I finished my blog last night to find that my floor mate had passed out on my bed. I did not want to wake her, so I ended up sleeping in her room. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea where I was.
Today was full of group work. While Andrew was at Cluster Wars (competitions and contests between floors), I did some reading on the California budget deficit on the main green. I was refreshing to do some work outside in the fresh air! Afterwards I met up with Andrew and Jose in the main lounge. I finished my part of the PowerPoint. We just need to compile our debate between cutting spending and raising taxes. We planned to work for two hours straight tomorrow and finish our entire project so we can practice presenting.
Ms. Larson met up with us again today. I introduced her to all of the people who were tagging along to fireworks at India Point Park. Everything in Providence is so accessible by means of walking. Walking around is much easier than driving. The roads are all one way and they are really confusing.
There was a lot to see at the park. We claimed some land on the grass and then Steph and I explored the area. A man with two macaws greeted us and let us hold his beautiful parrots. The one I was holding kept nipping at my earrings (which were shaped like little pieces of sushi) until one of them fell out. My friend Alina had to get my hat back after he yanked it off my head. I suppose that I get along well with animals. As we waited for fireworks, Steph and I scanned the sky for owls. We saw one but Ms. Larson insisted that it was the planet Mars. The fireworks were great, and we all screamed in celebration.
On the walk home, I talked with my friend, Gurrein, who is from India. She told me that India's independence day is on August 15th, and that it is a much more formal event than the U.S.'s 4th of July. The prime minister delivers a speech and there are no fireworks. Gurrein said that she likes celebrating in the United States, but sometimes it gets too crazy.
I'm planning on going to bed early tonight so I can be well rested for class tomorrow. Cohort #2 is leaving for Providence tomorrow! We really want to meet up with them and show them the ropes at Brown. Ms. Larson said that we might be able to see them on Friday. I wish them a safe and speedy flight! See you on the other side!
Erin,
ReplyDeleteHolidays in some communities can be so much more enjoyable than in others.
We have so many people living in the greater Bay Area that being able to walk to a fireworks display really isn't much of an option. Sitting in a long line on the freeway is more common.
Back in 1987 there were two major celebrations in the Bay Area;one for the 50th anniversary of the opening the Golden Gate Bridge and the other for the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Bay Bridge.
For the fist they estimated they had more than a quarter of a million people walking on the GG Bridge (to the point they were worried it might collapse--no fooling).
For the BB celebration they had a fireworks display between the Ferry Building and Bridge. I went with a buddy on BART and stood near the water with the masses watching the display (really cool being so close that your hair gets blown back by the percussion of the explosions).
My buddy's sister and her husband, though, had everything mapped out and drive across the bridge so they would arrive just in time. Of course, the bridge became a parking lot with no cars moving at all.
In such a situation everyone just got out of their cars and walked to the edge of the bridge to watch the show.
We had GREAT spots on the waterfront but his sister and brother-in-law were actually at the same elevation as where the fireworks were exploding.
Here they screwed up and ended up with a better location than us. Go figure.
Just curious, when you spotted that "owl" was it moving? Of course, I'm betting that Mars doesn't flit about.