A First Semester Redux

I just arrived back on campus for 2nd semester which begins on Wednesday. I wouldn't blame you if you thought I didn't even have a 1st semester, since I didn't blog a single time. Sorry!! I guess one of my new year's resolution should be to try to post more. For now, though, I'm going to try to make up some lost ground by jumping on the "year/decade in review" trend.

If there was one word that could sum up my most recent August-December it would be: sleepless. If I had a few more words to budget, I'd also add: busy; stressful; challenging; good.

So, a few things to catch up and then we'll be on to 2nd semester.

Fall Redux
Classes: I took a full load last semester comprised of Spanish 1, a cultural anthropology seminar called Human Rights Activism, a graduate level ethics seminar on refugees and humanitarian aid and a course that was cross listed among several departments called The World Cup and World Politics. All of my classes were really engaging and they all seemed to connect/have a little bit of overlap at times, which was nice. My professors were AMAZING teachers and individuals. I've never had to work harder in my life, but the sleepless nights and stress were manageable (even if just a little bit) by the fact that I found the topics really interesting and overall just LOVED my classes.

For our final, instead of a more traditional paper or exam, my World Cup and World Politics professor assigned us to create a website based on some research we'd done earlier in the semester. You can check out my website, on Muslim women's soccer, here. Also, my profile has links to other posts I wrote last semester as a contributor to our class blog.


Crew: Many of you know that this past summer I spent a considerable amount of time weighing my options for the coming year. Part of this concluded in the decision to join the Duke Women's Rowing team. DWR is a varsity level sport at Duke and I compete on the "novice" team. The novice team is for anyone who has never rowed before--sort of like a team of all rookies and we mostly compete against other novice squads. This past semester I practiced four days a week and competed in two regattas. We traveled to the D.C. area for The Head of the Occoquan on Halloween weekend and a week later competed at The Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, TN. This semester I will (for the most part) be practicing six days a week and competing in five or six different regattas (including once in south Jersey *cough*family*cough*). The biggest difference between our fall season and spring season is that in the fall our races are 5,000 meteres but in the spring they are only 2,000 meters. So far I've had a great experience--it's been fun getting to know my teammates and my coaches are really wonderful.

Living: At Duke, the freshman live on East Campus. As a sophomore, however, I have the privilege of living on West Campus. West Campus is the main part of Duke and living right on the main quad is really convenient. I'm literally a minute walk away from almost all of our food options and less than a five minute walk awak from our main academic quad. I'm roomming with the same girl I lived with last year and we're having a great time together. So far, after a year and a half together, we've found only one incompatibility: we like the room at different temperatures [I hope I'm not jynxing myself!]. Being my mom's daughter, I like the room much colder than she does.

Classes start Wednesday, so I'll check back soon after that!

Viewer Discretion is Advised

Yes Dad, I mean you ;)



























Remember the "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs" campaign?

Try: This is your brain on finals.
A little less gruesome, sure...but no less jumbled!!

End of the Year Shenanigans

So, apparently it's been a month since I've blogged. My apologies. I'll try to keep this brief, but there are a few developments in my life I should share.

The first weekend of April was Ultimate Frisbee Sectionals. We're in the "North Carolina" Section with 11 other teams. Fortunately, Elon hosted the tournament so we were able to stay at Duke and just drive in the mornings and back in the afternoons. I can't express how much of an advantage that is--especially where school work is concerned! We didn't start out so hot on our first day in pool play which put us in a tough situation for championship play. Ultimately (no pun intended!), we didn't qualify for regionals, which was disappointing. I did however have one spectacular diving catch :)

The Team (above). The Freshmen (below).

Next up was Pesach in Philadelphia. I was lucky that my class schedule worked so well with travel. It's always good to see the fam. And lets be honest you really can't beat my Bubby's seder food!! My friend Sophie also joined us for Second Seder and Shabbat, and that was obviously a good time!

Because life wasn't dramatic enough with finals looming on the horizon and all, I spiced things up a bit by dislocating (we think) my finger. I know what you're thinking...but this wasn't some "college nightlife accident." No, it was a gorgeous North Carolina spring day and we were playing some football on the quad. I thought it was just a jam, so I kept playing before calling it a day. I then proceeded to take a nap, which is what I often unintentionally do with my life. Upon waking, I noticed that my finger was pretty swollen and hurting. My own personal orthopedic professional (aka, Pop Pop) recomended that I get an x-ray ASAP to rule out a break or a dislocation. I called Duke Police for a ride to the Duke ER and my friends Taylor and Elizabeth tagged along for the adventure. As it turns out, the x-ray was negative for anything traumatic and my finger continues to feel better every day.

Now here's a riddle for you...what do you get when you mix the vagina monologues and the Duke Women's Initiative and eliminate the vagina part? Since I know you won't guess correctly, here is the answer: Monologues by Duke women (undergrads, graduate students, faculty, staff, etc) about Ugg Boots, relationships with their moms, "i love you" horrors, coming out of the closet, boyfriends, disabled siblings, etc, performed and directed by Duke's female undergraduate students. Aptly titled "All of the Above" it seeks to shed light on the complexities of Duke students' identities and experiences. An incredibly inspiring and powerful program, it left everyone laughing hysterically and almost in tears, with goosebumps and a lot to think about.

Last night was the Duke Women's Basketball end of the year banquet. It was held in Cameron Indoor Stadium and began at 6:30pm. A welcome study break, about 350 staff members, family members, and fans were in attendance to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2008-2009 Blue Devils. Several awards were presented, Coach P gave a talk and the seniors all shared memories, made "shout outs" and left parting wisdom. You can leave it to Abby to make people cry!!

Practice players and managers at DWB Banquet.

Now, I have just 10 days left...and if I could pull a 240 hour-er...I would! I have three finals to conquer before moving out...see you in sunny Phoenix!!

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.

(snow) DAY and (senior) NIGHT

Well, I guess the title gives it away.

Yesterday was the first ever snow day of my life :)

Classes were canceled. It was cold. There was white stuff on the ground...basically it was your classic snow day.

For those of you back east, you might be embarrassed to know that we had a snow day for about an inch of snow, but for those of us who live south of the Mason Dixon line (get it? that's a southern joke) and west of the Mississippi river, it was all very exciting.

Going along with the Day and Night theme, the night before this snowy event was quite another thriller. Duke Women's Basketball beat the Carolina Tar Holes in overtime. Each of our three seniors, who played in their last game ever at Cameron Indoor Stadium, can look upon this win fondly: For Chante Black, even though she fouled out, it was the first time she'd ever beat UNC. Abby Waner opened the game with her trademark shot before going cold from the field. In overtime, however, she hit the winning field goal--another Abby Waner classic 3 pointer--forcing UNC to foul. Carrem Gay had a sort of fairy tale ending: a double-double (15 points; 12 rebounds), 2 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. For everyone else on the team and staff, this win avenged a loss a few weeks ago, secured 3rd place in the ACC and a favorable seed for the upcoming tournament, and gave us a big win on the 1st day of an even bigger month. That's right, March is finally here...and the Madness has also arrived.

Next time from Greensboro...

Tallahassee and Tennessee: Traveling with DWB

One of the things people think is especially cool about being a manager is that we get to travel with the team. As I explain to said people, not every manager is on every trip, but there are managers on every trip (did you follow that?). I also have to explain that while yes, it is pretty fun, we're also working and that no, I don't get paid for "sleeping time." We also miss class but are fortunate to be excused with the same policy which excuses varsity athletes. So far this season, not counting bus rides to Raleigh and Chapel Hill and a preseason scrimmage in South Carolina, I've traveled with the team twice. At the end of January I was on the trip to Tallahassee for our game against Florida State and this past weekend I was in Knoxville for our big game against Tennessee. Generally speaking, we travel there the day before our game and come home immediately after.

Like most big name programs (in men's and women's basketball), we usually fly charter. This means that we take a bus to the airport but instead of going to the commercial areas the bus takes us directly to our plane. When we get to our destination there is another bus waiting for us to take us to our hotel.

On our trip to Tallahassee I didn't actually miss any class because of how our travel schedule and my class schedule matched up. I also got to see a good friend's parents at the game. Unfortunately, we lost in overtime...

In Tennessee we got to play in front of a huge crowd and against an esteemed program. Say what you will about Tennessee not being up to par this season, that they're young and inexperienced...they're still Tennessee, they're coach is still Pat Summit and it's still a pretty big deal. We went to dinner at Coach Brown's house which was fun and really cute...and delicious! I video blogged the trip for the team/goduke.com, so as soon as I'm done editing it down I'll post a link here. Also, our hotel basically shared a parking lot with the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, so in a spare moment between shoot around and pre-game meal I wandered over there with our video coordinator (who is fabulous) to take a gander. Pretty neat stuff, I tell ya. Oh, and how could I forget to mention that we WON.

I'll likely travel next with the team to Winston Salem for our game against Wake Forest (next Wednesday) and will be in Greensboro helping with the ACC Tournament (in early March).

Until next time...Go Blue Devils!

Midterm Madness

At Duke, you've got to imagine that March Madness is a pretty big deal. But, before we even get to March us students have to weather a different sort of madness...midterms! Depending on the courses a student is taking some will experience a big crunch and others not so much. For me, last semester didn't have a crunch time until finals came around...and even that was pretty manageable. This semester is different though. Now that I've survived to tell about it (it finally calmed down on Monday), I had a pretty rough week and a half. All in all I had two exams, a first draft of a project, a paper and a final draft of a project. I guess it doesn't sound that bad...but when one exam is in math which at Duke is notorious for giving everyone a hard time, one exam is in a class with a HORRIBLE professor (yes, even at Duke they exist :/), my research project required a write up that turned out to be 8 pages and I had a paper on top of that (which is always nerve-wracking...especially the first one in a class) I was forced to manage my time, work for hours on end, stay up till at least 3am on four occassions (including a friday and saturday night!) and give up going to the gym (freshman fifteen?).

Things have finally calmed down, though, and I feel good about my performances on my exams and the quality of my paper and research assignment. Even so, I'm looking forward to having some time to myself again and time to hit the gym to work on my guns ;)