Easter Break at Princeton

I have an extended break for Easter so I decided to go visit M this past weekend over in Princeton for a few days. I ended up driving to there from DC so about four hours and an unhealthy amount of "Call Me Maybe" later, I arrived around 3. After lots of hugs and "I missed you"s, I dropped off my stuff in her suite and we went out and she did a little tour of campus which was....oh man. Princeton's campus is probably one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The buildings are all stone-and-arches old fashioned on the outside but thoroughly modern on the inside. There were also so many green spaces and lawns too which is something that is sorely lacking at my school. There was even a sand volleyball pit right outsider her dorm, damn. The campus was also much larger than I expected, with lots of space between buildings and meandering walkways going off in every direction. Overall, fantastic.

After a brief tour, I started meeting some of M's friends. Her suitemates were all really sweet and welcoming and I also got to meet M's hot bro/varsity volleyball player neighbors who she's very close friends with. I ran into them a few times during my stay and they made a good impression on me. I also met one of M's best friends Kan when we went out to dinner Friday night at one of their dining halls. We ended up clicking immediately since we both shared a love for the French language and culture and also because she's also very easy to talk to. We decided that we were soul mates after we both agreed that we found one of M's bro neighbors to be the hottest out of the three - that was also the moment I ended up coming out her in a not to graceful way but that wasn't a big deal really. After dinner we hung out in the dorms for the first part of the night and watched the Matrix with her suitemates. Later that night, we went to see another movie at the in town theatre the school bought out for the night called Pariah which is about an African American teenage girl coming to terms with her sexuality and being a lesbian. I was expecting it to be really heavy and dense which it was, but it was actually a very, very well put together film. I highly suggest looking into it since I think it's in limited release right now.

Saturday, M and I got lunch at a local Indian restaurant and then I spent part of the day studying for some more midterms I have coming out since she needed to go to a few meetings. That night I went out to dinner with some of M's friends from the International Relations Club to a local brewery/restaurant which was really good. I got the pork belly sandwich (think about a thick, grilled, meaty slice of bacon) which was fantastic. The two guys we went out with were also really cool; one was a soldier in the army and now is a junior (he's in his late 20s) and the other guy was the previous president of the club. They wanted to hear stories about M from back in high school and in exchange they told me stories about M at college which I gladly obliged to. That night was also Kan's birthday so after dinner M and I baked her chocolate-coffee cake with coffee icing and brought those to the pregame for Kan's birthday night. That was actually part two of Kan's birthday surprise since earlier that day we had also broken into her room and covered her walls with pictures of Ryan Gosling since she has an obsession with him; she found it plenty amusing and M and I had a great time decorating the place. After hanging out, we ended up going to one of the eating clubs which was a definite change from the social scene at my school. They're former mansions on this street near the school which have been converted into social clubs and alternative dining halls for students. You have to apply to and essentially rush many of these clubs, but once you're in, you can attend all of their social events and eat all your meals there. The basement held an open bar and tables and tables of pong, while the main floor had a giant sitting room, a patio, and a room with a DJ to dance in. The whole idea of it was pretty genius in my mind. I danced a little, chatted, and chilled with Kan and a few of her friends for most of the night. We got back to M's dorm around 2:30 that night and crashed soon after.

Sunday was a chill day. We got brunch and then meandered around campus a little more and just chatted. I also ran into one of my other classmates from high school who also ended up at Princeton that I hadn't talked to in almost a year. She also seemed to be doing well which was cool. After a little more walking and stopping to get some frozen yogurt, it was time for me to depart. I had a long drive ahead and M had work to do so we said our goodbyes that afternoon. My GPS ended up taking a different route on the way back which confused me since I ended up driving through Philly which I didn't do on my way up but otherwise all was smooth and again Call Me Maybe-ful.

Overall, my trip to Princeton was a brilliant. The campus is absolutely amazing, the people are really open, friendly, and not one bit uptight or pretentious unlike Yale or Harvard folk, who are some of the most obnoxious people I've ever met. Seeing M again was fantastic since we were pretty much best friends in high school and nowadays I only get to see her via Skype or over the summer. I'm also glad to see she is doing well and really enjoying her time at the school. I'll admit that I was worried about her for a period of time that she was overworked and super stressed but it looks like everything worked themselves out now.

I hope you had a nice Easter weekend and that everything has been going well in your neck of the woods.

All the best,

JP