Finals

As you can gather from the previous post, 'Finals' week at Reed was largely spent entertaining the parental unit, but, in her few spare hours - at night and early morn - the idiot put everything into seeing her friends. I say 'Finals' in inverted commas because the idiot had, in fact, handed in her final paper on the Monday, therefore leaving an entire week of freedom to say goodbye.

GIANMARCO: The first friend she made all they way back in August Orientations, and, in concordance with this, also the first to leave. They promise they will see each other again - but England being where it is, and Venezuela being where it is, this is all merely chat and hope.

THE 'JUST REALLY TIRED PARTY': After the parents' first day of sightseeing, an informal party is held in the Spanish House to bid farewell to Liana. The idiot ends up falling asleep in her chair, practically dribbling, with a glass precariously balanced on her knee. Falls victim to Aurore's camera of doom.

FRENCH HOUSE PARTY: Advertised as a second mini Renn Fayre, complete with a set of Stop Making Sense in the basement at 2am. We come across some old UEA students who had done the 06/07 Reed exchange. This is weird for the idiot: one of them now lives in Portland, and the other is marrying a girl he met whilst at Reed. I notice the idiot looking all thoughtful - a dangerous 70% of her desperately wants to stay in America. I remain at the party well into the early hours, but the idiot peels off early too sad and tearful to talk to anyone anymore.

MORELAND-SELLWOOD RUN: The gym has arsey opening hours during Finals Week, so we (yes - WE - Consette inclusive) take to running a roundabout route to 17th Avenue and back, opening up views of the city blocks in sunlight we had not seen before. 7 in the morning is a concept that should be explored with more regularity.

TRULY REVOLTING FRED MEYER DINNER: The parental unit seem to be shocked at the amount of meals the idiot can eat in a day (TWO), of course blaming America for this supposed change in stomach capacity. They frequently opt to miss out on supper while the idiot and I are left to fend for ourselves, thus prompting a peruse through the buffet salad bar at Fred Meyer on a Sunday night. The olives taste of metal, but even FM gives me reason to feel sad. So many memories.

KERSTIN'S BIO NOTES: In freshman year, Kerstin Espinosa Rosero took the most beautiful notes for biology class, which, four years later, she accidentally brings into Film Theory. The idiot sees them and falls in love: intricate diagrams of photosynthesis and zygotes and what-have-you. Kerstin, being the fabulous human being that she is, offers us these notes as a leaving present.

RIBS: Amazing freshman Lizzie makes ribs in the Sequoia kitchen on our penultimate evening. Kansas City Sauce. Mess. Goodbyes to the dorm, a lovely lot.

PACKING: All Sunday night. I refuse to help her on account of the backache. In the end the room looks so incredibly depressing we cannot stand to sleep in it.

Consette x