Enviro-weekend

Last night after I'd gotten cleaned up from the day's EE adventure, my classmates Chelsea, Leah, Ian and I headed to Dover for some drinks (and absurdly delicious garlic knots) at La Festa. Really great atmosphere. And really large beers.

Next, we considered checking out "Mojito," but it had too much of a club feel, so instead opted for a little pub down the street that boasted live blue grass music and comfy lounge couches. Per usual, I asked the bartender if the establishment carried cider beer, to which she replied in the negative, but then suggested an alternative that she assured was "a bit cidery." Since I like to try new things, (I'm in NH, after all), I gave it a shot, but was pretty disappointed. It was a light ale with an extremely bitter taste that made Leah actually convulse in her seat when she tried it. Plus there was no apple taste, which is what I'm usually looking for. Oh well, at least the company was good. In fact, Ian even lent me a fan from his apt before we headed back to campus, which is pretty much worth more than a bar of gold to somebody like me who resides in the tiny, sweat-box rooms of Babcock hall.

So far I've gotten a lot of work done today. Since the Summer institute is only one month, we're given many assignments to take care of. My body woke up naturally at 8:30 a.m. (For those of you reading this who really know me... I know how shocking that sounds). Since Leah, Chelsea and I all live in Babcock for the summer, we've already planned out the next few days for ourselves; tomorrow we'll get the rest of our readings done at the beach, then have dinner at Chipotle, (Leah's obsession), then maybe eat Cold Stone ice cream and watch the movie Juno. Oh, and they promised they'd try my "almost famous" taco dip. The next day at noon we're going to attend a picnic pot-luck at a nearby family farm. Hopefully I'll come back with some goodies.

I love New Hampshire. I love the program I'm invested in and the area so much that I can almost forget about how much debt I'll be in by the time I've earned my degree :) It will all be well worth it. The best part is that while I'm already spending huge amounts of time each day "researching" and "working," every bit of it is enjoyable. And when my new friends and I are spending time together, we're having a lot of fun while simultaneously enlightening each other. I'm definitely inspired by my classmates' attitudes and ways of life.

Because I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity in later posts, I'll stick a few pictures here of my chinchillas at home in NJ so my fellow EE'ers can see the little critters I keep talking about. Oh, and the grey guy whose pic is in place of mine in the "about me" section... that's Charlie.