el dia primero

today was orientation. i have a few thoughts...
-c. how looks like heather graham
-the leap is as awesome as i remember
-i am quite glad to have made the acquaintance of the vine
-the 1st year students were less than enthralling, but will make adequate friends
(perhaps, some day i'll be good friends with them, and give them the address to my blog, and they will read back-posts, and hopefully won't be offended-because its not a bad thing. just that none of them strike me as my new best friend. no new wives here).

the last few days i've been trying to remember what i was feeling those first days in carbondale.
so, in case i have similar memory problems of my first thoughts here, i will briefly describe the people and my impressions.
-fratty boy with MA from UMD, does some sort of gentrification stuff ("perhaps in latin america")
-peruvian guy who will likely fill the void left by mr. s espinosa, batres, y rodriguez. not as outgoing as the 3 of them, but not as creepy as c-los. and probably the only good conversation i had today. he studies indigenous development in the peruvian rainforest.
-quiet bio girl who studies "the effects of culture on the skeleton"
-former military guy who studies gentrification. he is the subject of the most exciting thing that happened today.
-older woman getting a MAPA studying similar gentrification issues. she is aunt judy's cool doppleganger.
-older (than me) phd guy who's interests i don't remember, but he may have talked me into being his vice president of the CAS grad student council.
-married woman with specs appeal and an MA from Temple who studies tourism
-MAPA girl from florida who seems like someone i would have been good friends with in high school
-young guy who's mom does some sort of massive international public health something. after hearing he lived on the rez for a while, i wanted to talk to him, but after hearing him talk more i was less convinced of this fact
-another woman who's interests i don't recall, but i do remember that she, like most othrers, does US work.
-a young mother who has "good stories" and souvenirs from Zimbabwe, with a Masters in Ed, who is working on public school issues
-Youngish girl from Oregon doing ESL issues, who reminds me of Ra.Lo. vaguely. Someone who i would have known and liked in college, but not necessarily on the inner circle. i'd say she has the most wife potential. but i'm still not convinced.

now, for the most exciting part of the day: we had a little break in between speakers, and it was suggested we stand up and stretch. we complied, and the next thing we knew, one of the guys and fallen to the floor and was having what looked like a ceisure. he got up right away and was confused and didn't know what had happened. emts came and checked him out. he was fine, but it was a little crazy. quite a way to be introduced to a cohort.

anyway, so i'm left contemplating this party tomorrow night. they did seem to go out of their way to invite 1st year students, and i want to meet more people. plus it starts fairly early, so i could do a quick appearance and leave smoothly, most likely, if its awkward. i'm not well-known for my ability to strike up a conversation with strangers, but i figure i can always ask what their specialities (pronounced spe-see-al-i-tees, if you please) are.