SNOWcapades!

Ryann (left) and me (right) doubling down a hill on a trash bag sled!

(Photo by Michael McCreary)

I'll write sometime this week about my classes and the beginning of the semester. But for now, I just want to share my last 30 hours or so with you!

Starting last night and through this coming week Duke's Faith Council is sponsoring a series of events called Strange, Wonderful... & Here: How Families of Abraham Worship at Duke. The series coincides with a photo exhibit currently at Duke Chapel called Families of Abraham which (I think) shows various faith practices of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (get it? All the religions which stem from Abraham). The Faith Council has partnered with different religious groups on campus to host interfaith services. Since last night was Shabbat, a bunch of Jews and non-Jews a like gathered at the Freeman Center (our campus Hillel building) to experience Kabalat Shabbat (and ma'ariv) and a hearty Shabbat dinner. The attendance was great. My friend, Ryann, accompanied me to services and then we joined three other friends, Janet, Max and Michael, after services for dinner. Sometime in the middle of services it started snowing.

Post-dinner the five of us made it to the Duke-Florida State women's basketball game. Coming straight from dinner, we walked in about halfway through the first half and the score was 20-2; Duke was winning. The game itself was boring, but we managed to have a good time. Duke won, 73-43. Just as enjoyable as the game was the walk to Cameron with a Constutional Law professor from Northwestern. He needed directions and we were going to be going along the same path for a while. Following the game Ryann took a field-trip with me to the library on East Campus so I could return a movie and pick up a new one. A few hours later, I met up with Michael and some other friends, most of whom I lived with last year, who were having a get together. Our fun was interupted by a drunkenly-pulled fire alarm which exiled us from the warm comforts of a dorm to the snowy and cold quad.

That brings us to this morning. Ryann texted me to tell me that she and some friends in her dorm were making pancakes for breakfast! I went to join the festivities, contributed some cooking utensils and brewed real hot cocoa (you know, with Hershey's Cocoa). All together we had cheesy scrambled eggs, M&M pancakes (we didn't have any chocolate chips...but the vending machine sold M&Ms) and cocoa. Shortly after cleaning up the kitchen, Ryann, two of her dorm-mates and I met up with Michael to go play in the snow.

Making many stops along the way, we finally ended up at the Duke Gardens. Why the Duke Gardens and not just the main quad, you ask? Because the Gardens have perfect sledding hills! We brought trash bags with us and used them to slide down the hill in all sorts of combinations: solo sitting on the trash bag, solo front first, solo inside the trash bag, double sitting on the trash bag, double sitting in the trash bag...you name it! We made snow angels, threw clumps of snow and took lots of pictures. When our feet were finally frozen we decided enough was enough. We took our time making it back to the main part of campus and made a brief stop at the Lobby Shop (a mini grocery/convenience store in the student union) where we picked up 1/2 gallon of milk. We finally made it back to the dorms and made more "real" hot cocoa!

Now 3:30pm, we decided it was time for a snack, so we went to a venue on campus. We ate quickly so that we could make it to the 4:20 showing of Reefer Madness (get it, 420?). Reefer Madness, a 1930's video warning parents and youth about the serious dangers of marijuana, is now a musical satire of the original production.

In total, Durham got 5-8" of snow. For more pictures of the adventures, click here.