Oakland is hammock city when sun's out in Pittsburgh

When Yasmine Zaky noticed the sea of colorful hammocks hanging between trees in front of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, she knew she needed one of her own.

“Seeing all these people (while I was) walking past here every day — I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I definitely need one,’ ” she said of her blue-and-gray hammock. “Plus, I’d been wanting one for a while.”

Zaky, 18, is an anthropology and Italian major at the University of Pittsburgh. She bought her hammock in the fall. She’s been trying to make the most out of it this spring when the temperature is warm.

She’s not alone. When temperatures rise, a sea of hammocks pop up along the green space in Oakland near the library. Most are occupied by college students.

“The weather’s just so beautiful, and I just couldn’t stand to be inside,” Zaky said, so she took her hammock outside on Tuesday. “I love it.”

Typically, Zaky either reads, gets work done or hangs out with her friends around her hammock. Right now, she’s in the middle of the novel “The Alchemist.”

“I invite my friends, and then they invite (their) friends,” she said. “We have a huge group of people surrounding the hammock.”

They’ll take turns relaxing on the hammock or try to fit multiple people on without tipping it.

Though Zaky thought hammocks might be difficult to set up, she discovered the process isn’t that difficult.

“You just have to get the right height and slack,” she said. “It’s just good vibes.”

Ariana Desai, Brynn Holt-Ling and Alissa Beggan are seniors who are about to graduate from Pitt. From their time in the city, they can say the hammocks lined up in front of the library are far from new.

It’s typical for people to bring their hammocks and hang them when the weather is nice, according to Holt-Ling, 21, who is studying psychology and law criminal justice and society. When they’re done hanging out, they pack them up and return during the next nice day.

“It feels much more like a true college atmosphere,” she said. “You just see people out on the quad — out on the hammocks everywhere you go.”

Holt-Ling and Desai, 21, who is studying marketing and finance, own the two hammocks hung by her and her friends. They stacked the two between the trees, which means they hung one right above the other one.

Desai said it’s a good way to talk to each other rather than being spread out.

“If we didn’t stack, (Desai) would have to be over there, and then it feels like we’re so far apart from each other,” Holt-Ling said, pointing to the nearby trees.

The trio agreed with Zaky that the setup process takes about five minutes.

“It’s just a comfortable way to hang out outside,” Holt-Ling said. “Sitting down on the ground on a picnic blanket — if you do it for too long, it starts to hurt, but this is very … secluded if you need it to be.”

Tuesday’s warm weather brought the students out. They hadn’t hammocked since early in the fall semester.

“We don’t get that many good weather days in Pittsburgh, so (we) have to take advantage when it happens,” Holt-Ling said.

They either talk, listen to music or do some work together.

Hammocks are like a levitated bed, said Beggan, 21, who is studying psychology on the public health track.

“I think we’re very fortunate, too, with the layout of our campus — all the trees are almost perfectly set up,” she said, referencing how they’re the perfect distance apart to hang a hammock.

The sense of community the hammocks bring is palpable, Holt-Ling said.

Finals week at Pitt is just days away, and for Marina Makoul and Leah Vereb, hammocking provides solace amid assignments and projects. Both are sophomores studying architecture.

“We’re cooped up in our studio a majority of the day, so when it gets nice, we try to take our breaks outside,” said Vereb, 20.

Studio class is where architecture majors make their models, and it’s the core part of their experience at Pitt, said Makoul, 19. It’s where they will have to spend a large portion of finals week.

“We’re trying to plan when we want to do our all-nighters,” she said — as building architecture models for finals can take countless hours.

The pair sat in Makoul’s hammock, which she said she got around two years ago.

“Anytime it’s nice out, I try to put it up,” she said. “It’s good for people-watching. I love people-watching.”

When Makoul was deciding where to go to college, Pitt’s hammocking culture played a role.

“I saw the hammocking,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s so fun … I got to do it.’ ”

Vereb said she ordered her own hammock, and it’s arriving soon. She said she believes it will come in handy while she’s at Pitt for her summer class.

“I feel like it’s just a good thing to have,” she said. “If you want to come out here, read a book, do some work, it’s nice not to have to sit in the grass.”

Makoul said she prefers not to have to work while using her hammock. But finals coming up threw a wrench in her intentions.

Hammocking in Oakland has become a social thing, Vereb said.

“When everybody else is out here, it makes you want to be out here … connect with other people,” she said.

Seeing everyone out and about is comforting, Beggan said.

“When the hammocks are out, you know it’s a good day.”