Nostalgia

I vividly remember my first day at Pton. Mom, dad, little bro and sis had all come to drop me off and my lovely cousin N had come down from Boston to help me settle in. It was a beautiful, halcyon summer day... clear blue sky, fluffy white clouds and the perfect amount of sunshine.

We walked around campus with the map... it seemed so big at the time and I remember being tired and grumpy and secretly a little scared. I'd wanted this for so long but now that the moment of reckoning had finally arrived I was terrified! I didn't want to be left alone in a new country in an environment that was completely different from home. Plus, I knew I was going to miss my family terribly...

That first evening ISAP held pre-orientation for international students at Alexander Beach. Now Alexander Beach isn't really a beach; it's a patch of grass in front of Richardson Hall and after searching in vain for signs that read "Alexander Beach" I finally asked someone where it was and got there in time for the barbecue. I sat between Keno and Arti- Keno is Nigerian but grew up in Kuwait (later, she became captain of the lacrosse team), Arti was from Bangalore (majored in Comp Sci. and now an investment banker in NYC). I also tasted my first veggie burger- almost gagged but manfully continued chewing and swallowing because I didn't want to appear impolite :P.

Our first icebreaker was "passing the orange". Someone came up with the brilliant idea of passing around an orange from one person to another without using their hands or feet. Everyone sat in a ring and the game began. A guy placed the orange in the crevice between the chin and collarbone and transferred the orange to the girl sitting next to him by. I don't know about others but I am not overly fond of passing an orange from neck to neck with a group of sweaty people I don't know very well especially when it involved members of the opposite sex :P So when it was close to my turn I pretended I had a phone call and moved to the corner to talk... sneaky me :P!