By now you should be familiar with the weekly liquid nitrogen ice-cream socials the chemistry department holds during the summer. The time finally came for the Coleman Lab to dominate the competition and prove our superiority over the other research labs. The day before our scheduled ice cream hosting, we had a lab meeting and decided on two flavors inspired by “Jurassic World.” With Professor Coleman’s approval, a shopping list and cash in hand, we set out to purchase all the ingredients needed to make our delicious dinosaur themed frozen treat.
The next day we took over the chemistry kitchen and began making our ice creams. Our first flavor was aptly named Jurassic Swirl due to the globs of fudgy chocolate swirled into a sweet Dulce de leche ice cream topped off with a mountain of crushed Oreos. For our second flavor we decided on a fruity option named after the velociraptors in Jurassic World. Raptor Raspberry consisted of sweet mango chunks mixed in a classic vanilla ice cream covered in a “bloody” raspberry sauce. After mixing all of our ingredients together, Professor Coleman was able to retrieve the liquid nitrogen Dewar from the storage room and we began freezing our ice cream mix until we reached the perfect consistency.
When the clock inside the chemistry lounge struck 3:00 p.m., we opened the doors to allow all the students and professors in and grab a cup of their choice of ice cream. Jurassic Swirl was the clear favorite among our customers, running out only a few minutes after we opened. After five more minutes we ran out of Raptor Raspberry also. Many satisfied patrons expressed their love of our flavors and some even told us that our ice cream had been the best so far. The College of William and Mary admissions team even took a picture and posted about our liquid nitrogen ice cream!
While making liquid nitrogen ice cream was very fun, there was one part that kept the whole experience from being perfect. I was also missing the lunches that Professor Coleman would take us on each week. But Ramadan is nearing its end and the last ten days are the most important in the holy month, so I have been trying to stay strong.
It seems as if fasting went by much quicker here on campus than when I spend it back home with my family. It has been an interesting experience having to wake up in the early morning every day in Barrett to eat before the sun would rise. Sometimes I would see people also up at 4 am on a weekday and – knowing that they were probably not fasting – question whether they were making Tribe choices. However, Ramadan has gone by quickly, and I really enjoyed spending it here in Williamsburg. Time has flown by!
