Why, hello there!

Okay, it's been way too long. SO, I'm gonna skip the uninteresting bit and head straight for the good bits. Right now, I'm sitting in a B&B in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You wanna know why? Because on Sunday, we got snowed out! I believe we got a good...2 feet of snow. And because the snow was so early, the trees still had leaves. And because they still had leaves, they caught the snow instead of letting it fall through the branches. And...well long story short, trees fell down and knocked out the power lines. And we have no power at school. Overnight it was okay, just a little chilly. But then morning came around. And without power, there was no breakfast. And 1500 hungry (pro-protesting) college students is not a good mix. But at least there was something. So we nommed on the last of whatever the college had, which was...not much. But at least it was something. Then, the interns (Hampshire equivalents of RA's) went around telling people that we were 'relocating' (because 'evacuating' is such a big scary word), and that if we had a way out, we were 'encouraged to leave campus'. So, I did. I found the next car heading to Boston, and I jumped in.
The ride to Boston was...frantic, to say the least. Everyone was making a beeline to the gas stations before they ran out of gas, and a lot of the gas stations were closed. We made it to Boston in...a few hours, because we got lost a few times along the way. They dropped me off at the Boston Logan airport, where I was supposed to take the silver line down to Cambridge. As I'm happily walking down to buy my subway pass, I notice something...my wallet is not in my hand, it's not in my bag...no. It's in a car on it's way to Maine. Fml, right? So, I sat in the airport, and cried for a while and had general feelings of panic until I got hold of an old friend who could get me into Cambridge. Thank goodness for him. After a long, cold, and tedious subway ride, I finally got to Cambridge, walked into the hotel (smuggled Dottie in, too) and crashed.
Now here I am, waiting for my wallet so I can go be normal. I had to brush my hair with a fork this morning. That's how little I brought with me. I am truly thankful for the privilege I have in society. Albeit I am not rich, I do have the means to have everything I need. And now I am SO thankful for that. Anyways, here are some pictures of snow, me, and the fork. :)

Moving in and Orientation

This week was filled with SO much stuff!

Day 1 - Thursday, September 1st
On orientation day, we got up kind of early, but still got to Hampshire late (what do you expect, we've been living in Africa!). We drove around a bit cuz we were kind of lost on where to go. We finally found a parking spot behind the gym, where I was supposed to go sign in. I went in, filled out some paperwork, and got my keys. Now, moving in.
So...I live on the fourth floor. And we didn't know there was an entrance other than the basement. And we had four HUGE suitcases. Not to mention various other boxes and bags....needless to say, it was kind of difficult. Luckily, my college had these wonderful young men to help move stuff. Here are before and after shots of my room.


As you can see, there is stuff piled on the bed a la teenager.
Anyways, after moving in, we had lunch (delicious hummus and tabouli spinach wraps) and then I met up with my orientation group and we did typical orientation group stuff like games and talking about the beginning of college. That night, there was a bonfire with s'mores and singing. A good ending to a long day.

Day 2 - Friday, September 2nd
That day was also filled with orientation activities, along with discussions on the common reading which was Sherry Turkle's Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other...which I don't recommend...to anyone...at any time. It's kind of biased and based on studies done on American middle class. While I understand where she's coming from, I just think that she focuses on too much of the negative qualities, and not enough on the positive. But moving on. There was a lecture by her that evening, (which I did not participate in but my mom went to), and then I think I went to dinner with my mother. The evenings are all a real blur.

Day 3 - Saturday, September 3rd
This day was...oh yeah! I went on a hike! And for those of you who know me, I am not the hiking type. But this wasn't half bad. I met a bunch of interesting people. Theatre geeks and singers...just a bunch of fun people to hang out with. The view at the top of the mountain was absolutely incredible.



The only annoying part of the hike was the up and down of the mountain itself...because it kept on tricking us. But, all in all, I got to wear my new athletic outfit, and the girly girl in me thought I looked good. Then, we had dinner and that was that. That evening, I went to a theatre meeting to talk about auditioning and directing etc...I'm actually thinking of writing a play now, and I have the perfect idea. ^_^

Day 3 - Sunday, September 4th
This day...oh, this day. Well, we had breakfast and then some random group activities, a more detailed tour of campus and stuff like that. Then...oh, then. Then there was a presentation called 'Until Someone Wakes Up', which was about sexual consent and rape. And by the end of it, a lot of people (myself included) were tearing up. It really was a moving performance. The great thing about that day was that we actually had free time. Oh mah word. It was amazing. After free time, though, was a comedy performance by someone called Micia Mosely, who was talking about the black queer community, and how it was severely marginalized. That performance led to an absolutely amazing discussion on how race is becoming socially constructed by contemporary stereotypes. Feel free to comment if you'd like to know my opinion, but I have a feeling some of you already know, haha. That was followed up by dinner and hall meetings.

Day 4 - Monday, September 5th
Now, while today was filled with tons of fun stuff, it was also the day my mom left to go back to New Mexico before returning to DRCongo. So, needless to say, I was a little stressed out. But, life had to move on. I tried not to dwell on it. We had some orientation activities, but the afternoon was basically up to us. I kind of isolated myself in my room that afternoon. That, or I just can't remember doing anything significant.. ^_^"



Day 5 - Tuesday, September 6th
This was the day before classes started, which meant a lot of class and school related meetings. The convocation ceremony was at 4:30, and it was just kind of long and boring...but I guess it's alright. It was optional, and I went.

So that's that for orientation. Here are a couple of pictures of my beautiful campus on a lovely sunny day where I was in a good mood to go walk around and look at stuff.


Tomorrow is (was) another adventure!

And She's back!

Sorry I haven't blogged in forever, guys. Life has been REALLY hectic. My next few posts will explain why. I'm doing them chronologically in little posts so you guys aren't overwhelmed. So, here goes!