Deephers Celebrate St. Patty’s Day

Did anyone else know that Boston celebrates our Founder’s Day with a parade?? Somehow they managed to mix up our colors though…

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Two Deephers spent this momentous day watching this amazing parade and commemorating the grandeur of our lovely and wonderful DIMES. After getting up way too early and way too quickly, we somehow braved the T filled with thousands of cheering Deepher fans.  We had to wait for three trains to go by full of people before we could actually get on our way.  Once we got there we walked along the parade route until we found a spot on a hill to watch the whole parade.  We expected leprechauns and unicorns but instead we surprised by barber shop quartets, Star Wars characters, Ghostbusters, horses, cannons, and colonial folk.  We still aren’t sure how they made a time machine and managed to get to 2012… Either way the parade was pretty great.  We got to spend a lovely Deepher day in the sun creating memories and building lifelong bonds.

YITS

Ruthie and Sarah

Deepher Visits Famous Ice Hotel

I started off spring break this year by spending the night in a room that was 26 degrees Fahrenheit! It was at the famous Ice Hotel (Hôtel de Glace) in Quebec City, Quebec. The overnight at the ice hotel was a Christmas present to my boyfriend. We got a themed suite and when we walked in we discovered that the theme was Inuit hunting walruses.  They were carved into the walls along with an igloo and an ice bench and table.   Also, the headboard of our bed was a giant ice sculpture of a walrus.  We spent the evening exploring this giant ice building with our two complementary cocktails in glasses made of ice. We also took a ride down the two ice slides!  Before bed, we had to attend a 45 minute seminar on “how to fall asleep” at the ice hotel.  They taught us what to wear to bed, how to get in and out of our sleeping bags, and what to do if you have to go to the bathroom during the night.  All of our luggage was stored in the one heated building on the property which also held the bathrooms and showers.  Prior to going to bed, you spent an hour in the hot tub and sauna to raise your body temperature as much as possible.  If anything were left touching ice during the night it would be stuck to the ground by morning.  I slept pretty well other than my nose and toes being cold the entire night.  You can see below some of the pictures I took.  It was definitely the experience of a lifetime!

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YITS,

-Haley

Blogging from Brooklyn

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This semester I decided to go on a little adventure and co-op in NYC! Starting in January I moved to the one and only Brooklyn and moved into a dorm with other college students around the city including 9 other Northeastern students.  With only a few familiar faces in the city and all my amazing sisters back in Boston it was quite the transition.  However, I quickly adjusted and have met some amazing people!  I was able to call up Emily Daniel, a fellow Phi Gamma, who lived across town whenever needed and reached out to Phi Eta Alumi, Anna Sorsher and Simona Sudit! Anna and I grabbed dinner on the lower east side and Simona and I are still trying week to week to find a time to get together

I’ve also reached out to our Alpha chapter at NYU and hopefully I’ll be able to stop by one of their chapter meetings soon (hopefully with Anna!) and meet some fellow local sisters!  Even though I feel far away from my sisters I’ve been able to reconnect with old friends and make plenty of new ones! Take a look at some of the great places and sights I’ve seen since I’ve been here! I’ve already been able to see Cathleen Mathew and Suzie Molino in the city – who will be next?!

xoxo Mary

Deephers Take to Cancun for Spring Break

For Spring Break this year, three other sisters and I decided to go to Mexico. It was my first time out of the country and it was wonderful. The beach was gorgeous and we even went swimming with dolphins on the Isle de Mujeres one day! We took a bike ride and looked at and played with a bunch of turtles too! Check out our pictures below!

YITS!

Melissa

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Deepher’s Alternative Spring Break

For the second year in a row I’ve been fortunate enough to spend my spring break traveling through the Alternative Spring Break program at Northeastern. Last year I went to New Orleans to work with children who were affected by Hurricane Katrina and help renovate their community space. It just happened to be Mardi Gras when we were there too. This year I went to rural Jamaica where I worked with three, four, and five year olds. We each had to plan a lesson plan for the week and implement the activity with each respective age group. For the teachers this was the first break they’ve gotten in a long time! They were so appreciative of the work we did during the week that they even wrote and performed an original song for us. We also did fun activities too like a boat tour where we saw crocodiles and dolphins and got in some beach time.

 ASB trips are unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It’s not just about volunteering but experiencing the culture of a different part of the world to the fullest. You live, eat, hang out, and interact with local people in their neighborhoods and communities. Most of the places are located off the beaten path and far away from tourists. I think the ASB trips are something everyone should try to do at least once during their time at Northeastern!

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-Greer

Tags: alternative spring break, deepher, DPhiE, Jamaica, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Northeastern, trip

Deepher’s Spring Break in New York

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Since I’m pretty poor right now (I can’t wait for co-op!!) this Spring Break I went home to New York.  Originally I thought it would be pretty lame, just hanging out at home while none of my friends were home, my parents worked, and my siblings went to school.  Well it actually turned out to not be not so bad.  My 97 year old great grandmother had decided to move to Hawaii to live with her daughter after my grandmother (her main caretaker) recently passed away.  So we threw her a luau because a woman who decides at the age of 97 that she wants to move to the island of Hawaii deserves to go out with a bang.  Her friends and family wished her goodbye and it was really adorable.  I can only hope I’m as adventurous as she is in my old age.

Then later in the week my Dad took the day off and he took my brother and me to Ellis Island.  It was the perfect day to do something touristy, 70 degrees in March, the place was empty!  We parked in Jersey city where I took a cool picture of the NYC skyline.  The tallest building in the middle is the Freedom Tower, the building they are building to replace the Twin Towers.  Then we had to go through security to get on the ferry.  The security was as intense as airports where you have to take off your shoes and go through the metal detectors.  I had brought my back pack which I put through the machine that scans your bags and they confiscated my mace, forgot it was in my bag..woops!  After that mishap we took the 10 min ferry ride to Ellis Island which I hadn’t been to since a field trip in the 2nd grade.  I love history so I was extremely excited.  We walked through the huge room where thousands of immigrants waited in line to be granted entrance into the United States.  We looked into the rooms where immigrants were quarantined if they had an illness.  Could you imagine being on a ship for weeks to get to the U.S. only to be quarantined and most likely sent back to where you came from because you were sick??  Then we went through another room where you can see artifacts that people brought with them.  It was so cool to see so many objects from all different cultures.  I don’t think I’m alone in thinking baby shoes are absolutely adorable, well they had about 7 different pairs of baby shoes lined up in a case to show the varied cultures that came through Ellis Island.  The exhibits were really cool but the part I liked the most was going to see the Wall of Honor.  Both of my great grandparents emigrated from the former Yugoslavia, present day Croatia and I found their names of the wall and took some pictures.

Overall it ended up being a pretty fun Spring Break!  I learned of the adventures my great grandparents embarked on in their young age to get to this country while I also got to see my great grandmother off as she started a new adventure at the age of 97!

Yitss,

Carol

Tags: deepher, Ellis Island, Hawaii, Home, New York, Spring Break

Deepher Co-ops in Thailand

I have now been in Thailand for 8 weeks, and am finally beginning to feel right at home! I have been to Thailand before, when I was in high school, and it was love at first sight. I fell in love with the culture, the people, the food, the beauty of it all. I knew I had to come back, and here I am three years later. I am currently doing my first co-op in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is the northernmost point of Thailand and is located right on the border of Burma (Myanmar).

I am working at a Thai NGO called Development Education Programme for Daughters and Communities (DEPDC). It is an AMAZING organization that deals mostly with the prevention of human trafficking, but also a little bit with the rehabilitation aspect of former sex workers. I work mostly at the Half Day School teaching English to 1st to 6th graders. The students come from many different backgrounds, but I would say that around half of our students are stateless. A stateless person is someone that is not considered to be a citizen of any country, which means that these kids are some of the most vulnerable to being trafficked in the world.

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I am really enjoying my time here in Thailand and am learning more than I ever imagined. I have gotten the opportunity to see the inner workings of an NGO, and I have gotten to work with at risk youth (who all have their own incredible story to tell). I have also gotten to learn two new things that I never thought I would have the opportunity to; I have gotten to learn how to speak Thai and I have learned how to drive my very own motorbike! I cannot wait to see what Thailand has in store for me in these upcoming months!

YITS to all my lovely sisters! Miss yall!
- Ali

Tags: Burma, Coop, culture, deepher, DEPDC, NGO, Thailand