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Somhrita'S JOURNAL October 2006 After a tremendously lazy and fun block break, beginning block 2 was hard for everyone. But I don’t know if we will continue feeling this way after every block break. It reminds me of those days as a kid, when after a long vacation I simply would not want to go back to school. And it’s strange how so many of us in college still feel that way. The first weekend of block 2 was, for once, away from the parties. We were in Kansas on a class trip to attend the Prairie Fest. The drive to Kansas was about eight hours of curling up into bizarre positions that seemed comfortable at that time. Our drive was interrupted by halts at the gas stations and a rather tragic car breakdown. I kept thinking about how driving to the next state would be next to impossible in India. Other than that, I slept in a tent and “camped” for the very first time. The Prairie Fest was basically a congregation of organic farmers and people who wanted to effect change as far as the environment was concerned. Actually, my entire block 2 course consisted of us realizing more and more that things just cannot continue the way they are. By the end of it, I found myself successfully convincing people why conventional industrial agriculture is not only destroying the environment but is also an unhealthy option as compared to sustainable organic farming. A week after Kansas, I finally saw snow, and a lot of it. Sitting in the Loomis study lounge and staring outside, I suddenly laid eyes on big, white stuff floating in the air. Soon, I found myself running around the parking lot with my friends, enjoying my first snow. I built a snowman that stayed on the soccer field for quite sometime. I was completely invincible in snowball fights, thanks to waterproof gloves that I bought in preparation for the snow. My environmental science class took up a lot of my time. But somehow, I did not mind at all. My final paper would be a debate on horses versus biodiesel. To help us out, our professor took us to talk to farmers who could tell us about the pros and cons of each option. After interviewing the farmer, I and my project partners rode draft horses for an hour and that too, bareback. I had never ridden on anything more than a tiny pony, and these were Suffolks. Yes, initially I was petrified by the idea of being thrown off the beast of a horse, but later… it was all good. In fact, I was thrilled to know that these horses were visiting CC to give hayrides in the Green and Bluegrass festival the very next day. We volunteered to help them out in exchange for a few more bareback rides. The end of block 2 signified the end of my FYE, the end of meeting the people I had been to class with for two months. And I knew I would miss them. And I also knew we would stay in touch. It was strange how we all were equally apprehensive about how our new class would be. We were trying to figure out if any of us would take another course together in the future. The block break was not very different, except that there was a lot of time spent in one shopping mall we figured out how to get to. A lot more people stayed back for block break this time. My room got a makeover – we finally had the courage to sleep on lofted beds. Plans were made for the next block break. My friend is taking me home with her for Thanksgiving. |