"And out came the sun and dried up all the rain..."

Like Eensy Weensy Spider, I have been enjoying this sunshine to the max! It's been since I've updated what I've really been doing (not rehashing stories and pics from Spring Break), and so I failed to mention that I think SPRING IS FINALLY HERE! While we do have our days of absolute freezing temperatures, most days are relatively mild (yet I still have to wear my down coat - mild around here is about ten degrees). The semester is coming to a close, and I can't help but reflect on these past couple months and thank my lucky stars I have had the most wonderful opportunity to meet some incredible people, made friends for life, and experienced things I will never forget. This semester is unique for it will be the first Pesach that I'm not spending with my family - I'm spending it with my roommate Rebecca in New Jersey. Far away from Mum's memorable seder at home. And far away from one of the biggest events in our family calendar.

I had the opportunity to hear Jonathan Safre Foer speak last week. I was smitten - he is smart, witty, a writer, and Jewish. Too bad he's married to another writer (Nicole Krauss of 'History of Love' fame) with a nine week-old son and internationally famous. He's even been impersonated by Elijah Wood. (JSF wrote Everything is Illuminated (but not the movie... and the movie he said, was an interesting experience to watch. He saw it in the cinemas during the day where the audience consisted of two other people other than himself.) and he also wrote Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) We don't get those kinds of speakers in Melbourne - let alone Melbourne University. Who would want to shlep all the way out to Australia? JSF lives in Brooklyn, a mere hour and a half away from Philadelphia, not a twenty hour flight across the Pacific.

Last weekend's events were just as interesting. I had hoped to go to Hillel for Friday night dinner, but I promised my roommate Jess that we'd go to the annual Penn fashion show to see her boyfriend pirouette on the runway. Beforehand, I joined Rebecca at the Hawaii Club's annual Lua. I wondered how many Hawaiians there are at Penn. I'm sure you couldn't get a more different culture between the two states. Rebecca's friend was performing in the Tahitian dance troup (okay, not Hawaii but certainly in the similar Pacific region?) and boy could those girls shake their hips! It was like they were detached from their torsos! Wow. We also had Hawaiian food for dinner (a little different from the oily chicken served at Hillel dinners) and enjoyed a Hawaiian band. But when Jess came round to the Hall to pick me up for the fashion show, she informed me that they had oversold the tickets, and those with a specific number on the paper ticket had to be refunded. So there was the end of my fashionista night. But no matter, I joined Rebecca and went to see a great show by a comedy/acapella group called Penn Six. They perfomed skits sending up the school and songs mocking the different sororities/fraternities and groups at Penn. Most of the group (coincidentally enough?) are Jews, so Jewish humour was also thrown in. A funny song though was to the Beatles song "Yesterday" - titled "Nick Lachey - all his troubles seemed so far away... Now it looks as if they're here to stay... Oh I love you, Nick Lachey." People at Penn like their acapella groups - there are over 50 clubs! But, as usual, only a handful are any good. Penn Six was a fun event.

This weekend was Spring Fling - an excuse for all students to get roaring drunk and engage in activities they will regret on Sunday morning. Some start drinking on Wednesday... but most begin on Friday... morning! I could never do that (seriously! In the morning? Gross!) Rebecca and I decided to be classy and make Pina Coladas and Mojitos - which tasted delicious. Rebecca, Maija and I then went to hear the John Butler Trio in concert. It was SO much fun! The crowd was really into the music, we were dancing, and John Butler is amazingly talented. What was really weird was when his partner came out to sing a Bob Marley love song with him. All of a sudden, Rebecca said to me, "Hey, she looks like you." And oh my, did she look like me... Or I look like her? She was even wearing an outfit similar to something I wear - a stripey long top with a belt, and her hair was the same style as mine... Whoa. It was a strange experience.
It was an awesome concert. These pics are (in clockwise order) of maija, rebecca and me.

Afterwards we went back to campus and headed off to Smokes (or Smokey Joe's), a pub/club a little like the Armadale, to dance the rest of the night away. Us Australians like this place because it isn't as sleazy as the other club on campus, MarBar, nor as grotty as the other pub on campus, Blarney's. These pictures are of a group of us that frequent Smokes - its made up of myself, Maija, Amma, Kate (a British exchange student), Laura (an American) and others who come and go with each night.














Unfortunately the weather was damn horrible the next day, raining and windy and freezing, which kinda spoiled the rest of Spring Fling - nobody wanted to go outside. Rebecca, Maija, Rania and I went out for brunch, which seemed to take up most of the afternoon - which suited us perfectly as we didn't want to go out in that rain. But later that day we did. Some bands were playing in the Quad, and we had to try the Spring Fling traditional food - fried Oreo. Surprisingly, it wasn't so bad, but you could only have one... Otherwise you'd feel sick. So much fry!















The photos are listed as follows: Pic 1# Spring Fling in the rain. Pic 2# Shreya (Rebecca's highschool friend who came from New York for the day), Rebecca, Maija, and Rania. Pic#3 Rebecca looking a lot like Kenny from South Park rugged up in the cold misery of a day. Pic 4#Rania and me. Pic#5 Maija, Rebecca, Rania, me and Shreya. Pic 6# Jess, Amma, Maija, me, Rebecca and Rania. Pic#7 Me and my roomie Rebecca.