As I mentioned in my last post, this semester has been a lot different than the last for a couple reasons, one of the biggest being my block. Last semester, I had four blockmates, and as of right now it’s just me and Anastasija!
Going from having a whole bunch of go-to people to just having one was a bit of an adjustment, and in the beginning we definitely had concerns about how this semester would work out. Our RA was actually worried that the two of us would get tired of each other, but I’m happy to say that this definitely has not been the case.
I would liken it to having a roommate in a normal year, but with a lot more opportunities for alone time. If I want to do something or see someone, all I have to do is text Anastasija and I’ve got a buddy to keep me company. Our classes line up so that we can eat every meal together- except for lunch on Mondays- and we spend the whole time jumping from topic to topic. Earlier this week, we spent fifteen minutes arguing about superheroes from movies neither of us had ever seen. We’ve started shipping two of the campus employees we run into a lot, and nearly every time one of us starts to quote something the other can finish it. I can’t say that I don’t miss our other blockmates, but it’s really nice to be on the same wavelength like this. I’ve likened us to the dorky best friend pairing in a teen movie, and we make way too many jokes about only having one friend. It’s kind of awesome.
And speaking of kind of awesome, Anastasija and I took the opportunity a couple weeks ago to cross an important item off of our Wellesley bucket list: traying!
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the concept, traying is an age old Wellesley tradition where students go sledding down Severance Hill, and the name comes from the olden days when the dining halls used to serve food on trays; students would nab a tray on their way out and use it as an improvised sled. These days we don’t have those anymore, so we’ve had to make do with other fake sleds. Anastasija and I both went for a storage container lid, but collapsed cardboard boxes are also quite a common pick. Enjoy the video below, which showcases my hopelessness in the art of sledding. How I manage to end up backwards every time, I will never know!
In other friendship news, Anastasija and I have decided to start writing a column for the Pom Bomb, our dorm’s weekly newsletter. We’re thinking about calling it “First Floor First Years” and it’ll just be full of whatever random thing we’ve latched onto that week, like Anastasija’s new obsession with BTS TikTok or the ranking system we’re creating for man buns. Maybe it’ll include fun little anecdotes about that time last week when I spent the whole walk home from the Ville singing along to the song they had been playing in the CVS only to immediately forget what it was when we got back to Pom- fear not, it came back to me while I was studying in bed a couple of nights ago and I remembered it was “High On You” by Survivor- or reviews of the latest Wellesley Fresh cuisine- the breadsticks at Bates today? Incredible. The asiago crusted chicken? Not quite as awesome- but no matter what it ends up being, I’m sure it’ll be entertaining. As the two of us love to remind each other, we’re the funniest people alive!
Tomorrow is a day I’ve been long awaiting, ever since the menus were posted on the Wellesley Fresh website early this week. Not only are they serving chicken strips for both lunch AND dinner, but there are going to be onion rings at late night! My poor Midwestern soul has definitely been missing greasy food, and I’ve been reminding Anastasija every day about how excited I am for tomorrow. Hopefully it all lives up to my expectations. If not, there’s always the chance of a CVS run to replenish my fruit snack stash to keep me excited.
Sending you joy,
A