Hi everyone! Hard to believe it’s already February. I have
been going on plenty of on- and off-campus adventures this week with more
planned for the next few days. I made it a personal goal to be more social this
semester now that I’ve settled into the college groove a little bit in comparison to my first semester, and I think I’m off to a good start. One fun thing that I did wasn't anything too elaborate: just hanging out in my friend Sarah’s dorm with both of our
roommates, Dani and Sully. We took a break from studying to stay up late painting with these cool shimmery
watercolors and watch Don Jon on Lewis and Clark’s video streaming website –
Pioflix. Pioflix has a small selection of movies available each month, and
their offerings change to fit the season. So, in October, they had more horror
movies than usual, because of Halloween. During the month of December, they
offered a couple of holiday-themed movies. Now that it’s February, there are
several movies about love and romance and similar things because of Valentine’s
Day. I think Don Jon was supposed to fall under that category. Honestly, I thought it was a terrible
movie, but hanging out with friends and making art turned out to be really relaxing and therapeutic.
It was so much fun, in fact, that I asked my family to send some paints and
paper in their next care package so I can do more art!
Behold – our gallery!!
Another fun thing I did this week was a Friday night
excursion to Voodoo Doughnut. I had eaten plenty of doughnuts before at various
events, but I had never actually gone there and waited in line. About 14 or 15 people from my residence hall, Akin, all took the 9:00
bus and made the journey to Voodoo – about fifteen minutes’ walk from the bus
stop. There were so many of us that we made up the majority of people on the bus! I love the feel of community in my dorm that allows us to all hang out together.
There's always a friend to talk to or just sit with as you do your homework in
the lounge. In fact, I love living in Akin so much that I am going to try and “squat”
in the same room so I can live in the same place next year. I know a lot of my
neighbors will be leaving, but it seems to me Akin has always had a reputation for
community regardless of who lives there.
Here are some pictures of the Akinites outside
Voodoo enjoying a large variety of doughnuts.
At Voodoo, I bought two Old Dirty Bastards, which are
doughnuts with chocolate frosting, Oreo pieces, and peanut butter icing
drizzled on top; and a Bacon Maple Bar, which is a bar-shaped doughnut with
maple frosting and two pieces of bacon on top. Needless to say, it was all
delicious.
Later this week, I have two on-campus academic events to look forward to – an
archaeology lecture given by my history professor, who went to Rome on a dig
over the summer and discovered human remains on the site he was working at, and
a talk on gender and sexuality. Then, I’ve got a College Outdoors trip this
weekend that I am totally excited for! We’re going snowshoeing at Mount Hood. I
saw some pictures from last weekend’s snowshoe trip and it was gorgeous, so I
am really stoked to go up there.
Well, that’s enough for now. I need to go write a paper on the
ancient town of Çatalhöyük and do some history reading and logic problems. To
all you lovely prospective students: don’t forget to come and visit sometime to
help you make your decision! Have a great day.
Jess