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!

Halloween

The Tale of the Walrus and the Gladiator

Chelsea and her roommates SammiStuart (Snape), Hannah (Bellatrix Lestrange), Eliza (Spartan woman from 300) and Tim (I don't know)LouisaAlan (Chick Magnet)
José

So one of the houses had a techno dance party, and Rufio (Lost Boys leader from Hook) borrowed Chelsea's camera from the couch area. So she got it back with 60 pictures and here are some of them.





The Alice in Wonderland couple were a little obsessed about Chelsea . . . of course because of the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter."
You know, Lewis Carroll, from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There

Individual Letters #2

Professor. Bob. Professor Bob. Mr Lee. Sir.
Today we had breakfast and class in Bob's living room for the second time. (I still feel funny calling my professor by his first name. Most of us kind of mumble instead of calling him anything.)
For the first time in this class we read nonfiction: Naguib Mahfouz's Midaq Alley. We had a great discussion on: Egypt before WWII vs. after WWII, and What was wrong with Egyptian culture? and Was it irreversibly "infected" by some of the negative aspects of Western influence?Dad: I am scanning and emailing to you a form or two, plus Boettcher's (our health center) recommendations for the area's chiropractors. Dr. Jonathon or Tony can see if they know any of them (or let us know if they're any good). Also, of course everyone at Dr. Jonathon's can read this blog! It's for all family and friends.

Mom: What's the deal with my immunizations? Will I take care of that when I'm home in P-Town?
Sorry I've been so swamped. 1) I never got a tangible assessment/report from Kathy Gillis. 2) I have a link for you in Comments. 3) I will scan and email to you (for Dr. Liedel) the pertinent documents later tonight.

Aaron: Have you been swimming, playing soccer, or doing karate? Because I have done a little bit of all of those here. My friend Eliza has a black belt.
Luke: I need answers to four things: are you, in your own opinion, succeeding in football; have you made friends that are girls; do you know anyone on student council; and what Class of '07 grads have people at Jesuit talked about and why?

Grandma Carole: Sammi and I - well, our room has turned into an informal lounge. Everyone has started to come in here to hang, do homework, and tell their life stories. For your sake, I promise that I am kicking them out at 11:30 tonight and I will be asleep before midnight.

Becca and Katie: Don't know if you'll read this, but what classes are you guys taking?
(Becca is at U of O Honors and Katie is at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.)

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.