It was 10pm when I allowed myself to have dinner. I had been studying all day, getting up at 9:30am in the morning (which is way later than when my 8am alarm went off, but when you study until 1:30am the night before, getting up at 8 again is simply too unrealistic for a sleeper like me). While my stomach already started complaining at 7pm, I promised myself to finish at least one to-do list point before dinner. And so, there I finally stood in the kitchen, ready for a break.
The first three minutes of this break was spent staring at my kitchen cupboard. I already knew what I wanted to cook since my thoughts had started drifting off to a delicious three-course meal including truffle oil and parmesan. But maybe this wasn't the best idea. Especially considering that I still had quite some studying to do. Coming up with an alternative plan, after having thought about international trade law and how neo-colonialism affects the governing of natural parks, is far more challenging than it seems.
You want something easy and quick, something like pasta pesto. But you also don't want something so quick that your break ends before your brain has started working properly again, something like pasta pesto with additional cherry tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Student culinary at its finest.
As I was cutting my cherry tomatoes, my onions and garlic burned. But not to worry, after a few minutes I was back on track, staring into the pan, watching the onions sizzle and the tomatoes caramelize. Just at that moment, my roommate (also a UCM student) walked in to get another tea. The same blue rings under her eyes, tired from looking at a screen the whole day, unsure how to remain motivated for the last few hours. Or so I thought.
"Mid-term week, am I right?", I asked her, "How many deadlines do you have?"
"None, I just started a new Netflix show. You should watch it!"
Jesler van Houdt