Verbal Snippets & Snapshots

As some people at Hopkins who’ve seen any of my Hopkins abodes in person know (such as JHU_Jackie and JHU_Stefanie), my housing experiences over the past three years have slowly, but steadily, improved in terms of luxury.

As a freshman, I lived in a double in AMR I. AMR I is one of two “traditional” dorms for freshmen at Hopkins–that is, it has communal bathrooms. AMR I also lacks air conditioning! Overall, I enjoyed living in AMR I, and I usually didn’t have a problem in using communal bathrooms or dealing with a lack of air conditioning. However, it’s not a surprise that AMR I is thought of as the “least luxurious” on-campus housing option for freshmen.

As a sophomore, I lived in a four-person suite in McCoy Hall with my friends Miriam, Nian, and Zainab. Our suite had a small lobby with a kitchenette, a bathroom, one double, and two singles. Unlike AMR I, McCoy Hall does have air conditioning. Combine that fact with having a private bathroom (instead of using a communal bathroom) and a kitchenette, and I thought my sophomore year housing situation was a huge step up from my freshman year one–even though (1) McCoy Hall is the “least luxurious” on-campus housing option for sophomores and (2) I shared the double with Zainab, while Miriam and Nian each had singles.

This year, I’ve been living in an off-campus apartment with the same three friends with whom I shared a suite last year! We live in a lovely three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in a small, quiet apartment building that’s verrrrry close to campus. It’s right across North Charles Street from AMR I and AMR II (which are two of the dorms for freshmen on campus), and it’s between two University-owned buildings! In a fashion similar to last year, Zainab and I share the master bedroom, while Miriam and Nian have their own bedrooms.

So, what are the “steps up” this year for me compared to last year? As you’ll soon see, the apartment where I live this year (1) is very spacious and has lots of natural light coming in during the day (there are windows in every room of the apartment), (2) has two bathrooms being shared among four girls (instead of just one), (3) has a full kitchen (instead of a kitchenette), and (4) has a living room (instead of…uh…none).

I. ENTRANCE

First, the above photo is of the main door of the apartment…

…and when you open that door, this is part of the view you have! In the photo above, you can see a bit of the kitchen towards the left and a bit of the living room towards the right. Let’s look at the living room first.

II. LIVING ROOM

Most of the furniture in our apartment came along with the apartment, and the furniture you see in these photos of the living room is no exception. As you can see, my roommates and I created makeshift curtains out of old bedsheets, and we even decided to cover the throw pillows on the couch with matching pillowcases!

III. KITCHEN

Miriam, Nian, Zainab, and I all love to cook and even bake–and for that reason, we have a lot of fond memories that center around this kitchen! Even though the above photos might not properly convey our kitchen’s dimensions, our kitchen is pretty large for an apartment. To give you an idea, it’s pretty easy to fit four to five people in it while they do things such as washing the dishes, cooking, looking through the fridge, and heating something in the microwave. Given that the kitchen is my favorite room of the apartment, I can ramble on–but I won’t.

IV. HALLWAY BATHROOM

This is one of the two bathrooms of the apartment, and it’s the bathroom that my two roommates who have their own bedrooms use. Given its location in the hallway, it’s also the bathroom that our guests use.

V. MASTER BEDROOM

Last, but not least, let’s take a look at the master bedroom! As I mentioned earlier in this blog entry, Zainab and I share this bedroom. We agreed to split the room so that I have the side of the room with the only window of the room–but a small closet, while Zainab has the side of the room that has a walk-in closet–but no window.

I don’t have much to say about the bathroom that’s located in the master bedroom, besides the fact that I really enjoy being able to use the bathroom without leaving my bedroom!

As I’ve done in previous years, I’ll close this entry by highlighting a few miscellaneous items in my bedroom. The top left photo is of a wooden mask from Ghana that’s hanging on the wall beside my bed; I received it as a gift at the beginning of this semester from Nian, since she went on a Hopkins-sponsored study abroad trip to Ghana during Intersession. The top right photo is of a few decorations I taped onto the wall above my dresser. The top decoration is a bunch of doodles I made that I liked. Meanwhile, the middle decoration is a miniature collage with my name and a photo of Miriam, Nian, Zainab, and me from last year–Nian made it and gave it to me along with her Christmas present for me. (Miriam and Zainab have similar collages from Nian.) The bottom decoration is a collage that my friend Christine made in an activity in which she, a few other girls, and I made collages of images and words to describe each other. The bottom left photo is of a photo frame that Zainab gave me as a birthday present last year; the photo it encloses is of a few of my freshman year housemates and I posing after a mud wrestling match we had. Also in front of that photo frame are three mini wind-up toys I own. I received the sushi toy and the rice bowl toy as part of a birthday present last year–and I got the brain toy all the way back in my senior year of high school at a neuroscience major info session here at Hopkins! (JHU_Wafa knows just how awesome this toy is.) Last, but not least, the bottom right photo is of metal “jeepney” model. In the Philippines, the first “jeepneys” were jeeps that were left behind by American soldiers after WWII–and then elongated, elaborately decorated, and converted into public transportation vehicles by Filipinos. Nowadays, jeepneys are actually manufactured in the Philippines, and they’re a popular mode of transportation there.

With all that said (and shown), I hope you enjoyed my third year of “Hopkins Cribs”!