With Friday, August 22nd came the termination of SURF. And so I went home and began my summer vacation for real. As in away from Caltech. (More will follow about my second half of SURF, but in a later post. I apologize for my anachronistic style.)
On Sunday the 24th, we went to drop my brother Leonard off at Pomona College. As a semester school, they get to start a whole month before we do. That being said, they also end about a whole month before we do. Not judging about which is better, but all I know is that I’m going to have a weird month at home without the ever-present little brother this summer.
We began driving at 6 am (definitely not my thing) in order to reach campus by 7:40. Then there was a hustle for my brother to register his name, while my mom and I went to the rummage sale to pick up a microwave and a fan–because, apparently, Leonard’s dorm only has one microwave and it’s located all the way in the basement level.
After multiple near-misses, we finally met the roommate, who comes from Germany and seemed quite chill. Introductions were made between the parents, room arrangements were discussed, and we all went to lunch.
^Early impressions: Pomona is awfully fond of square plates…
^A note on the wildlife: Their squirrels are skinnier than the Caltech squirrels! Perhaps we are too generous with ours (all those olive trees and their fruits must’ve raised their lipid intake or something). Pomona squirrels are not only able to climb trees but also scale buildings!
The rest of the day was the usual convocation speech and question-and-answer panels that comes with all first days at college (and yes, I am most definitely justified in making such a generalization after going through two college orientations). A noteworthy moment: they kicked all of the parents and family members out after 5 pm, under the pretense of treating them to a delicious reception involving coconut shrimp, blackberry-infused cheeses, and strawberry parfait desserts. You devious devil, you, Pomona College!
So it was that I came away one little brother short and several camera-phone masterpieces richer on the 22nd of August, 2014.
But we didn’t go home to stew over our loss–not at all. We went on vacation.
Till next time!
Anita
