Defensive Eating and Other Shenanigans

Tuesday night bonding between RAs and TAs brought us to a small rocky beach. As it was 7 pm, most of us did not bring swimsuits, only to discover that the water was like a bath. A bunch of us walked in as far as our shorts would allow us and enjoyed the water. This inevitably left my feet coated in bits of shells and dark New England sand (although calling it sand is really a stretch), which is just the way I like them. There was a beautiful sunset going on behind our gazing into the sea, one which I found quite difficult to capture in all its glory given the power lines obstructing the shot. But I found instead some lovely flowers.

They say days here are like weeks, and weeks like months. When you spend 7 hours a day with a class of gifted students teaching just one subject, it does tend to feel that way. But even socially, everything is accelerated, which is not confined to the students alone. The staff tends to get pretty chummy. I met Kate my first year at this particular site and we've been rooming together since. When we talked about my reasons for coming back to TA for one more session I said it was for some cash and to hang out with Kate, and then realized, I wouldn't have come at all if Kate was not going to be here. We keep each other from doing things like eating salads and going to the gym and instead indulge in ice cream and chick flicks. It's my mini vacation that is actually my summer job. This year will be my last. And so to make up for that, crazy shenanigans have and will continue to ensue.

Our first very Kate and D moment was spending an afternoon shopping for luau supplies for Fridays dance. We like to go all out. The students think it's funny and we enjoy the excuse to play dress up:

This picture is in the "smoking" gazebo which is mainly reserved for after work social hours. Without this thing, social life at among staffers wanes.

The next morning we woke up with intentions of going to the beach. Weather report was 95 degrees with a UV- index of 8. We lied to ourselves and said the dull sky would not be found at the beach. Kate, KFo, and I all hopped in the car through rain and lightning. A passing storm, we insister, but when we arrived, the sky looked pissed.

The police had closed the beach due to the lightning. So we did what only comes naturally after "a day at the beach" and ate ice cream:

And then came home and did what we would have done on the beach had it been sunny; we slept for 4 hours. A lazy Saturday well deserved. In the evening we went to the craft store and invested a few craft supplies and crafted while watching a movie. More on the etsy-like creations in my next post. For now, I'll say that our coffee table is barely visible under the layers of fabric and buttons.

Sunday consisted of shopping. I put together a complete outfit (pictures at some other point), and found a fabulous pair of earrings for Cuartita, the fabulous Cupcake Queen I lived with for four years of undergrad and whose adventures in sugar you can read about here. She was the English major (and it shows).

And yes, those are cupcake earrings on a piece of chocolate.

Today was again my night off and Kate and I went on another date/adventure/whateveryouwanttocallit. We noted how fun and functionality were both achieved. Forms notarized and mailed, checks cashed, fabric purchased which means yet another layer added to the craft coffee table. And of course no Kate Date is complete without indulging so ice cream it was! The temperature outside combined with the true homemade-ness of the icecream made our delight quickly turn into what can only be described at defensive eating. Conversation ceased as we tried furiously to eat the ice cream as it melted down the sides of our cones. Once the chocolate was scrubbed from Kate's face a Hipstamatic photo shoot followed at the harbor featuring today's outfit which I would like to dub "Sailor Chic". Check it:

Besitos,

D