors give free theatrical performances. Cloud Gate is also located in Millennium Park. This is the most recognizable monument in Chicago and, perhaps, America – a hundred-ton metal sculpture of a bizarre shape. However, the locals came up with a more spunky nickname for the sculpture: The Bean. The scultpure really looks like a giant bean from above, and is an iconic place to visit if you have the chance.

Photo by Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash

One of the most famous eateries in the city is the restaurant “Jordan’s”. This is a Chicago pizzeria with a forty-year history, which was founded by immigrants from Italy. The New York Times and dozens of other influential media wrote that they served the best pizza in Chicago.

Art museums are also very popular in Chicago. Some of the best include the Art Institute of Chicago, where you can view classical art for tickets priced at $27, or the Museum of Contemporary Art, where adult admission costs $15. Among the historical museums, the one that was the most memorable for me was the Chicago History Museum where adult tickets sell for $19.

Photo by JR Harris on Unsplash
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The Best Food Spots Only a Walk Away from USC

By Luke Reshwan

Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula

Being located in Los Angeles, USC has many local food spots to choose from. In this article, I want to focus on just a few (my favorite few), that are all within walking distance from campus. All of these locations are also within the Free Lyft zone, so if you do not want to walk, you can get to them using the Lyft app and the USC pass that allows free Lyfts near campus. The three locations I will be talking about today are Spud Nuts, Cava, and Tacos Listo (better known as Taco Zone) . Each of these eateries is quite different: Spud Nuts is a smaller breakfast place that is open all hours of the day, Cava is a large chain restaurant serving Mediterranean food that consistently draws a long line in the village, and Tacos Listo is a food truck that doesn’t open until 5 PM (perfect for dinner and the infamous midnight snack).

I’ll begin with Spud Nuts, the best comfort food around USC hands down. Nothing makes a person feel more at home than breakfast sandwiches, doughnuts, smoothies, and some of the best iced coffee I have ever tried. My go-to order is the bacon, egg, and cheese on toast with a cronut and a mint chip milkshake. If you are wondering what the cronut is, it is a croissant glazed like a donut. It is a Spud Nuts delicacy that tastes phenomenal. Nothing starts the day off better than a breakfast sandwich that tastes just like it was cooked in my mother’s kitchen, a sugary croissant, and a nice milkshake to truly create that feeling of being stuffed to the brim with good food. If those things do not suit you, I highly recommend trying the HUGE cinnamon rolls (yes, huge had to be capitalized, they are massive) or one of the croissant sandwiches. Regardless of what you order, Spud Nuts is sure to remind you of a nice home-cooked breakfast that starts the morning off correctly.

Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

When it comes time for lunch and you are hungry again, I highly recommend Cava in the USC Village as your next stop. Cava is like a Mediterranean Chipotle–you go along the line and choose a base like rice or pita or lettuce, then you choose dips and spreads you would like to add, followed by a protein, toppings, and dressings. I normally go with rice for my base, red pepper hummus, tzatziki, and harissa for my dips, lamb as my protein with assorted toppings depending on what I am feeling for the day, and then hot vinaigrette as the dressing. However, if this does not sound appealing, there are options for everyone to try. I have not met a single individual who does not like Cava, and I think they do a great job of making Mediterranean food more popular in the United States. I myself am Mediterranean, and very rarely do I find flavors of my grandma’s cooking in restaurants, let alone chain restaurants. Also, the portion sizes are quite large which allows for one to feel full after eating their lunch as opposed to many other restaurants that I have tried in which I am still looking for more after I finish eating.

Photo by Kao Rodriguez on Unsplash

Lastly, for dinner or a midnight snack, Tacos Listo is the place to go. It is known by many as Taco Zone because it used to be a taco truck in the AutoZone parking lot. However, they have now relocated onto Vermont Street. Everything on their menu is phenomenal, whether it is a burrito, taco, or quesadilla. I highly recommend getting al pastor as the choice of protein; however, I know many people who get many different proteins and they all seem to be more than satisfied. Of all the different taco trucks or taco places around the USC area, Tacos Listo is my top choice. It has numerous different sauces and salsas to choose from that only add to the experience. It is also open until 2 AM, allowing for that midnight snack that we all crave from time to time.

Photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash

These locations are my top picks for a day of eating around USC. I highly recommend giving these places a try if you have not yet as they are some of the most consistent restaurants that I have tried in my two years down living in the area. Each of them is special and phenomenal in a different way and I truly think my experience at USC would be worse without them here.

Featured Image by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Luke is a junior studying Computer Science/Business Administration in Dornsife. He was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and has lived there his whole life before coming to USC. Having a father who immigrated from Lebanon, Luke knows a little Arabic, and he is proficient in Spanish after taking Spanish classes in school for seven years. He loves learning about all kinds of cultures and has met close friends from many cultures during his time at USC. He also enjoys sharing his Lebanese culture, whether it be food recipes, his grandparents’ and father’s teachings, or even just the social and conversational norms in Lebanese culture. He likes following fashion trends, especially in relation to shoes (of which he has over 20 pairs). He likes to keep up with basketball, soccer, football, and even F1. Outside of sports, however, he is constantly learning more about the tech world and the different things an individual can do with technology.

Finding Tranquility on the Trails

By Leah King

Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula

Recently I picked up a new hobby that I would love to share with others in the hopes that it could bring the same joy and peace that I feel from it to you: hiking. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I felt trapped in my home and anxious from spending so much time indoors. I needed an escape from what was going on for my mental health.

Growing up, I loved spending time outdoors. I would go camping and hiking around the Midwest regularly, but for some reason, I lost touch with that side of myself in high school and in my early undergraduate years because of my other athletic commitments. So when all the gyms were closed and I was tired of running around the same block over and over again, I started researching hiking trails around California. This was around my first year of my Master’s Program. In my search, I came across this app called “AllTrails.” This incredible app shows you all the hiking trails in the area, how difficult they are, and how long they are. It also has a navigation system to help you locate the start of the trail and people’s reviews. I used this app to help plan my first hiking trip to Yosemite.  

One of Yosemite’s most popular views

During spring break, a couple of friends and I drove up from LA to Yosemite to hike for a few days. I was immediately hooked. Firstly, Yosemite is so breathtaking with all its mountains, trees, and waterfalls. I used AllTrails to help me plan what hikes we wanted to do in terms of difficulty and popularity. We hiked over 15 miles during the three days we were there, and while I was hiking, I felt a sense of calmness and peace when I was surrounded by nature. When I came back to LA to resume classes, that calmness was gone and I was eagerly anticipating my next adventure in the outdoors.

Fast forward to the second year of my Master’s Program. The pandemic had calmed down a bit and my classes were fully in person. While in class, I overheard a couple of classmates talking about hiking in Santa Monica. I gravitated to the conversation and asked You guys are hiking? Could I possibly join?”. The two girls were so sweet and invited another classmate and me that weekend to hike. During that hike, we shared our love for the outdoors and discussed how many different hiking spots there are in California. We decided to try to hike every weekend and came up with the name “Trailmixers” for our hiking group! And that’s what the Trailmixers did. We hiked almost every weekend, and with some planning, most of those trips were very inexpensive. We’ve hiked Mount Baldy, Cucamonga, San Fan, Santa Barbra, Sedona, Pinnacles National Park, Zion, camped in Big Sur, and backpacked in Catalina Island.

Photo from my Catalina Island trip
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