The Sundial

The weather was beautiful today so I spent some time relaxing on a bench by the sundial. We call this area of campus the sundial because on top of the white column in the center of the picture is a sundial. The landscaped circle around it works like the center of a rotary with Swem Library at one exit (shown in the background here) and academic buildings at most other exits. My favorite things about this picture are the colors and the shadows of the trees on the bricks.
Location: W&M

What's with the balloons?

"Sixty percent of the world's poorest people live in resource rich countries, but rarely share the profits." Oxfam at William & Mary was sharing this message with the college community today and having people sign a petition to support the promised closure of a Guatemalan mine. If you are not familiar with Oxfam America I'd be happy to tell you all about it.
Location: Sunken Gardens, W&M

What electricity (again)?

We had very strange power outages in Fauquier today. Some rooms had overhead lights but no outlet power and others were in the opposite situation. Then we lost power all together. I did not see the campus email announcement about impending power outage (that was sent after our original outages) until the power and wireless internet were up and running again. Anyway, here's my room with no power. 

Overdue surprise

I'm working on a project for my residents, but it's not done yet. I'll share this picture when I've finished it.

Portland Head Lighthouse

I did take this picture, just not today. I took this picture over the summer and I just set it as the background image on my computer yesterday. It's been making me happy today so I chose to share it.
Location: Portland, ME

So wavy!

I felt like I was having a good hair day today and since not many people got to see it I thought I would share it with you. I was having a chill day in my room so not much else happened. 

Girls Night In

We had lots of fun this evening skyping friends abroad, eating pizza, listening to music, and playing games. I set the timer on my camera and put it on top of the microwave, so this still counts as a picture taken by me. Unfortunately, I ruined a wonderfully cute picture with my goofy face. All subsequent attempts of timed pictures didn't come out nearly as well. Figures.
Location: Jamestown Hall, W&M

Rain.

I walked across campus in the pouring rain this afternoon and got quite wet. It rains so much and so often in Williamsburg that rain boots and umbrellas are necessities.

Pick Me. Love Me. Save Me.

Two years in a row I heard that that the Raft Debate was a great thing to attend and today I finally found out first hand. The premise of the Raft Debate is that four academics are stranded on an island with a single raft big only enough for one person. The Humanities professor, the Natural & Computational Science professor, and the Social Science professor try to convince the audience that they should be saved while the Devil's Advocate argues that none should be saved. It was a fun way to get people thinking about the strengths, challenges, and roles of the disciplines and maybe get people to take themselves a little less seriously. 

Stop and Smell the Roses

I was on my way to the Marketplace to meet Christina, Athena, and Rachel for dinner and running late. But when I saw this rainbow, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to admire and take pictures. When I got closer I realized that there was a faint second rainbow above it - I think you can see a little bit of it in the top right corner...maybe.
Location: Between Washington Hall and Jefferson Hall, W&M

Better Than Dunkins?!

There are three dining halls on campus - two are cafeteria style and one is food court style. The Marketplace, the food court style dining hall, has always been almost a mile from my dorm. In order to capture as many minutes of sleep as possible, I never trek across campus to the farthest dining hall for breakfast. Today, after my 8am class that is across the street from the Marketplace, I experienced Marketplace breakfast for the first time and this sandwich might have had Dunkin Donuts beat. Blasphemy? 

Do You See It?

I don't mean the dust/pollen - that's obvious. When I looked at the back of my fan today I saw a face. The knob in the center is the nose. Above that I imagine the shadow as sunglasses or eyes hidden under a devious unibrow. Just below the knob, just where the plastic curves and goes from light to dark I see a smile. 

Tissues Are a Girl's Best Friend

There is nothing extraordinary about a box of tissues...unless your nose is running like a faucet. It seems I have a cold - the battle between my nose and this box of tissues has commenced. Unfortunately, I think my nose is winning. 

Tribe Pride

The first home football game of the year was tonight so some of the lovely F2L (my hall) girls and I got together to get our Tribe Pride on before the game. We put on our W&M gear, tattoos, face paint, and necklaces and headed to the stadium. It was a little scary at the end but we won! Go Tribe!

This Is Work

I work at the Games Desk at the Sadler Center six hours a week. (The Sadler Center is a central building on campus for students to get food, attend events, check their mail, etc.) Normally, I don't work on Friday nights but tonight I had a five hour swing shift. When the games area is busy I check out equipment for video games, pool, air hockey, shuffle board, and foosball and record them in the binder on the right side of the desk. Between guests I am able to do homework or explore the internet. 

Just In Time

I was over at the Campus Center killing time before our 5pm Oxfam meeting in Blair when I saw that it was getting dark and windy outside. I decided to book it over to Blair early to avoid having to walk in the rain closer to 5pm. It began to pour just as I got into the building. It was fun to watch the storm from a cozy dry room in an old academic building.
Location: Blair Hall, W&M

Notes

Along the same lines as Friday's Morton post, I was appreciative of what I was learning in class today. There's something satisfying about keeping an organized notebook full of things you didn't know days, weeks, months before. I was thinking this in Int'l Trade Theory this morning, but I thought I'd share this Int'l Political Economy page instead so I could show off my doodle. 

89 Degrees and Sunny

The weather was beautiful and warm today. I was appreciating it more than usual so I thought I'd share a nature-y picture. I walk by these trees/bushes everyday on my way in and out of my building.
Location: Fauquier Hall, W&M

Weasley Clock

This month I made a Weasley Clock for my hall's welcome board. In Harry Potter, the Weasley family has a clock whose hands represent members of the family. The hands move themselves to indicate where a person is. Each of the arrows on this clock has the name and picture of one of my girls - they can move their clock hand to their location when the come in and out of the hall.
Location: Fauquier Hall, W&M

Water Communion

I went to the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalist Church for the first time today. It is smaller and much simpler than the UU churches I am used to, but it was still a pretty church. Today's service was the water communion, where everyone brings water from their summer experiences and the waters are poured into a common container to celebrate the congregation coming together again.
Location: Williamsburg, VA

Cultured College Students

This is the gang at William & Mary's Muscarelle Museum of Art. Rachel has been developing the exhibit with other William & Mary students for months and today we finally got to see the finished product. It's a very cool exhibit about the Kiowa Five, a group of five Kiowa from Oklahoma who gained international recognition for their art. If you're in Williamsburg you should check it out!
Location: W&M, Williamsburg, VA

The Home of International Relations Majors

Today I was thinking about how I'm enjoying my classes and how well they go together. This is the view of Morton Hall that I see three afternoons a week; Morton is the building where three of my five classes take place. For those who are curious, I'm taking these classes this semester: Int'l Trade Theory, Globalization & Int'l Development, Int'l Political Economy, Politics in Africa, and French Phonetics & Diction. 
Location: W&M, Williamsburg, VA

Lost, but not Forgotten

It was rainy today, but I didn't wear my boots. I pulled them out of a box specifically for today's picture because I was thinking of Whitney. I loved seeing her in her bright yellow rain boots - they were so her. 

Silly FedEx

I was sitting on the terrace with friends today when the FedEx truck drove over the bricks to the road on the other side. This was a bit out of the ordinary because there is a parking lot farther back to the right (that is accessible from the main road) where the mail is usually delivered.

What Electricity?

I was hanging out in this computer lab in Morton (the old building where most of my classes are) today to avoid the pouring rain and thunder. Then the power went out. Some girl who shouted "Really?!" was gone when the power came back on ten seconds later. Weird.

My Residents are my Friends

Dana and Corinn came down to my room to visit today and silliness ensued. 

On Duty

This is a picture of the bulletin board on the door of the duty office. The RAs take turns sitting duty each night of the month. Tonight it was my turn to sit duty so I was in the duty office from 7pm-11pm to check out keys, games, movies, etc. for the residents. I also had to walk around the complex twice to make sure everyone was safe and not violating policy. 

This Is College

This evening a bunch of us went to a great comedy show and then headed for WaWa. On our way there we took a pit stop in Landrum to use the bathroom and this is what happened. Jessica came out of her room, tossed a sword to Poorna, and attacked! Well, it was a little less dramatic than that, but still...spontaneous sword fights in the hall. 

Convocation

Today we welcomed the freshman, grad students, and transfers to William and Mary at opening convocation. They all walk through the Wren building (see Ancient Campus) and the rest of the W&M community cheers, claps, and high fives them as they walk down this path. 
Location: Wren Building, W&M

Better Than I Expected

A couple of my residents encouraged me to go to the free Virginia Symphony Orchestra concert with them this evening at W&M's outdoor amphitheater. I admittedly wasn't excited about it at first, but I had a good time and I am very very glad I went. I gave it a chance and it was worth it. 
Location: Matoaka Amphitheater, W&M