No Avocados or Peanut Butter in the UK??

This morning I had an avocado for breakfast, my last avocado for three whole months. According to this Buzzfeed Article, the UK does not have avocados or peanut butter!! Fun fact about me: I love food more than anything else. Guess what two of my favorite foods are? Avocados and peanut butter!! This is a very serious matter, a matter my friend Peter and I think might interest the Queen! She should be aware that her people need her to rescue the avocado and peanut butter and make their lives better by providing them with these goods! Convincing argument, huh? I was freaking out to my friend Emily Mamula, whose family is very British. She assured me that the Buzzfeed article was incorrect and that peanut butter does exist in England, so I will go on a mission to seek the peanut butter when I arrive in London tomorrow morning!

I am currently a junior studying Electrical and Computer Engineering at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts, USA. This fall semester, I will take a break from engineering to study theatre and performance at Goldsmiths in London, UK!

My backstory is when I was in high school, I was confident I was going to study performing arts in college. My sophomore year of high school, I enrolled in a computer science course to fill my schedule. I was honestly planning to blow off the course, but instead I was so intrigued! I was blown away by the logic and power of computer science! The labs were...actually really fun.  Everything I thought I wanted--the stage, the acting, the dancing, the storytelling, the fame--was now in question. Under some encouragement, I applied to a handful of engineering colleges but most of them were too boringly rigid for my taste. My high school counselor recommended Olin. Candidate’s weekend can best be described as a huge bundle of energy emanating from everyone and everything in the space, this energy carried me and my fellow candidates to complete the task of designing a solution to the proposed challenge. The experience was electrifying awesome; not only did they blast all of my favorite songs while we worked, but I felt like my creativity and imagination were in full swing and in full demand to design a solution!

Figure 1: I co-directed a cheesy rock musical,
Xanadu, in the fall 2015.
Photocredz: Jessica Diller. 

I chose Olin because I felt that, at Olin, I could take my creativity from the stage to the classroom. My homework included real people problems! Plus, engineering is pretty awesome! I thought being involved with Olin's Franklin W. Olin Players (FWOP) would quench my thirst for performance drama. 

Figure 2: Me and most of our Xanadu actors.

Photocredz: Jessica Diller

Uuhhh I tried, I really did, but I wanted more plays and different literature. Plus, I never had the time to be in all of the shows I wanted to be in or balance FWOP and my classes particularly well because an engineering curriculum has strenuous courses. I had the crazy thought to take a semester off from engineering and study theatre in London. While Shakespeare causes all of my friends to drool in their sleep, Shakespeare's wit causes me to drool with admiration. London is one of the best hubs for theatre and I am so excited!

It will take a lot of effort, but I am willing to live without avocados and peanut butter at every meal for an entire semester. I will just explore more food options! I am so excited because theatre will be my homework and my class work! I will be taking three drama classes:

--Acting in London
--Space-Body-Spectator
--London Theatre

And a computer science class, of course:
--Artificial Intelligence

I also plan to attend every show possible and eat as much authentic food as possible! Keep reading my blog and I will keep updating you about my food, shows I've seen, and my adventures! Plus, don’t you want to know if England has peanut butter??

If you have any thoughts about my blog post, please feel free to reach me at alvarado.casey@gmail.com! I would love to hear from you!

Until next time, friends!