Wesley Coffee house- CLASS ASSIGNMENT

This article is an unpublished story that I wrote for my professor Dr. Bruce Garrison for his feature writing class in the fall of my junior year. The assignment was to write a "Color Story".


Teal walls and a hodgepodge of floor lamps backlit the dim make-shift stage. Four songwriters sat in a line with guitars, banjos and a piano with a large wooden cross in the back corner of the room.

Free coffee, tea and cookies lined the small tables on the perimeter of the room. The open door let in the evening breeze. People sat at gospel music sheet covered tables and mismatched chairs. The show was about to begin.

On Thursdays, the on-campus Wesley Methodist Center hosts a music night called the Wesley Coffee House. The campus ministry has featured students from the Frost School of Music. The event is free and there are also free refreshments. This coffee house night featured four student singer-songwriters, Natalie York, CJ Tywoniak, Ben Goldsmith and Tori Tullier. The students performed in a Nashville Round, meaning they all sang back up for each other’s original songs.

“This was my first time at the songwriter’s night,” said junior Sarah Thomas. “I liked it a lot. The great original songs reminded me of all the little bars and coffee shops back home in Nashville.”

Senior Frost School of Music student Tori Tullier looked ethereal in a white empire waist top and sang to a packed house “Waiting on a road that’s never met a footprint/and I’ll be there if you want a ride.”

“It was my first time performing at the Wesley Coffee House,” said Tullier. “I really enjoyed it because it was a smaller venue so it was more personal. I felt calm because I knew a lot of friends were in the audience.”

Friends caught up between songs and squished onto the circle of couches that was the impromptu front row. These were regulars and they know how to get the most out of the night.

“I always went last year,” said sophomore Dan Barnett. “I enjoy the music and atmosphere. It’s a good chance to play and meet other musicians.”

The music continued and the songwriters created a rapport with the crowd.

“Those homeless people really liked it so hope you guys do too,” joked senior Natalie York.

She was referring to a story about performing her “I Love You” song outside to no one but the local Miami homeless population.

The songs were received with great attention by the audience. The standing room only crowd was silent during the folksy renditions of the student’s original songs. Ben Goldsmith broke into a rendition of Tom Petty’s Free Falling, prompting the entire crowd to sing along, and Natalie York elicited laughs for her Flight of the Conchords inspired Sugar Lumps piece.

“I like the vibe, it’s down to earth,” said senior Maggie Debarberie. “You can talk or just listen, you can eat, do homework. You can come and go as you please.”

The music started at eight but people trickled in throughout the night. Some wore sweatpants and a University of Miami shirt while others were dressed up for a night on the town. Some people came with friends while others were by themselves leaning on the wall by the door absorbing the night. More students and locals came later on to watch the open mic portion of the Wesley coffee house.

“It’s great because it warms you up with their music,” said senior Amanda Miesnieks. “It [the coffee house] really encourages having people play your own music.”

The nervous students leave their guitar cases in the corners of the room and sign up on a single piece of notebook paper that’s tearing at the spiral edges.

After about an hour, the Nashville Round performance came to a conclusion and there was a short break. During the break everyone got up and some grabbed a M&M cookie while they socialized with the friends that were sitting on the other side of the room. The open mic performers started to get mentally prepared for their upcoming performance, nervously laughing with their friends. Some were regulars to the open mic while for others it was their first time.

“Here you get a chance to sit down lay back and soak in the talent of the Frost Music School,” said Barnett.

The coffee house was a great night for both the audience and the performers. The relaxing atmosphere was a great change to a usually hectic Thursday night.

“I would love to perform again,” said Tullier. “I'm so happy I was able to be a part of it. Miami isn't really known for being a songwriting town the way Nashville or Athens is, so it's nice to showcase the talent that we have in the school in a relaxed environment.”

Overflow housing forces students off campus

Sitting in a nearly empty shuttle, senior exchange student from Spain, Adrian Rebollal, rides over to campus to get dinner. The bus across U.S. 1 takes only five minutes and leaves him at Stanford Circle, ready to walk to the Mahoney-Pearson dining hall.

“I would love if they had a bridge across U.S. 1,” Rebollal said. “When you go walking it is so crowded.”

The Coral Gables Holiday Inn may be just across the street, but the hotel is a world away from the on-campus lifestyle.

Last semester’s housing lottery has had a significant effect on the on-campus population.

Many students who wanted to live on campus this year were not granted the opportunity- some got off the wait list and found rooms, some went off campus to the surrounding Coral Gables apartments and homes, while 30 other students, and the entire University of Miami Intensive English Program, are in limbo and are being housed at the Holiday Inn until a spot can open up.

“This is a little different use of the hotel as temporary overflow housing,” said Jon Baldessari, associate director of the Department of Housing and Residential Life. “There are early cancellations or people that don’t show up- we call them no shows. We can move those folks [at the hotel] onto campus pretty quickly. We never intended to keep people there longer than the end of September. Actually we are a little bit ahead of schedule.”

The students residing at the Holiday Inn are mainly transfer students and upperclassmen or a part of the UM Intensive English Program. The hotel rooms are split into double occupancy and the fees are comparable to the double-occupancy dorm rates. The residents also have an on-campus meal plan, although they have to cross U.S. 1 in order to use it.

This is not the first time that University of Miami students have been housed at the Coral Gables Holiday Inn.

In 2005, the university had almost 200 students residing at the hotel, Baldessari said. After 2005, the Department of Housing and Residential Life did not need overflow housing.

That all changed last year when the university decided to tear down the apartment area, thus eliminating dorm space and creating a housing lottery.

Despite not receiving accommodations on campus, students seem happy living at the Holiday Inn.

“I got a king size bed, my own shower, two TVs, a balcony,” said freshman Drew Doidge, a New Jersey local who currently resides at the Holiday Inn while taking part-time classes. “I got a pool. It’s awesome.”

The students also have maid service and access to room service, constant reminders that they are staying in a hotel and not in Eaton or the towers. The students can also use the hotel pool and the small fitness center.

Staying at the hotel, however, does not offer the connection to the rest of the university that living in the dorms provides.

“They seem to be getting kind of bored already around here,” said Edgar Morales, a manager on duty for the Coral Gables Holiday Inn.

Many students living at the hotel are students in the Intensive English program and are new to the campus lifestyle.

These students are international as well and are living in Miami and in the country for the first time.

By not being able to live in the dorms, the students may miss out on important information and activities, like pep rallies, on-campus movies and club meetings, further isolating them from the on-campus population.

“My only regret is that I’m not around what’s going on on campus,” Doidge said. “Everything I hear from my friends is about the dorms.”

Many of the students won’t have to wait long to become a part of campus life.

Once space opens up, the students will be moved into the residence halls. Students in the Intensive English program, however, may be housed in the Holiday Inn for the remainder of the program.

“Now they are going to move me to Mahoney, it’s nice,” Rebollal said. “I know everybody from the dorms, and everybody loves me in Pearson and Mahoney. I would like to have a better bed, a better room.”

This article was written for the news section of The Miami Hurricane, the University of Miami student newspaper. It was published on September 11, 2010.

Miami Spice: September event offers taste of Miami on a budget

Miami is a great city for the culinary world. International cuisine reigns supreme, and there are amazing restaurants in every neighborhood. These restaurants, however, are usually out of reach for a college budget.

For the month of September, however, that is all going to change: Miami Spice restaurant month is here.

A city-wide event organized by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Miami Spice will host dining opportunities until Sept. 30. The event offers three-course fixed-price meals at some of Miami’s best restaurants. The Miami Spice menu is only $22 for lunch and $35 for dinner.

“I think its a great opportunity for restaurants,” said Diego Orlando, executive chef at the Chart House in Coconut Grove, one of the restaurants offering a Miami Spice prix fixe menu. “We are still here and [we] get a relationship with the guest again.”

The event has over 100 restaurants participating, so patrons are sure to find one that will please their culinary palette.

“Miami is so diverse and there is a lot going on every night,” sophomore Dhrushti Desai said. “It’ll be great to try new restaurants.”

Miami Spice restaurant month is not just a great opportunity for the restauranteurs; it is also a great way to try new places on a shoestring budget.

“Since I was a freshman at UM, I have wondered where the best local places to eat are,” junior Dan Schoch said. “Miami Spice gives you all that information in one place.”

The Miami Hurricane has compiled a list of a few of the restaurants participating that students might not have heard about, but should definitely consider.

Mr. Chow- Located in the W hotel on Miami Beach, this is the fourth location of Mr. Chow. This restaurant was most recently awarded the 5-Star Diamond Award by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, so the food and service are excellent.

The Miami Spice menu is available Sunday through Thursday, and reservations are required. The three-course menu is served family style, with some of the selections being green prawns, steamed sea bass and Mr. Chow’s signature hand-pulled noodles.

Chart House- Located in the Coconut Grove Convention Center, the Chart House offers amazing views of the Dinner Key Marina and Biscayne Bay. This restaurant chain is located all over the United States and is known for its great seafood.

“Chart House really has everything I can ask for when going out for a nice meal,” senior Alex Fruin said. “The steaks are always cooked to perfection, the seafood is fresh. And the view, I don’t think you can find a better view than that. Not just in Miami, but anywhere.”

The Miami Spice menu is served for dinner Sunday through Thursday. The menu is filled with The Chart House’s biggest sellers, according to Orlando, and they will not disappoint. Try the Shrimp Fresca, Parmesan-crusted shrimp paired with angel hair pasta and lump crab meat, and then finish your meal with the Chart House’s famous mud pie. Reservations are required and can be made online.

La Palma Ristorante- If you are looking for a restaurant to host a perfect date night, then La Palma is the one for you. Housed in the historic La Palma building designed in 1924 by George Merrick, this Coral Gables restaurant has a tree-covered outdoor courtyard that would be perfect for that special anniversary dinner.

The Miami Spice menu is available for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner every night. The restaurant selected choices for everyone including NY strip steak, salmon and homemade pasta. Reservations are recommended and there is even local entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings.

“Make it a bargain,” said Laura Dutis, event coordinator for La Palma Ristorante. “That’s the deal for Miami Spice.”

This article was written for the entertainment section of The Miami Hurricane, the University of Miami student newspaper. It was published on September 11, 2010, and was the cover of the newspaper for that edition.