Florence and The CAS

During these 18 months I have learned and experienced a lot. I think one of the biggest challenges that nobody was expecting in the beginning was that a year of CAS would be spent in quarantine. Due to this many plans that we had changed, for example I debating tournaments could not be held anymore. However, this also created new opportunities and solutions, as well as forced us to often think outside the box. Suddenly more things were organized online, for example debating competitions or the animal rights faculty. I think finally making these new solutions was the biggest CAS experience I could get, even though it was never planned.

CAS also made me reach out and find new activities, for example voguing. In the beginning of IB1 I didn’t even know what vogueing was and going to my first class was really stressful, but later I even walked in a category at a ball. Another example was earring making, which is an activity I found to enjoy a lot and pursued further till now. Finally, CAS was one of the reasons for me to try a vegan diet and experimenting in the kitchen with new products, spices and recipes was something I didn’t do a lot before. It was so fulfilling when after a few tries I managed to make a recipe in a way that I could confidently say was really tasty. I am now almost a year vegan and discover new recipes and tastes every single day.

table in better quality: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wRXhJLYkfGN2mikLopxpLuM3Pd3s_bNh/view?usp=sharing

LO1: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/190632252397/121119-olga-t, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/644449882922483712/c-02022021-best-food-i-ever-made

LO2: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690660015636480/a-horse-riding-mazury, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690693698945025/c-making-earrings

LO3: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690566466895872/a-evening-walk, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/190641652862/11-120120

LO4: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690663834501120/a-horse-riding-mazury, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690687503007744/s-hippotherapy

LO5: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690464078708736/s-equality-run, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690491581743104/c-oldham-tournament-debating

LO6: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690696747155456/s-fridays-for-future, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/637662700932087808/as-protests

LO7: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/630690696747155456/s-fridays-for-future, https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/637662732659884032/cas-protests

Evidence of reflection on significant CAS experiences: 

C: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/188819671017/c-debating

A: https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/188786407567/activity-horse-riding-competition-date-5th

https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/637662743631183872/cas-project-part-1

https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/637662880936902656/cas-project-part-2

https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/637663984370237440/cas-project-part-3

https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/639023770286325760/cas-project-part-4

https://florenceandthecas.tumblr.com/post/639023859764445184/cas-project-part-5

Today I made risotto. I can’t say a lot about it, because I think the picture pretty much speaks for itself. It’s fun to make food from different cousins, as I tend to often drift more towards the asian kitchen, so it was nice to experiment with something else. Also, risotto is a dish, where butter and parmesan are usually very important, because they make it creamy, so it was a challenge to make it vegan and equally good, but i think I managed. The rice was soft, creamy and tasty.

The topic of animal shelters is a little different from the other meetings, because firstly we weren’t discussing a specific endangered species and secondly this is a problem that is way closer to us than the other. In most cases all we can do is raise awareness, however with animal shelters the solution is way closer. Maks told us about how we can visit animal shelters to help take dogs out or bring food and blankets. Even one visit helps a lot. It’s important to remember some issues are way closer than we would like them to see and help doesn’t always have to be grand. 

One of the things I’ve been wanting to make since the very beginning of being vegan were cinnamon rolls. It seemed very complicated, so I never quite got to it, but when I finally did today I realised it actually wasn’t that complicated. There was quite a lot of time necessary in between the steps for the dough to rise, but all in all it wasn’t that much effort. I’m glad I made these cinnamon rolls and priced to myself I really can eat and cook anything I want while still staying vegan. 

This week the AM meeting focused around minks and other fur animals and the fur industry, where animals are being brutally held only to later be killed for their fur. This is one of the topics that saddens me the most, because I don’t understand how people can actually wear animal’s fur, knowing in what conditions they were kept. It’s really hard to not see the individual responsibility in this case. I would definitely advocate for everyone to opt for faux fur, which is just as pretty, but doesn’t harm animals.

As you can already see by the title, this is the best food I have every made. I’m so excited, because I’ve been vegan for almost a year now and throughout this time it has been so much fun to experiment with different tastes, recipes, products and actually see improvement. I could not make food I’d enjoy this much a year ago and I think that’s really fun. I learned to prepare tofu, rice and cabbage (the main ingredients on this meal) in a way that I actually really enjoy eating it. While listening to the Animal Rights meetings I realised I have to do more for the planet on an individual level and I think being vegan does a lot, so I’m glad I can contribute in this way.

Today was my second time horse riding and I think this time, after the original shock of being back I can say a little more. Larry, my friend’s horse, is very different from Wiśnia, so it definitely takes time for me to adapt. However, I really like him and we get along very well. I’m lucky enough to still train with the same trainer, so at least that didn’t change. I know I will never join competitions anymore, and I won’t horse ride competitively anymore, but just riding is important for me now, to get over loosing my horse and keep more good memories. 

Between schoolwork and quarantine, there’s not a lot of time or places to go, and I feel that all the days are becoming one. I tried to change that and one of the ways has been making good food for myself, that I enjoy making and eating. These yeast pancakes are an example of the yummy breakfasts I make to make the start of my day just a little bit better. I enjoy being creative in the kitchen and adding different things every time or changing the recipe just a little to see how it will change the food.

The next Animal Rights meeting was about the gray wolf. It is another species that is endangered because of humans. Again I find it very upsetting that these are issues not many people know about and it makes me wonder what we could do to broadcast these informations on a larger scale. However for now it’s good that at least we can have a discussion about these problems. And personally it makes me reflect what can I do to protect the environment even a little more.

This soup is so easy and fast to make and it’s another thing that I’ve been making all the time lately. It’s most similar to ramen, but not exactly the same. It’s so easy to make because I use ready vegetable broth and add it to fried garlic, ginger, soy cause and peanut butter. Then most od the ingredients inside are cold, like paprika, and I just put the noodles in hot water earlier to make them soft. The peanut butter makes the soup delicious and I make it at least once a week. This might be a little far fetched, but meals like this remind me that not all the best things have to be complicated.

Lately one of the foods I’ve been making literally almost every day, and this is not an exaggeration, are spring rolls. They’re so easy and relatively fast to make. A few ingredients are constant, but mostly I always add different things. I always add rice noodles, cucumber, paprika and tofu. Sometimes I also add green beans, pak choi, avocado or other products. I usually eat them with soy sauce. I can easily say this is one of my favourite things to make now and I’m definitely doing to be making it more.