Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
And so begins a rainy reading week. However, for the bold explorer willing to splosh his or her way to a train station or support fellow Swatties by attending on-campus arts and culture events, the week is full of study breaks.
Tonight at 8, the Swarthmore College Chorus Concert begins, the program being Bach’s “St. John Passion.” At 9 tonight, Boy Meets Tractor will be performing in Sci 101 for their last show of the season and both tonight at 7 and tomorrow at 8 you can watch the Senior Dance Concert in LPAC.
Don’t forget to stop by the List this weekend to see Linda Huang and Sara Haley’s Senior Art Exhibits, the reception for which is at 4 pm today. You can also catch Directing II’s Night of Scenes running nightly from Sunday through Tuesday in the Frear Ensemble Theater. On Sunday at 8 pm you can watch Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame” beginning at 8 pm, as directed by Jesse Paulsen, followed by Jean Genet’s “The Maids,” directed by Louis Jargow ’10.
Though it may be rainy, there are plenty of things to do in the city this weekend ,such as listen to live bossa nova at the Tin Angel, catch a performance of “Romeo and Juliet” for the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, or listen to Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, also known as the “Symphony of a Thousand,” at the Kimmel Center.
Other rainy day favorites include watching a movie at the Ritz at the Bourse (a little south of Old City). Their current films include “Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)” about a boy’s journey across the US/Mexican border to find his mother, and “The First Saturday in May,” following six trainers preparing for the 2006 Kentucky Derby and documenting the story of the beloved racehorse Barbaro.
Finally, one of the best things to do on a rainy day is check out a museum. In addition to the big ones like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Franklin Institute, there are more obscure museums equally worth visiting. Philly has its own Insectarium, Shoe Museum, and Museum of Mourning Art. There are also beloved smaller museums like the Rodin (best for sunny days), the Mutter Museum (full of curiosities and abnormal body parts), the Barnes (best if you have a car and a talkative art history major), the Betsy Ross House (best for flag-lovers), the Edgar Allan Poe Historical site (nevermore), and Waynesborough (best for history buffs- home of General “Mad Anthony” Wayne.)