Nom nom nom nom

So close...2nd round of basting! It's looking really good. The whole dorm smells like Thanksgiving. :)

Mmmm...TURKEY!!!!

1st round of basting! It looks and smells so good!

Also, check out our take-over of the kitchen. This will be a feast fit for QUEENS!!!

Slapsgiving 2010

The bird is in the oven! Countdown to an amazing potluck with uber-cool people: 3-4 hours. So excited!!!!

The Bubble

We joke that Swelles has a lovely little bubble where we often forget that there is an outside world, and we can comfortably discuss intense topics (my dinner conversations regularly include religion, war, politics, etc.).

It also means that you tend to forget to communicate with said outside world. Or leave campus, but that's another story.

I just remembered that I actually do have a blog, and should maybe post every once in a while.

I'm also trying to pretend that I don't have a crazy amount of work due before Saturday. Despite such denial, the work will get done on time. It always does.

I want to go back to my dinner conversations. I have to say, I am really going to miss those when I graduate. It's not just the level of conversation (I could have the same level at home), but I'm going to miss sitting in the dining hall having hour long conversations while different friends come and go (and sometimes, come back again). I'm going to miss marathon weekend brunches and marathon dinners. This is what scares me about graduating - this lack of a community. I know my friends will still be around, but we'll be physically scattered around the world. We won't have a communal dinner time in the same space where we can run into each other at any time when hot food is served (or even when it's not served). This is what I love most about college, this is what I will cherish most about college, and this is what I'll miss the most.

Well, the cruel reality of research papers and midterms beckons me...

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

After 9 months, I am back at lovely ol' Swelles. It feels good to be back, and not all that weird. As soon as I got onto the property (well, actually, it was once I was off the highway), it just felt right to be back. It was like I was seeing the campus for the first time again, and my love for the school was renewed. I'm glad I took a semester abroad, but I'm also glad to be back.

One of the best things about being back is that a lot of my friends are back early, too. It's so great seeing people that I haven't seen since either last December or last May! I find this to be, quite possibly, the best part of going abroad. You get to come back and share stories with your friends and hear theirs. Also, everyone is just so excited to see one another again, and that's just wonderful!

I can also feel and smell fall in the air! It's glorious. After a long, hot, and humid summer, I embrace this cool crispness. Some of the trees have even started turning! I'm so glad to have a tree outside my room...I hope it turns all kinds of pretty fall colors!

And so, the end is near...

I just finished my last full week at my internship. I finish on Tuesday to allow ample time for packing up 8 months, 3 seasons, and 8 countries worth of stuff. It's funny that I gave Tuesday as my official day for that reason, and here it is, Sunday, and I'm mostly packed. Oh well - I guess that gives me time to do laundry and make some last minute tourist destinations (like the National Archives or the Air and Space Museum).

I can't believe it's almost time for me to go back to school. While I'm excited and want to go back, I am going to miss my internship. It has been a great summer. My internship was interesting, living on my own, and cooking for myself were all great learning opportunities.

Whoa-oh, we're halfway there

Wow, I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since I got to DC, which means that my internship is halfway over. It's strange to think that summer is almost over.

So far, I've been enjoying DC. I haven't gotten too attached since I'll only be here for 10 weeks, and I find that being incredibly homesick for both California and Swelles makes it difficult to want to establish any sort of home-like feelings for DC. So, on the one hand, I'm excited that I only have 5 weeks left - that means I only have a little over a month before I see all my friends again, which is really exciting. I'm also excited (and incredibly nervous) for senior year.