A Little Bit of Everything

So, I guess it's time for me to catch you up with everything that's been going on in my life. Since my last post at the beginning of this month, I've been in four states, at the ACC Tournament, NCAA Tournament, on Spring Break and am now back at school for the final stretch.

I guess I should back up a bit, though!

ACC TOURNAMENT: GREENSBORO, NC
Following our thrilling victory over Carolina on Senior Night we changed our focus to the post season. The team first traveled to Greensboro (about an hour from campus) for the ACC Tournament. I left on Wednesday evening after practice with our video coordinator, Lauren. The team came later on Thursday, but we got there early to get everything set up (you should see the technology a D1 basketball program has!) and in place at the hotel and the arena. We were also there for the first round games. See, as the 3 seed Duke didn't actually play a game until Friday, however the first round of the tournament took place on that Thursday (the top 4 teams get a bye). In the quarterfinals, we handily beat a really good Virginia team and then in Saturday's semifinals we avenged our January loss to Florida State. On Sunday we would face Maryland. I think I can honestly say that I hate Maryland more than I hate Carolina...and for a Duke student that's kind of unheard of! We'd split the regular season with them, each team winning on their home court. What was an emotionally charged game ended in a heartbreaking 3point overtime loss (yet, again*). Who knew that 5 minutes of basketball could separate a feeling of complete excitement (a last second put back to force overtime) and somber emptiness? Needless to say, everyone was ready for some time off to regroup and refresh. As fate would have it, Duke's spring break began while we were in Greensboro and practice would not resume until Friday morning. Players and staff went their respective ways...and I went to...

SPRING BREAK: New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA
Monday morning I caught a flight to Philadelphia! I took a train from the airport to 30th St. Train Station. I bought train tickets to New York (just like they do on TV...I went to the counter and said "I need to go to New York." They gave me a price and I gave them money). I ran to the track that the woman told me to and boarded the train. Once I was on board, I looked down at my tickets and realized I had no idea what any of them meant! Trenton? SEPTA? NJT? NY? What?!? The conductor graciously explained to me that I was going to take SEPTA (the PA Train service) to Trenton and then would transfer to a new train which would take me to NY. Easy enough. I got to Trenton...figured out where I needed to be, but didn't know the difference between Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. Luckily, the Amtrak and NJT trains going to NY were on opposite sides of the same platform. I finally made it to Penn Station, took the Subway to Barnard College and met up with one of my dear friends, Sophie! Sophie and I met at Camp Ramah Darom in 2005 and we hadn't seen each other since the last day of Ramah Israel Seminar in 2007 (I also saw another good friend from camp, Hannah. We had a chance to hang out while Sophie was in class). Sophie and I had such a good time together just catching up and hanging out! We grabbed dinner at a Kosher deli (corned beef and pastrami sandwich, anyone?) and then went to a Purim Party as Esther and Vashti. We made crowns out of colored flyers we found in her dorm, and I wrote on a white v-neck shirt "Esther was a bimbo. Vashti was the HERO." At the party I got asked if I was a "Barnard Girl," to which I replied that I'm actually "from" Duke but am a feminist nonetheless :) Afterwards we grabbed some frozen yogurt and while we were walking down the streets passerbys offered us a "Happy Purim" and "Chag Samayach." Only in New York! I slept on her floor and in the morning we grabbed breakfast at a Hungarian pastry shop before I headed to the train station...which was more of an adventure than necessary. See, the subway line I needed to take was inconveniently out of service. I proceeded to get on the approrpriate bus, but traveling 100 blocks on a bus in NYC takes infinitely longer than the subway...and of course also longer than the time I'd allotted (because I was planning on the subway). Oh well, it all worked out, and I was on my way to Philadelphia! My Bubby met me at 30th St. Station in center city, Philadelphia, when I arrived. We went back to her and my Pop Pop's appartment briefly before heading out to Aunt Rhoda and Uncle Herman's house for tea! Aunt Nona also came with us, and Aunt Rhoda seriously out did herself. Not wanting to be a serious imposition on anyone, I thought tea was easy: you boil water! But Aunt Rhoda, of course, also made us delicious banana bread, a pear cake, muffins, and mini sandwiches. Between breakfast at the Hungarian pastry shop and tea, I did not eat a real meal all day! It was so good to catch up with everyone though. I just love them all so much and hadn't seen them in a while! On Wednesday morning, Bubby and Pop Pop and I went to breakfast around the corner from their place and then hit a few shops. Later that afternoon, Bubby and I ventured to *THE BEST* ice cream parlor which is situated just a few blocks from them...and then came back for a delicious signature meat ball dinner :) That night we played a few rounds on Boggle (my favorite), before winding down. Thursday morning it was time for me to leave and head back to Duke, but I had a surprise in store for them for breakfast. I spontaneously volunteered to make breakfast for them, if Aunt Nona would join us! She could not refuse the offer, and so I made gourmet scrambled eggs for them all. Bubby and I walked to a train stop which is just a few minutes from their apartment and I was on my way to the airport and back to Duke. I arrived back at Duke safe and sound after a truly wonderful spring break. Back at basketball things were getting turned up, since only the NCAA Tournament was left.

NCAA TOURNAMENT: East Lansing, Michigan
While "Selection Sunday" for the Men's tournament was the day that everyone else was arriving back to school after spring break and had people pretty jazzed up on campus when our men's team received a 2 seed in the tournament, we wouldn't know our fate for another day. The next day, the team, staff, managers, practice players, community supporters and families gathered together for a nice dinner. Before our selection show aired, everyone moved down into the "theater," where the team normally watches film. Everyone in the room was pretty stoked when we were announced as a 1 seed. As the rest of the bracket was released, we learned that Michigan State and Texas were also placed in our region. When MSU came up I think people thought it was kind of funny and like "oh, boy." When Texas was announced, I don't think anyone really believed this could happen. See, 2 seasons ago (after the 2006-2007 season) Duke's coach for 15 years left Duke...for Texas. When that happened, Coach P (with one of our assistants and our Director of Opps) came in to take over the program, leaving...MSU. Quite the triangle. We left Friday after practice for East Lansing, Michigan for the first 2 rounds of the tournament. On Sunday we played Austin Peay, who won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship. We had some cobwebs, but still won 83-42. Michigan State beat Middle Tennessee State in the game before us, 60-59, in a late game heroic probably inspired by home court advantage. At any rate, they escaped by the hair on their chinny-chin-chins and we would have to face them on Tuesday in the 2nd round game. The winner would advance to the Sweet 16 in Berkeley, California. The Basketball Gods had an unexpected and disappoitning fate lined up for us, as we lost the game 63-49 (it was a closer game than the score reveals, and I'm not "just saying that"). After finally getting our stuff together, we departed for the airport. Upon arriving at the airport we were informed that our plane was late. It was now 10:45pm and our plane wouldn't get in until roughly 12:15am. As one of our team doctors said, "talk about adding insult to injury." Understandably, everyone is emotional and tired. We finally got back to school around 3am. We were mostly zombies by that point...and everyone is still feeling the sting of the season being over.

IN OTHER NEWS...
~I have skype! If you don't know what that is, it is a free software you can use to videochat with anyone, anywhere. If you have skype, let me know and send me your skype name so I can find you! If you don't have skype yet, get it and let me know when you do!
~I'm seriously considering creating my own major in social change in activism. I'll keep you posted! (did you catch the pun?)
~Today I attended a symposium called "Duke Women's Forum." About 20 undergraduates came together to discuss varying components of the women's experience at Duke. There were four small groups, of which everyone attended two. They were: Body Image and Self Esteem, Sex, Sexuality and Self Awareness, The Effects of Race, and Handling By-Stander Situations.
~I'll be home for summer in 5 weeks! Time flies, huh?


*Duke lost to Maryland in the NCAA National Championship game by 3 in overtime in 2006...4 of the players on that team are on this year's team.