Pictures of My Hallmates

I don't believe you've been introduced. Here's some of them.

Sammi and Eliza. Eliza likes Alaska.


















Jeff. This is the only picture I could find of Jeff without his girlfriend, not to say that's bad, but she doesn't go here and that would be confusing. Jeff's roommate is Keita but I don't have any pictures of Keita.


















Louisa. She was on my Priddy trip, as was Eliza. She is the sweetest. We voted.





















Stuart and Izzy, both really swell guys. Very different. Stuart plays Guitar Hero a lot. Izzy . . . is Izzy. We love him.


















Alan, he's from Switzerland. He doesn't actually live in our hall, but he hangs out here a lot, like Jose. He's good at all sports, I'm not kidding. Tennis, soccer, hockey, capture the flag. Probably ping-pong and American football too, even though he's never played them.






















Mystery Matt. He left our hall though, so I don't think he counts anymore. Matt, if you see this, I'm just going to repeat it: "Lame!" Your photo is downsized!

Priddy Trip Day 5: Going Home

Run: somewhere between 60 and 90 min. Best ever. I went for 30 and reached the bridge and got stuck in the silt, tried to clean that off, ran/hiked up one of the foothills in the distance (see Friday's picture) went back, got stuck in the silt again, cleaned it again, and ran the 30 min back to the Horse Shelter. Everyone was playing and saying goodbye to the horses, especially Midnight and Rusty, but I already did that so I hosed off under the pump. Then we got official Horse Shelter t-shirts and took a group photo and drove away. We got pretty close over the trip and the way back went way faster. Pride Points totally forgotten. B/T Colin, Jeff, Dominique and I listened to our mutual favorite bands the whole trip back. Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Alice in Chains, Godsmack, etc. The only thing missing from that beautiful stretch of time was
A SHOWER!

Then we pulled in to my dorm and I had a shower. The End.

Priddy Trip Day 4: We spend the day in Santa Fe

Run: 25-30 minutes. I saw a jackrabbit and the sunrise, then did 150 pushups, then I visited all the horses by myself before the gang woke up.

Then we shopped and ate at downtown Santa Fe. Even though we had great food at two really authentic restaurants (Alicia is part Hispanic from Las Vegas, New Mexico and she knows everything about Santa Fe), it wasn't my favorite day because we didn't work at all. Even so . . . Tommy, Brad, Sam, Scott, and Dominique all bought little girl pony socks and hats and they played jumprope in the parking lot. Hilarity ensued. As Kritika puts it, "It's hard to remember that we're out in public again."

After lunch we met up with 10 other groups at Santa Fe's Rape Crisis Center to listen to an all-female mariachi band. That was fun. We all made a powwow circle, dancing around Kate and her cast. Only problem: We can't smell the horsey smell anymore, therefore we can't tell if we stink. This has been a lot of sweaty, poopy worktime without showers.

Priddy Trip Day 3: EPIC ADVENTURE

Run: none. Rest day.

I painted fences all morning. I opted not to participate in the castration of Trigger and his son Billy the Kid. Brad had to hold Trigger down. Ha.

Then after lunch Alicia asked if anyone wanted to go buy food for dinner. I did, so did Brad, Jeff, and Dominique. We kind of only went because we wanted to nap during the car ride. And we did. It was relaxing. Then we went to Albertson's, and we took some guy's fancy traffic-avoiding directions and that's where it all started. We ended up going the opposite direction of what we wanted. We drove around for a half hour and got more bad directions from a gas station. Then we went to another gas station, and I went in with Jeff to ask the cashier. "Which direction is Cerrillos?" we asked. "Uh, it's seven lights this way," he said. His English didn't sound so good, so I made sure to ask him, "A la izquierda o a la derecha?" (Do we turn right or left?) And he said, "No importa. It don't matter."
Huh. That confused us. I assumed that meant there would be a sign saying where to go. So we drove and drove and the town kept getting more industrial instead of less. We reached the seventh light and all of us went, "Ohhhhh" and cracked up. It didn't matter whether we turned right or left, because we had been directed to Cerrillos Road, and it went both ways.

So we drove and drove with all the veggies and meat in the minivan, and got to the turnoff to the ranch about 2 hours late. We decided to pretend like nothing was wrong even though it was 6:40 and dinner couldn't be started until we got there. We turned back all clocks and watches by two hours. Then we got to the bridge over the dry creek and were presented with the best excuse ever. The road was totally flooded over with water rushing and everything. We were stuck at the other side with all of the food. The one time the cell phone went through to Kritika, we could tell everyone else was hungry, and not happy. Oh, one time a dog almost got pulled away into the river and drowned but Dominique saved it. Yeah, we were able to cross on foot (the braver kids, anyway) but that didn't do us much good.

So the five of us turned around and went back to Santa Fe and had pizza at Pizza Hut.

It was delicious.

Well, first we got directions from five of the most incompetent gas station attendants in the nation. Brad's favorite line: "Pizza? Estamos four or five light that way." [Points to a Kinko's.]

When we drove back the water wasn't quite at a trickle, more like a less-alarming flow the color and consistency of chocolate milk. Alicia freaked out about crossing it. Zack drove out in his 4x4 and had us follow him across. And guess what? It was no sweat. Then we got "home" (to the barn) and no one was mad at us anymore, they were serenading us at the top of our lungs out of relief and they were glad we weren't drowned and they hugged us.

Then we bragged about the Pizza Hut.
They tried to give us Shame Points for that.

Priddy Trip Day 2: Poop and No Showers

Run: 60 min with Basketball/Tennis Colin and Louisa. Brad and Erin started out with us, but Brad went far ahead and Erin dropped back. We got up at 6:15 and caught the sunrise. It was a gorgeous run. When we got back I hosed off under the pump.

We had an accident right after breakfast. The two farm dogs, Chai and Holly, slammed into Kate and she went down saying, "I think my knee is broken." It looked wrong. Turns out she dislocated her kneecap, and an ambulance was called. She got back from the hospital in time for lunch.
I mucked with B/T Colin and Dominique from 8 AM until 1 PM minus lunch break. Basically we raked poop and put it in the cart behind the mini-tractor. It wasn't too bad, and the horses came up to us to smell us and nuzzle us while we did it.
When the cart was full, Zack (the old farmer dude in charge) asked if we wanted to come along , and fertilize the back pastures with it, saying, "It's really fun." Yeah, okay. So I got in the cab with Zack. Zack turned the jaws on and dry clots of manure began to fly out like a spurting fountain. B/T Colin and Dom were in the truck bed. Over the roar they were shouting, "This is better than fireworks!" Then Zack turned it on full power and B/T Colin and Dom were pelted with pieces. They grabbed a board and used it like a shield. Safe behind a glass pane, I laughed my head off. Zack finished spreading and turned it off, saying innocently, "Wasn't that fun - I mean - Gee, fellows. That's never happened before."

After lunch I went with the guys and pounded in fencing. It was really hard and hot out, but at least I was stronger than Dominique. All the pounding rattled our brains.
Then we went swimming at the owner's pool and it was great. Tommy ate a chlorinated bug for two Pride Points. He made a huge fuss about it.
Then I got a migraine. So I took Advil and had a nap with Kate, who was feeling sick from the morphine probably. Miraculously, I woke up at dinnertime and the headache was gone. Everyone bonded over dinner. We played a dream jobs game and Eliza wrote down Astronaut just like me.

This night we got smart and moved our things into the barn. Then I ate a LIVE GRASSHOPPER, and was awarded three Pride Points. It was salty and kind of gross. The guys could be getting tired of me one-upping them. Kritika and Tommy were like, "Don't you ever lose anything? Aren't you bad at anything?"

Priddy Trip Day 1: Mostly Driving

Run: 30-40 min early before drive, strides.
The trip to Cerrillos, New Mexico was rather boring. To spice it up we decided to bet on what time the trip would officially end.
We asked, "So what does the winner get, anyway?"
To which someone replied, "Well, Pride Points, of course." So we all placed our bets and I became the bookie of Pride Points, because I had Simon.

Meanwhile, I fell asleep. Dominique said I twitch and punch people when I nap. Eliza says the punching part is a lie. Then we hit a monster rainstorm and we couldn't see more than 10 meters ahead of us so we gave Alicia two Pride Points for navigating.

We had trouble finding the ranch (see Cerrillos facts below). Things started to get intense. XC Brad had guessed 6:05. At 5:52, while we had about two miles to go, Alicia stopped the van and waited for the mini(van) with Kritika. Brad's time was fast approaching; then Kritika pulled up in front of us and blocked us, then they got out to stretch. Brad lost it and started screaming, "Get back in the van! Get in or else!" Hearing this, the minivan-ers (the minis) got on top of their vehicle and started dancing around. Brad --who is a tough guy but describes himself as very passionate about the things that are important to him -- started to cry, almost. Jeff caught the whole ordeal on cameraphone. The 15-seaters (us) would have peed our pants laughing if we hadn't been so concerned about our own Pride.
I bet 6:18, and we pulled in at 6:20.24. Dominique contested my victory, but his bet was 5:91 (?) and everyone voted to give me three Pride Points. Erin got two and Jeff got one for 2nd and 3rd closest.

I spent most of the evening pounding in the stakes of our two tents. There were 17 of us. It was beyond cramped, but that just made it more hilarious. It rained all night but we didn't get too wet. In the morning we saw coyote tracks but they hadn't bothered the tents. Louisa said I yelled the word "DIFFERENT !" during the night.
Apart from sleeping word salads (by the way, I wasn't the only one who did that) the night was okay.

Elevation: 5,900.
Population: 200.
About Cerrillos: "Cerrillos officially came into being in the 1870’s as a wild and wooly mining town, and little has changed in its appearance since then."
Median resident age: 43.6 years
For 10% of residents, most commonly used house heating fuel is wood.
A more detailed profile here.

Before I Leave on the NSO trip

The Priddy trip starts Wednesday and goes more than four days. Anyways, I don't plan to write for a while even after that. So, final info. It's in Cerillos, close to Santa Fe. We are "[v]olunteering at a shelter dedicated to providing a safe, healthy, and loving environment for rescued horses. They follow up on each and every report received of horse abuse or neglect. In addition, they provide information on proper horse care for horse owners. They make every attempt to assist individuals in the care of their horses and pursue legal action in abuse cases when it becomes necessary."

Priddy Experience: http://www.coloradocollege.edu/servicelearn/priddy.asp
The Horse Shelter: http://www.thehorseshelter.org/index.htm

My trip leaders are Alicia



and Kritika.

Meeting, Greeting, and Acclimating

It's official, I'm Rafter. Good choice, because there are bundles of Kates, Katies, Katherines, Kaitlins, Kathys . . . mostly Kates, really. People remember mine the first time, and they're all happy to comply, no small feat. However, I'm told I'm a memorable person even without the unusual moniker.
I met Sammi and her family yesterday. I really like Sammi, she's cool. She likes watching hockey, playing volleyball, equestrian, and classic literature. I also met my adopted family: Matt, Erica, and 2.5-year-old Jackson. Matt grew up in Southern California and went to high school at Catlin Gabel. They have two other adopted freshmen, but I forgot their names, even though I sat with one of the guys at tonight's epic accapella concert.

The room looks good. On Sammi's side there's Los Angeles Kings paraphernalia, tasteful bedsheets, and lots of books; on my side there's Monet prints and the banner of France (my RA said it looks like a Boy Scouts flag), a mess, and lots of books.
I enlisted the team's help for a little extra decorating. Dialogue:
Me: Here's $10 for you guys while you visit the awesome dinosaur museum while us freshmen have to go back to campus for orientation activities. I figure the least you guys can do is get me a dinosaur poster for my room.
Justin and the XC team: We're getting you a picture of a raptor, Raptor. Nope, you don't have a say in the matter.
Me: OK.

So do I go pick my things up from Bed, Bath, and Beyond ? I'm getting tired of fashioning random objects into pillows.

Running is going fine. Chelsea and Molly and I found the trail behind the neighborhood across the highway. Molly's home is at an even higher elevation so she is used to hills and heights, and the heat is getting to Chelsea, so I usually find myself spaced out between the two. I can now go for pretty much a whole (slow) hour. Thank you Steens!

Here's what I know about my Priddy trip: It's in New Mexico. Five-hour drive. We will interact with the horses a little bit. We won't have to shovel much manure. No showers, but one swimming pool. We will paint a lot. Wear old clothes. Bring mess kit. It's okay to go on runs, so I've made plans to go on a few with this guy Colin - Basketball/Tennis Colin, not the XC Colin I already know. Brad, who is on XC, is going on my Priddy trip. He is also in my "The Search for Islamic Order" FYE class. The professor is Robert (Bob) Lee, and he talked to the 2011 class today about academics. From what I hear, we're going to get our butts kicked, but I have the right attitude about learning here. Note to self: check mailbox.

I need to get to bed because we're running at 7am tomorrow morning. Last night we -- kids from Slocum Hall -- played volleyball past 11:30 (and then watched Planet Earth) and we played from 7:30 to 9 again today. My arms might be covered in bruises tomorrow; yet I expect to master pretty much all sports by the end of this year, including hockey, basketball, swimming, Frisbee, soccer, foosball, and pool.