Information overload

Unfortunately, there is no way I could possibly sum up my past week. I have been so incredibly busy with campus activities, homework, and hanging out. I've made some really good friends, mostly from the basement where I live (aka the batcave). Everyone I've run into so far on campus is nice - I genuinely cannot say I've met someone I don't like.

But currently, I'm sitting in my hall's food service are, serving chips & salsa while being paid by the federal government. I love work-study. On the same note, I also have a job with America Reads at a local elementary school. I will be tutoring kindergarteners three days per week in reading - I'm excited!

There honestly aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to. My homework load has been deceptively light (I only have textbooks in two classes), but the rest of my time is filled with meetings, work, and eating (haha). I'm still loving my classes, especially World Politics and Biology. We had our first Bio lab last week, where we visited a gorgeous waterfall on campus and slogged around up to our knees in the water, looking at freshwater sponges, salamanders, and insects. It was so much fun! The professor is hilarious, extremely knowledgeable, and very approachable. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester!

On a random note, the food here is SO delicious. There are seven different dining halls on campus, and each one has a completely different menu for each meal. My favorite dining hall is at Prospect - they have fajita's every Friday which are AMAZING. Actually, I like all the halls. Ham-MacG has softserve ice cream and gorgeous lake views, Abbey-Buck has a crepe bar for Sunday brunch, Rockies has a good deli bar, Wilder has interesting Halal/Kosher foods, and Kendade has good sandwiches for lunch. I haven't actually eaten at Torrey yet (too far away!), but I will eventually. I'm actually eating a ton of vegetables and healthy things, since it's mostly what they offer.

To continue on the subject of of food, tonight I went to my first official club meeting for Food Justice Society, one of the most unique organizations on campus. They're really focused on supporting local farms, spreading awareness of where food comes from, and having potlucks. :D I signed up to be on the student garden committee, so I get to do physical labor and such. We're also going to a ton of off campus events, like harvest festivals, lectures, and documentary screenings. I'm so excited! I have a ton of other clubs I want to join, like Amnesty International, College Democrats, Model United Nations (MUN), and Outing Club. Initially I signed up for more, but unfortunately some conflict with classes and other clubs. :(

I think the most intense will be MUN. We have a two hour general meeting each Sunday, plus a two hour training session each Thursday. But it sounds so fun, and will be a good way for me to use my argumentative nature haha. Basically it's organized like the UN actually is, with schools being "countries" and debating real international relations topics. Teams travel to conferences - MHC is going to ones at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Taipei, Taiwan this year! Hopefully I'll get to attend one. :D It will be a ton of work, but hopefully it will pay off.

I'm also really excited for Outing Club. They go on all sorts of trips, like kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing, rafting, etc. I haven't been to a meeting yet, but hopefully I'll be able to get outdoors soon.

Last Friday I had my first off-campus experience! My new best friend Eleni took me to her hometown of Amherst, which is only about 10 miles away. We went to a local farm called Atkins Farms and got some of their apparently world-famous (and delicious!) apple cider donuts and other groceries, Newbury Comics (an awesome CD/vinyl/comics/movies/everything shop), a nice Indian restaurant for dinner, and then to her house. She lives in a adorable neighborhood with gorgeous traditional white-washed New England homes. Her parents are extremely nice (and very, very Greek). Amherst is a really nice town, and I hope to go back soon.

All in all, I'm having an amazing time. I can't wait for the leaves to change and the temperature to cool down. New England autumn is something I've always wanted to experience, and now I'm living the dream. I literally cannot even remember why I applied to any other colleges - Mount Holyoke is my home now.