Saturday, April 11, 2009

Journey to Susquehanna

The weekend of April 3rd finally saw me at Susquehanna. My family and I squeezed into a car and made the so called three and a half hour drive to the campus in Central Pennsylvania.

I should take some time to explain what is likely to be the worst part of what is otherwise a great trip. There were nine of us in one car. 9 in 1. What had happened was I invited everyone to come because three cousins of mine are reaching the stage of college looming over one's head - the very stage that I'm emerging from. And of course, their parents had to tag along. That drive became a war for space between everyone in the backseat of the car - a battle that left my sides rather sore for some time.

After the drive through hell, both inside and outside the car - we drove in rain, fog, and sunshine. Blasted bi-polar weather - we arrived. And I was charmed over. Everyone I met was completely friendly and helpful. I truly can see myself there for four years. Just one thing of interest - Central Pennsylvania.

See, I'm not a person who has much experience with America outside of major cities - namely New York City. In the countryside we past by, the houses were so far a part. When the night falls, its actually dark. Of course there were lights here and there, but that was just a darkness of night that I'm not use to - it was reminiscent of the Caribbean. Visiting Susquehanna had showed me something that I knew, but didn't really get until I got there - there is a different way of life out in the world.

What really emphasized this was my meeting with the Sociology faculty. There was a round table in the center of the room where the faculty members and accepted students sat - I being the lone student from New York. The conversation had somehow gotten to animals other than dogs and cats and the sort running around when one of the professors had - in the most nonchalant of ways - mentioned that there was once a bear in his back yard.

At that point, my mind went blank. Bears was not something that I signed up for, especially seeing as how I can just barely stand rats*. Maybe I'd make an allowance for Winnie the Pooh type bears, but then again everyone from that series has some sort of damage**. My face must have been some sort of reflection of my thought processes at which the professor turned to one of his co-workers and said "I really wanted to see the look on his face."

But this is what going to college is all about. The whole 'getting out there and seeing new things' bit. Central Pennsylvania should be good for me.

However, so help me god should I end up staring at the teeth of a hungry bear hanging over me...

*Get it? Bear and barely? Ain't I witty...
** Really, just think about it. Pooh had an addiction, Piglet was deathly scared of just about everything, Rabbit was anal-retentive, Tigger needed Ritalin and the list goes on and on. Most important was Christopher Robbin who needed serious help for hallucinating all those characters.

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