Al-Qaida’s branching out and transformation into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL), its capture of vast territories, its declaration of an Islamic Caliphate, and its vow to conquer lands beyond the Middle East threaten the lives and the way of life of present-day Muslims and non-Muslims alike in Syria, Iraq, and much beyond. Today, al-Qaida no longer aims to advance a limited political program, such as ousting Western military presence in the Middle East. Instead, it seeks to re-Islamize the Muslim World according to Wahhābī doctrine by regulating the lives of Muslims and their relationship to non-Muslims in a manner that conforms to Muslim scriptures. By merging modern-day underdogs’ quest for recognition and power with Wahhābī doctrine, al-Qaida aims to preside over a rich concentration of human resources in the Middle East and direct it towards an ambitious political program: to revive the recurring ancient notion of a powerful Muslim empire, one that is free from non-Muslim political, social, and cultural influence.

The rise of al-Qaida cannot be stemmed by military means alone. Because of the increasing popularity of al-Qaida’s ideology among Muslim youth in the Middle East and worldwide, understanding the organization’s origins is necessary if secular political forces are to succeed in mitigating its rising tide. Al-Qaida’s Wahhābī doctrine has gained significant ground among the Muslim masses, to the extent that in today’s Syria, the vast majority of the foreign and domestic rebel groups adhere to it, whether they organizationally belong to al-Qaida, its daughter ISIL, or rival organizations that Western propaganda outlets have dubbed “moderate,” such as the Army of Islam or the Free Islamic Levant, or numerous other Salafi jihadi groups.

The fight against al-Qaida must be coupled with sponsoring re-education programs within Muslim communities globally to challenge the hegemony of dogmatic religious thinking over all aspects of life and to revise hate-generating and violence-inspiring scriptures.

If the Muslim masses worldwide remain unpersuaded that the Saudi-sponsored terror-producing Wahhābī doctrine provides bad solutions to their needs, the other regions of the world will continue to coexist for a prolonged period with a Middle East ruled either by secular authoritarian police states, or by their tyrannical religious alternative, and thereby suffer the spillover effects of those regimes beyond the territories where they rule.

Mark Tomass, Ph.D.

Mark Tomass, Ph.D., is Adjunct Professor at Harvard University. Professor Tomass’s research work focuses on monetary and credit crises, civil conflict in the Middle East, and organized crime. His current work on civil conflict draws from his experience as a native of Syria and his scholarship while a research fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, including the publications Religious Identity, Informal Institutions, and the Nation States of the Near East, Game Theory Models with Instrumentally Irrational Players: A Case Study of Civil War and Sectarian Cleansing, and his forthcoming book entitled: “The Religious Roots of the Syrian Conflict: The Remaking of the Fertile Crescent.” His book employs economic concepts that highlight the role of political entrepreneurs in the formation of the religious map of the Middle East and the civil conflicts they have generated. Professor Tomass obtained his doctoral degree in monetary economics in 1991 at Northeastern University. He has taught Money and Banking, International Trade and Finance, and Comparative Economic Systems in various U.S. and international universities and business schools, including Harvard University, Babson College, the University of New York in Prague and Masaryk

While I was in graduate school, a wise writing professor told me that a writing life and a writing career are not the same. The writing career is the publishing and business end of things: the time-consuming submissions to literary journals, the building of a platform, the seeking of an agent, and so forth. The writing life is something more personal and, as I have discovered after more years of writing, much more important.

A writing life is as it sounds: a life centered on and fueled by writing and all the observing, thinking, and listening that go with it. It’s where writing and revision happen, where you feel the rush of finding the right metaphor or the thrill of nailing a bit of dialogue perfectly. Even if I rarely publish, if I never have a “real” writing career in terms of book sales or awards, I will always have my writing life—that is, as long as I nurture it.

How do writers nurture their writing lives? By writing often, of course, but also by gathering experiences. Good writing depends on keen insight, vivid descriptions, and a rendering of the human condition that is engaging and moving. A trip to a foreign country, for example, can provide a basis for settings and characters for fiction writers. Meeting new people and hearing their life stories can spark ideas for an essayist. For poets, the sounds, smells, and sights of a natural landscape can inspire a new work. Sometimes experiences yield results right away, and others appear in work years later.

It’s also important to interact with other writers. Responding to someone else’s work can motivate you to improve your own, and fellow writers also give much-needed encouragement when the going gets tough. Try making your writing life a priority by setting aside writing time every day or every week, with a strict “no interruptions” policy. Finally, read! Reading is one of the most powerful ways to nurture the writing life. Musicians listen to music, chefs eat at restaurants, painters visit art galleries—all to find new ideas and techniques to incorporate into their own work. Writers are no different.

Writers often hope that a vibrant writing life will yield a successful writing career: a book, a collection of short stories, a teaching job. I’ve been blessed to make some headway in that respect recently: my essay “Greyhound” won the 2016 Payton James Freeman Essay Prize and appeared in The Rumpus. I’ll travel to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, in February for a reading of the essay. But the career should not be the goal, my professor urged. A successful writing life, one that includes steady writing and experiences to fuel it, will make a true writer feel fulfilled.

Stephanie Anderson

Stephanie Anderson holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction from Florida Atlantic University. Her work has appeared in Devil’s Lake, The Chronicle Review, SCOPE Magazine, and Farm and Ranch Living. Stephanie has taught undergraduate creative writing and composition courses at Florida Atlantic University, and her awards include the Aisling Award in Nonfiction from Coastlines literary magazine, the College of Arts and Letters Advisory Board Student Award, and the Swann Scholarship. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In 1955, my Cornell undergraduate advisor loaned me Carl Engelmann’s 1909 Blind Vertebrates of North America.  It included microscopic eye anatomy of all the swamp, spring, and cave species in the fish family Amblyopsidae.  I read it cover to cover in one day.  I immediately decided that I wanted to study all aspects of the evolutionary adaptation of the family for my Doctoral Dissertation at University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

Based on the evolutionary trends, I documented, for the three known obligate cave Amblyopsids I predicted in my 1961 Dissertation, what an even more cave-adapted species would look like and why.  Sometime in the late ’60s, I received an anonymous letter with a photo of a white cavefish.  The only writing was,”Is this what you predicted?”  It was!  I figured out who my compatriots were and helped them study preserved specimens.  In 1974, they published a formal description of this new species in peer-reviewed literature.  They named it Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni in my honor!

Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni

But the very best was yet to come.  After years of trying to arrange a visit to its only habitat, Key Cave, I finally got to see my namesake up close and personal.  On Election Day 2008, a colleague snorkeled to net a fish and passed it to me in a plastic bag.  I whooped, clapped, hollered, and stamped in excitement and glee!  We took three specimens just outside the cave where I studied them in an aquarium and Dr. Dante Fenolio photographed them in his special mini aquarium.  Then we returned them to the cave.  Attached is Dante’s image of a 65mm adult.  Note its relatively huge head and ridges of water-motion detecting sense organs.

By yet another serendipity, FAU Jupiter has hired Dr. Alex Keene, who uses state-of-the-art molecular and neurophysiological methods to study Mexican cavefish.  He and his graduate students and I have had several meetings to decide which of his methods would provide the greatest new insights into the evolution of Amblyopsid cavefish.  I am really excited that this March we will start studies of sleep that will complement my original studies of circadian rhythms and activity levels.

Dr. Tom Poulson

Tom Poulson, Ph.D., taught at Yale, Notre Dame and the University of Illinois – Chicago. He uses his award-winning style of interactive teaching which includes voting, demonstrations, doggerel and cartoons. Past LLS students speak of his unbridled and contagious enthusiasm, stimulation of thought and imagination and integration of humor with science.

John Feinstein

On February 23 at 7 p.m., John Feinstein, an award-winning columnist and one of the nation’s most successful and prolific sports authors, will give a one-time lecture at FAU’s Lifelong Learning Society in Jupiter.

Feinstein has written over two dozen books to date including the bestselling A Good Walk Spoiled and A Season on the Brink. A Good Walk Spoiled is about a year on the PGA Tour as told through the stories of 17 players. A Season on the Brink chronicles a year in the life of the Indiana University basketball team and its coach, Bob Knight.

Feinstein’s book Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story was released in 2004 and is about the life and final days of Tom Watson’s caddy, Bruce Edwards, who was diagnosed with ALS. Feinstein and long-time friend Terry Hanson engaged the William Morris Agency and commissioned a screenplay in conjunction with Matt Damon’s and Ben Affleck’s production company, Live Planet. In 2010, Caddy for Life was produced in documentary format for the Golf Channel.

Feinstein has also written a sports-mystery series for young adults in which main characters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are reporting on major sporting events including the Final Four, the U.S. Open, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Army-Navy Game and the Summer Olympics. These are just a few. He currently has written 35 books.

John Feinstein does even more than just write books! In addition to hosting a radio show on CBS Sports Radio, he writes for the Washington Post, and is a regular commentator on the Golf Channel. A Season on the Brink was adapted to film and starred Brian Dennehy in the role of Bob Knight. During its original airing on ESPN on March 10, 2002, the film was presented uncensored for profanity, while a censored version was simulcast on ESPN2. It was released to DVD later in 2002.

A man of many talents, Feinstein’s presentation at LLS will delve into his personal stories about some of the world’s most favorite sports figures, along with his time spent with an NFL team and his chronicling of two Hall of Famers: Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina.

A book signing will follow the lecture and a special thank you to Felice and Ken Hassan for sponsoring the event.

Kami Barrett-Batchelder

Kami Barrett is the Associate Director of the Lifelong Learning Society in Jupiter and is responsible for public relations and community outreach. She received a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and English from Florida State University and a Master of Arts in communication and a Master of Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University. She has worked for the Lifelong Learning Society in Jupiter for more than eight years and is the Palm Beach chapter  past president of the Public Relations Society of America.

By Sandi Page, LLS Student, Volunteer, and Member of the LLS Jupiter Marketing Committee

Our spotlight this week is on Dr. Taylor Hagood, Associate Professor of American Literature at Florida Atlantic University.   In the interest of full disclosure, Dr. Hagood is my favorite professor at FAU/LLS so I was particularly delighted to be asked to interview him.

1. Why did you choose to become an English professor?  Did you ever consider a completely different career path?

I have been involved in the arts and humanities throughout my life. As an undergraduate, I seriously considered majoring in philosophy or history instead of English, but the study of literature consistently won me because it contained these other subjects. Since I love to write and read more than anything else, it made sense to pursue a career as an English professor and scholar. I should add, too, that I enjoy the performative aspect of teaching. All of that said, I have always been very interested in art and music, and considered pursuing careers in those directions.

2. You have the gift, during your lectures, of putting yourself so completely into the time period, life, environment and mindset of your subject that you appear to be speaking to your audience as a member of your subject’s close entourage…..and you speak about them for an hour and a half without notes. How do you prepare yourself for giving such a lecture?

This is really a great question. I do not know exactly how other lecturers do things, but for me, the preparation for LLS lectures is intense. Obviously, it is important to know the subject as well as possible. I always read and/or reread everything I can. The reading and knowing is just the starting point though. Equally important is deciding how to present the material in a way that not only gets the point across but hopefully resonates on larger levels. The narrative and the emotions and significance of the subject are crucial, since anyone can go and read the facts on the subject. My goal is to try and create an experience that will be interesting and informative and make people both think and feel. I spend a great deal of time trying to think about what the world looked like to the writers I discuss, how readers of their works interfaced with their moment, and so on. It is very important to find the correct proportions for the points I want to make. At the same time, it is important to include some space in the presentation for spontaneity because my experience with LLS has been that any number of things will probably happen during that hour and a half that I cannot anticipate in any way. For example, while I try to anticipate questions, there are always one or two I do not expect. More than in any other setting I have ever been in, LLS requires complete focus and sharpness, and if it is not there, everything runs a great risk of falling flat.

3. How young were you when you discovered your love of books? What was your favorite book as a child?  As an adult?

My father taught me to read when I was very young, probably three or four years old. He decided to build my vocabulary, also; I especially remember learning the word “metamorphosis.”  I read the kinds of books most elementary school children read but also was interested in others beyond what most of my peers were reading. I tackled Dickens’s David Copperfield in second grade. It is difficult to pick one book as a favorite either now or at any time of my life. As a child, I was probably most influenced by Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. One of my very favorite books as an adult is Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. On any given day, my list of favorites would also include Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the stories of Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty’s The Robber Bridegroom, Shakespeare’s King Henry IV, part 1, and the poetry of John Keats and James Wright. I also happen to enjoy the mystery novels of Donna Leon, and lately I have been reading the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova.

4. You are currently giving an 8-week series of lectures at FAU/LLS Jupiter on “The Harlem Renaissance” and you wrote a book titled Secrecy, Magic, and the One-Act Plays of Harlem Renaissance Women Writers. What sparked your interest in the Harlem Renaissance?

I first got interested in the movement through its music—Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and others. As a teenager, an English teacher read to my class Langston Hughes’s poem “The Weary Blues,” which embodied that music. Then I read Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and thought it one of the most beautiful novels ever. When I encountered the one-act plays of women writers as a graduate student, I was hooked. I then began to read issues of Crisis and Opportunity magazines, which were major outlets of the moment, and deepened my reading of fiction and poetry.

5. You and I have spoken together in French so I know you speak at least one foreign language. Are there any other foreign languages that you can converse in?

I love languages very much. I am somewhat fluent in German (some days better than others), and I can converse in Italian on a limited basis. I know a little Spanish. I know a smattering of Czech, Ukrainian, and Hungarian but would not want to have to talk my way out of a tense situation in any of those languages. If I had all the time in the world, I would probably try to learn as many languages as possible, starting, probably, with Icelandic, since I love Icelandic sagas and would love to be able to read them in the original.

6. You are often invited to lecture abroad. How do foreign students respond to your Southern accent?

Well, my accent is a pretty complicated mix, and it seems to throw most people of any place I encounter for the first time. Most of my students who are not native English speakers tell me they have difficulty understanding me at first.

7. What five famous people would you invite to a dinner party? What would you serve?

This is quite a question. If you mean five famous people of our own moment, then I guess Sophia Loren, Peyton Manning, Diane Lane, Robert Duvall, and Queen Elizabeth I. If you mean famous people of all time, then probably Rita Hayworth would be at the top of my list, followed by Claudia Cardinale, Cary Grant, Shaka Zulu, and Jimmie Rodgers. I would consider inviting Marcel Proust, but I suspect he would be too morose. As for what to serve, probably my mother’s fried turkey (and tofurkey for the vegetarians).

8. A few years back, you delighted and stunned both staff and students alike with your piano and singing skills during your glorious one-time event performance of the life and work of Jimmie Rodgers, an early blues/country/pop singer from Meridian, Mississippi. The whole evening represents one of my best memories at LLS. Can we ever look forward to such a treat again?

My reason for playing then was to try and make Rodgers’s music as immediate as possible. I’m not sure if I’ll do such a thing again.

9. How would you finish this sentence? What most people don’t know about me is

that I harbor an ambition to raise goats and make and market goat cheese.

10. You have also written three books about William Faulkner: Faulkner’s Imperialism:  Space, Place and the Materiality of Myth (2008), Faulkner, Writer of Disability (2014) and Critical Insights, The Sound and the Fury (2014).   How do you explain many readers’ complaints that his books are difficult, even tedious, to read?   When Faulkner was the first writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia in the late 1950s, he was known as a notorious drinker in Charlottesville, and such stories had followed him throughout his career.  What effect do you think that alcohol had on his writing?

Faulkner is indeed very difficult, as are many other Modernist writers. The reader must approach his work on the writer’s terms. I’m not sure this reader-writer situation has ever been one congenial to most readers, but I suspect it is less so now than ever in a moment when media is generally keyed to niches and to pleasing the reader’s desires. It is not my understanding that Faulkner ever wrote while intoxicated, although he was known to go on binges when he would finish a novel.

11. In researching for this interview, I checked the website “Rate My Professors” for undergraduate students at FAU. You received high grades for your great intellect, your course content and your helpfulness to students.  You were ALSO rated “Red Hot Chili Pepper” in the “Hotness” department?  Care to comment????!!

Ha ha, well, if someone felt strongly enough to go onto the website and write something positive about me, I appreciate that very much.

12. What has surprised you most about the students you teach at FAU Lifelong Learning?

I love to hear about the experiences of the patrons of LLS—the people they’ve known, the places they have been, their careers. There have been many interesting surprises along the way. 

Dr. Hagood is currently presenting a series of lectures on “The Harlem Renaissance” at LLS Jupiter (Mondays, 1:30-3:00 p.m., January 11, 25, February 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, March 7).  A book signing event will follow his lecture on Monday, January 25, 2016.  His latest books Undead Souths (2015) and Faulkner, Writer of Disability (2014) will be available for purchase.

Taylor Hagood, Ph.D.

Taylor Hagood, Ph.D., is the 2013-2014 Lifelong Learning Society Distinguished Professor of Arts and Letters and Associate Professor of American Literature at FAU.  Receiving his Ph.D. in United States Literature and Culture from the University of Mississippi, where he was the Frances Bell McCool Fellow in Faulkner Studies, Professor Hagood has authored five books (see interview for titles).  In 2009-2010, he was a Fulbright Professor in the Amerika Institut at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany, and he was awarded the 2010-2011 Scholar of the Year Award at the Assistant Professor level.

It is a curious fact that Great Britain – famous for the stability of its political system – does not have a written constitution.  Furthermore, British leaders treat the very idea of a written constitution with disdain verging on contempt.

However, Great Britain does have a Constitution which is referred to frequently.  By their Constitution, the British mean the unstated assumption that Great Britain is implicitly governed by three separate entities, each with its own traditional powers.

With canny and almost perverse wisdom, the British have instinctively appreciated that written Constitutions are fictional devices that in no way impede or prevent anything from happening.  They allow everything.  That is the true essence of a written constitution.

The Soviet Union had a written constitution more glorious and democratic than anything our cynical Founding Fathers would have conceived.  Yet it allowed and provided cover for the enforced starvation of eight million people – men, women, and children.  It also gave a legal basis for the murder of millions in forced labor camps.

The universally celebrated American Constitution, augmented by amendments, and interpreted by the Supreme Court, has allowed social changes in areas that would have confounded, appalled, and repelled its original authors.  We are entering a period in which factionalism, irrationality, and declamations have replaced what was once called “reasoned thought” or “rational thinking.”

The two most powerful stylists of English prose this nation has ever produced both grew up in extreme poverty – one on the Virginia frontier, the other in Illinois.  With limited formal education, each had the ability of re-reading the same book, over and over again, as they had only a few books in boyhood.  In the case of John Marshall, it was John Dryden’s poetry, then the most beloved of English poets.  Lincoln had six books, which included Pilgrim’s Progress and Aesop’s Fables.

Armed with their memorized familiarity with those works, these men achieved the two highest positions in the United States.  Relying entirely on a foundation of English prose and prosody, each made of the American Constitution the document he wanted it to be.

Benito Rakower, Ed.D., was educated at Queens College and Harvard University, where he received a doctorate in the teaching of English. Before getting his degree at Harvard, Professor Rakower was trained professionally at the piano in German Baroque and French repertoire. This semester Dr. Rakower is teaching a course, “Against the Grain: Ordinary Beginnings With Extraorinary Outcomes,” which will begin on Friday, Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m.

What a great semester we have ahead of us!  To serve the interests of our 7800+ members, we’re offering over 57 enticing courses and lectures this semester. I would like to thank our staff, curriculum committee, and all of the volunteers who assisted us with selecting classes and instructors.

I’m also pleased to welcome back our long-standing faculty members who have attained the highest praises from our members. Our veteran faculty members will once again provide a vast array of subjects for each of your interests.

Brian Balogh, Ph.D.

This semester, we have added new lecturers in the areas of health, history, science and sports. I hope you will join us for “Shopper-in-Chief: Presidential Leadership in America’s ‘Consumer’s Republic’” for a look into how historians, starting with post-World War II American society, have chronicled how an individual’s identity has shifted from an emphasis on production to a fascination with consumption. This lecture will take place on February 16 at 9 a.m. with visiting professor Dr. Brian Balogh from the University of Virginia.

On that same day, we will have Dr. Bennet Omalu, the first doctor to diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in NFL athletes, at 7 p.m. The movie Concussion, based on Dr. Omalu’s discovery of this disease, was released on December 25, 2015.  We will also have renowned sports commentator and author, John Feinstein, who will join us for a discussion on sports on February 23 at 7 p.m.

Thomas Bannister, Ph.D.

Lastly, Dr. Bannister will explain where we are on the “War on Cancer” with his lecture, “Winning the War on Cancer: New Ideas and New Approaches for Eliminating ‘The Emperor of All Maladies,’” on March 9 at 10 a.m.

This is just a taste of what the winter catalog has to offer. I predict it will be difficult to choose from so many lectures and classes. I anticipate an exciting semester.

Welcome back to school!

Josette Valenza

Lifelong Learning Society Director

2015 is drawing to a close and we’ll soon be singing “Auld Lang Syne.” As we look back and count our blessings, I know one of the things I am so grateful for is the high quality of our professors and the courses and lectures available to us this past year at FAU Jupiter Lifelong Learning Society. Another blessing has been the old friends I have made here at LLS and the new friends I continue to make through attending classes and LLS volunteer activities. I don’t know of a better way to maintain an old friendship or to make a new friend than by inviting a fellow student to lunch before, between or after LLS lectures or events.

Abacoa Golf Club

We are lucky to have such a wide variety of international dining choices available close to the LLS campus here in Abacoa. Let’s start off with the Abacoa Golf Club restaurant and its ample, free parking. Generous servings, with most lunch entrées around $10, fast service and a spectacular dining view, all presided over by the kind and very efficient Clubhouse Manager Kris P. Koerber. If you’re lucky enough to have lunch there before the gorgeous Christmas greenery and decorations come down, you’re in for even more of a treat. They also have a Happy Hour from 3:30 to sunset with complimentary hors d’oeuvres. No dinner service but open 7 days a week for lunch.
Abacoa Golf Club Restaurant
105 Barbados Drive
Jupiter, FL 33458
Tel: (561)622-0036

Interior of Le Metro Neighborhood Bistro

Our second choice is Le Metro Neighborhood Bistro, run by the charming Mary Ellen with her husband Christian Alunno, an international French chef from Nice, in the kitchen. Having lived in Paris for 25 years, I can attest to the excellence of the cuisine at Le Metro. For smaller appetites, they have a $6.99 Lunch Special available featuring quiches, deli sandwiches, salade niçoise, cheeseburger sliders w/fries, flatbreads, soups, tuna melts, mussels, etc. Their regular and quite varied lunch menu includes many French specialties. The Early Bird dinner special is not to be missed, either. For $19.95 pp, they offer an appetizer, main course, dessert and a beverage. Lots of special culinary events scheduled throughout the year and, of course, Happy Hour available most days. Check their website for hours and details.
Le Metro Neighborhood Bistro
Abacoa Town Center
1155 Main Street, #120
Jupiter, FL 33458
Tel: (561)429-5464

The CopaCabana Restaurant

For those of you who may have been inspired by our recent blog post on Cuba to take a trip there, why not try out some Cuban cuisine while making your travel plans? The CopaCabana is a family restaurant owned and operated by Gustavo and Marion Garcia. Their lunch menu offers tasty beef, chicken or pork traditional entrées as well as a well-thought out offering of sandwiches with a Cuban twist. With the exception of their Churrasco at $11.95, everything on the lunch menu is under $10. Live music and dancing on Friday and Saturday night.
CopaCabana
Abacoa Town Center
1209 Main Street, #101
Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561)360-3378

Interior of Nina’s Fresh Bakery

The latest gem in Abacoa’s culinary crown is the adorable Nina’s Fresh Bakery, run by Nina Tomasik, which has just opened its doors. Open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., it’s the perfect spot for an espresso and a delicious, home-made European breakfast pastry before those LLS morning classes! It’s also a great place for a quick lunch with their Panini sandwiches, salads and quiches. Homemade cakes, pies, tarts, brownies, cupcakes and cookies also available. Everything is made daily from scratch using natural ingredients and no preservatives. Indoor and outdoor seating.
Nina’s Fresh Bakery
Abacoa Town Center
1200 Town Center Drive, #110
Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561)508-7889

This may come as a surprise to many of you, but you can have lunch or dinner for a reasonable price right here on campus at the FAU Dining Hall, just a short walk from our LLS building. Hot lunch (choice of entrée) and salad bar from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and hot dinner (choice of entrée) with salad bar from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All self-service. Special rates are sometimes available, so mention that you are an FAU LLS student here on campus before paying.

Other Abacoa Town Center restaurants include Jumby Bay Island Grill, Costello’s Trattoria, Hokkaido Hibachi & Sushi, JJ Muggs Stadium Grill, and Das Biergarten.

Make it a New Year’s resolution to enjoy more lunch outings with friends!
MAKE NEW FRIENDS BUT KEEP THE OLD, ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER IS GOLD.

A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

Guest blogger Sandi Page is a LLS volunteer and student.