My finals week was, as always, fun and stressful. I moved in to my new room in Sigma Alpha Epsilon with my then-and-current roommate, and also had to pack for a month-long trip to India. As, I’m sure, you have gathered, it was a lovely week.
On that note, I’ll give the Spark Notes version of my trip to India, as I’ve given many a-time by now. My Mum and I started in Mumbai and made a big arc, going to Gujarat (in the north west, near Pakistan) and progressing east, going through Jaipur, Udaipur, Amritsar, Mcleod Ganj, Delhi, Bodh Gaya and Varanasi. I learned alot about Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the country of India (however vague that seems). Everywhere we went we met people who were eager to talk to us, including two people from Bhutan who spent significant time in Minnesota. He, specifically, and I spoke for a number of hours (waiting for a 7-hour-delayed train) about Indian government, economy (he studied economics at the University of Minnesota), and culture.
In the Foothills of the Himalayas
Kartar and Saibhang at the Golden Temple in Amritsar
Want a cool story? Here’s a cool story. A friend of mine, Kartar, who lived on my floor last year in Harrington (insert vague North-Quad-Pride statement here) just so happened to be taking this semester off and teaching English in India. And, lo and behold, our travel paths met in her second-home-city of Amritsar! So she and her fiancee spent the day with my Mum and myself, showing us around and enjoying the Indian sun. It was incredible going so far away from home and hanging out with a dear friend from school. She took us to her old school, where I learned some self defense and met a number of wonderful, kind people. It’s also thanks to Kartar that my Mum and I went into the foothills of the Himalayas. Seeing her/that leg of the trip was probably the highlight of the trip (other than, maybe, seeing my sister or whatever).
Upon my return – a 39 hour trek that I don’t recommend to the lightly travelled – I had one day before classes started, a day full of… SNOW! Yes, snow in the Pacific Northwest. From the moment we touched down (I audibly cheered, which the Norwegian man next to me thought was hilarious) it was snowing and due to this snow we had two snow days that week. And, since I was 13 hours ahead of this time zone, I was up at the crack of dawn enjoying coffee in Diversions watching the snow engulf the patio furniture outside and enjoying the delights of a Western college campus, inherently cozy and social (as campus was shut down).
Since that fateful week, I have picked up the co-Presidency of the Jewish Student Organization, had a successful kick off to Minnesota Club (St. Paul native Sue Dahlin from Career and Employment Services gave a talk about how to find jobs and internships back home — very useful), picked up my old radio show and have gone to a ton of concerts/lectures that have been great.
I suppose I’ll close with a more realistic glimpse in to the day-in-the-life.
Today I woke up at 9:15 am (my roommate and I stayed up late. Oops.) and made my way to my living room, aka Diversions Cafe. I met up with my KUPS co-host and finalized our plans for the radio show. After getting my tea we made our way into the station for our 10 am show and were welcomed by “If the Sea Was Whisky”, off of Chris Thile’s album “How to Grow A Woman From the Ground,” (if you must know one thing about me, it’s my passion for Chris Thile and YES I DO HAVE TICKETS TO SEE HIM AND PUNCH BROTHERS ON TUESDAY) which reaffirmed my thought that the DJ before us has wonderful taste. For the show, we focused on music from Quebec today and heard some really great music.
We then spent an hour in Diversions before I had a meeting with my Co-President of Hillel where we discussed and finalized some plans for the Passover Sedar (April 6, tickets available after break) and confirmed plans for Shabbat services tomorrow. I seem to live in Diversions these days; I know half the baristas and many of the fellow regulars. Not sure if it’s sad or not…
Diversions with Laura
I went to British Literature and discussed Yeats’ poetry, which was actually really great. My professor is pretty great and strikes you exactly as an English professor should: really cool radio-like voice, mildly eccentric-yet-wise, demanding but overall just a very smart man.
After that I met with my potential house-mates for next year. We have been accepted as a theme house with the theme of Serotonin. As the Serotonin House we’ll promote relaxation and happy living around campus, which is pretty cool.
I had to run, though, as I then helped conduct an interview for Passages! As a returning leader I had the option of helping choose next year’s leaders. It was really cool being on the other end, helping shape an Orientation program that means so much to me.
After running in to a few people in the Sub and discovering that a band I like is actually well known around here (The Lonely Forest), I went to my Law and Society class (at 6 pm, yes) and learned about how the law effects and perceives society (and vice versa).
I now sit in the sub, pretending to do work and listening to some of the awesome music I’ve received in the last few weeks, slowly prepping for my ominous mid-terms.
And with that, dear readers, I will end this post, still lacking the talent of “organized thought.” But that’s okay, right? Right.
Be well and have a wonderful weekend.
Random Picture of Studying: Success
