Killer Cars

Wow, how many days has it been since I last updated? Oh wait, you guys actually read this stuff? I thought I was just bullshitting the whole time.

Well if you haven’t read before, or just plain forgot, it is a little over a month before I leave for my Peace Corps journey at the lovely islands of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. If this is news to you, then you certainly know your place. My next 2 years will be filled with… well you’ll just have to read it because this blog will get much more exciting and a whole lot more mature.

So what the hell happened to me? Oh yeah, that’s right, I graduated college. But wait before that? Oh yeah, I got drunk.

So we’re going back, way back to before I got “drunk”. It looks as if I haven’t written a personal entry in over a month and a half. In this time, I would like to thank Andy for coming up on bar nights in April and encouraging me to drink. He started a trend that I would soon call “the drunkest nights of my life”. It was these trips to the bar, in mid April, did the whole end of semester celebration begin. Work was starting to pile and I finally found out my host country that the Peace Corps assigned me. Those together gave good reason to drink. Next time you see him, thank Andy for being a sure trooper. One I believe follows the motto of “work hard in order to party harder”.

This entry will attempt to skim the events of the last weeks of school. The last weeks are always filled with last minute cramming, and last minute parties, taking into account that most college classes are graded heavily on final assignments and exams. I haven’t been writing because a lot because of those reasons, and for extra events concerning myself as a graduating senior. I apologize if this stuff will bore you, as I am only writing this down for myself.

April: The highlight for the month of April has to be the Beach Party in my apartment at 404C Gables. This got underway as I was mildly impressed with myself when I threw a birthday party for my old roomie Jon Drake at the beginning of the month. It wasn’t that it was a pretty messy birthday party for an old dude…it was because since Jonah and Tutes were going to be missing, I had to handle it myself. I told some people, thinking the party would be small but it turned out to be a fairly messy time considering how much cleaned up hung-over the next day. Now, if I could pull a decent party off on my own, imagine the outcome if I really put some effort into it. My idea would be to throw a dumb party in the month of April because there didn’t seem to be anything to celebrate. A beach party would be the theme, with the intention that it celebrates nothing and that people would have to make an effort to get dressed in order to party. Hence, a good measure of my success.

The date for this so claimed Beach Party got changed multiple times. First, I had to accommodate Jonah’s surgery on the initial planned weekend. I began telling peeps about 2 weeks in advance for the “crazy banger beach party last weekend in April”. However I was convinced by many to delay the party for the next day after, a Saturday. I had already told everybody with great enthusiasm, but now one week before the party, I told everybody I changed the date for a good cause. Nobody seemed to revolt as I expected, and I honestly could not have picked a better time.

I approached this party in a different way as well. Instead of only telling a select few people, I actually told everybody I knew at UNH. Sure, I facebooked it, but word had already spread fast. Excitement grew, and grew and grew… and it surprised me how anybody from NH would be excited about a beach theme. What originally I thought was a joke to myself became something that looked like it had promise. Everybody had good expectations, which lead me to have the worst pre-party jitters since my 21st birthday.

Fast forward to that day. FRICKING ROCKED. After a failed campus wide attempt to bring back Spring Fling the prior weekend, we all forgot about it by the time we partied with leis and beach balls. All day it had been raining causing a foul mood, but it didn’t dampen anybody’s spirit when it was time. It was fun for me as I had friends come by from all different years of my UNH life, and some who have never partied with me before. There are pictures online, but they don’t do justice at all. I vaguely remember trying to give a friend of mine a “tour” of everybody in the apartment and I remember it took me and him about a half hour because it was just that damn crowded. More beer was stolen and more pranks (idiots got real clever on us) were pulled on this night which I view as a good indication of how hard it rocked. I also distinctly remember the time on the clock as I finally went to my room after the last person crashed. It was 4:17am.

Cheerful praise followed claiming it was the best party ever in 404C. I really like to agree, it is and by many others my favorite of all. In the end, the beach party in 404 was a very very good way to close out a legacy. The cops never showed up as well, despite how awfully loud it was even after quiet hours. No drama ensued either, as there was all nothing but love.

Other notable nights of April: the random Tuesday when it got wicked hot and TP was the place to be (Charles’ birthday), like I mentioned before, the many nights Andy Sherman came up, the random sty in my eye, CEOs and office hos, “She’s so lucky”, and anything else I forgot to mention.

Going into a little more detail now. The month of May started off a bit rough. I had three semester long group project reports due and a semester long history paper (my 20 something on boxer Jack Johnson got a perfect score!) that got topped off by my 3 presentations. The week got better as each one was out of the way. I got an early last day of classes on a Thursday, and went out to the bar! Went home that weekend although, after a Peace Corps meetup on Friday night.

One of the presentations I had to give was on the Monday after, at one of the conference rooms in Holloway Commons. My IS Project class is a senior level Information Systems Management class that does projects with sponsoring companies. The presentation in that class would cover the work that Nathaniel Bruno and I did for our company, a local glove manufacturer from northern New Hampshire. We consulted along with them in developing a marketing solution for its B2B/B2C website. It was the last report/presentation before my not too important final exams so it felt like the “swan song” of college. I was relieved after the presentation was finished, as the last moment of stress was out of the way. It was also the only time I wore a suit in college. Even though it was slightly made up on the spot.

My iPod came in the next morning, while I attended a work study party that was my closing goodbye to the staff. 3 years down and is the longest job I ever had. I’ll miss working with some of the professors, playing poker or other games in the office. I am however grateful that the 8ams I received this year have caused me to be more productive… while giving me the most demanding coffee habit.

Bars again w/ Andy on that Tuesday, don’t remember too much from that. I had a final Thursday morning, and started breaking down the apartment and went out again. Didn’t really take pictures as I spent most of the time in line trying to get downstairs at Libby’s. However, I saw a lot of familiar faces in line coming by to say hi while some were beginning to say their goodbyes. Waiting in that line was slightly more entertaining for that reason, even though it pushes me back to being more sober when someone gets a little nostalgic. Especially Wendall when he claimed that if I came back from Africa and needed a car, I could have it.

The next morning I packed my car with all my books, magazines, cds, and all small trinkets that could fit in my car that I wouldn’t need again. JT had a party for his birthday that night, while others at UNH partied over in Dover. I had to be back at UNH fairly early the next afternoon to be on the bus to go on the senior cruise (well I should go because I paid for it). Woke up late as usual, but it seemed like I had a good enough time to make it to UNH for 4:45. I get on the road around 2 and I’m taking my time to avoid any speeding violations.

Jonah calls me wondering what is taking me so damn long, and I remark that I will make it soon. The moment the call is over, my right back tire blows out as I am on interstate 95. I calmly keep my cool and pull to the side of the road. The tire can be changed and I can be on my way without freaking out. I had plenty of time to spare, or so I thought. As I am rummaging through my trunk pulling out my jack, I can’t find my tire iron. I calmly freak out for the next half hour and everybody including myself thinks I won’t be able to make to UNH for 4:45. After getting turned down for help from random strangers, I happen to find my tire iron sitting behind my subs. I change my tire into my donut in a speedy 3 minutes and am back on the road. I parked wherever in the Gables, got changed really fast and literally ran the whole distance from Gables to the visitor’s center as they were just beginning to board the buses. But the cruise was ‘alright’. I had a problem with the music choice and long bar lines. It was one of those thing that I worked so hard to get to where I was and I just expected more.

And that begins the last week of school. While I was busy cleaning my music for transfer over to my iPod, I also studied and had my last final on Tuesday morning. The free time remaining, I also used to start finalizing/closing out my obligations here in the states. That wasn’t really necessary, but I was already in the working mood. But more importantly, college was over and it was serious time to party. That Tuesday, I started over at TP’s Trivia night, Danielle was up, and ran into the AD crew, Forte, and some other peeps. I lost my original crew and the night was on my own and could have gone anywhere as I was still downing pitchers and swimming left and right. I don’t remember how or who took me to Libby’s but I continued my drinking there. But after my previous pitchers, I was wasted and it was time to stop. I again, don’t remember how I made it over to DHOP for pizza, but I did. And not even just once, but I got in the DHOP line and bought $1 slice pizza 3 times, each with a different friend that I kept running into dragging me in. It was Kim who I was in line with last, and the one who was sober enough to drive me home. This was the drunkest I was all month, and the drunkest I will be all week. What a way to kick it off.

Wednesday found me late for Irish Night at the Tin Palace. The usual Wednesday crowd was there and I had no surprise run-ins in this night. Nothing too surprising except that I broke one of the bar’s glasses in drunken humor, and a ridiculous $15 bar tab just for myself (this is Dirty Durham we are talking about here). A dead night in Durham, but not for the TP crowd.

I had an early headstart to Scorps on Thursday night. Tina was expected to make a visit over from Keene, and if I don’t see her now, I won’t know the next time that I’ll get a chance to. Jonah and me were the first dozen or so at Scorp’s and we had no problem scoring the only pool table. I was partners with Clive, from Kenya, the only guy I know who uses his passport to get into a bar. There were run-ins with some classmates, some I won’t see again ever, and the annoying Jager girl. Tina finally made it towards the end of the night, and LJ surprised me as well.

Graduation rehearsal was the next morning. Slightly useless but most of us were waiting for the Lobster clambake at the field. They had a singer directly from Jamaica, which I find ridiculous at UNH. Drinking beer was painful, especially considering I had been rip roaring drunk for the previous 3 nights.

I had wanted one last party at my apartment for the last time we are together’s sake, especially in time enough to have it, graduate, and move out. The party was a good time and this last get together would turn out to be the last Gables party I will ever go to. I invited everyone as usual again, although making it imperative that the old 404 crew show up. I got to see everyone again, except for Jon. It was also Marissa’s return to UNH after her semester abroad. Again, more old friends I said bye to some who I won’t see this summer.

The party wasn’t the fun part of the night, however everything after we got busted at qualifies as a great memory. We all laid on the down low after the party got broken up and some went different ways. It was recommended by someone that we hide out upstairs at Wendall’s until the heat in the apartment cooled down. I found Wendall’s shopping cart and had a brilliant idea to take the shopping cart back to 404 and bring back every ounce of alcohol I could find. I fit the cart in the elevator, stock up, and came back into Wendall’s with a cart full of booze. In the meantime, Wendall is screaming about how much he cleaned up his own apartment while we drank and tried not to touch anything. During the whole spiel, he’s racking up a damage bill of his own, kicking cupboard doors and punching out his lamp.

We came back down for ‘rut, and to give Wendell some time to chill. Andy had the great idea to beat up our beloved Polar bear to pieces (even encouraging me and 2 girls to do a jumping frog splash on it, off our dining room table, drunk of course). We made a surprise visit back to the other 404, feeding off of the laughs and the optimisim (Ivan breaking into a bedroom, optimistically, nothing we can do about it, laugh) that our night lead to. I finally crashed when I realized that all those who came to visit were not ever going to sleep (although we found Dan crashed in the spare bedroom the next morning, and nobody had a clue) and I had to walk in my own graduation the next morning.

I can’t say too much about graduation. Bringing family together is never really fun, even though there are only 4 of us. My camera broke conveniently the night before and my mom’s special battery to her camera died without her realizing. No family pictures, but commencement was really well done. No signs of rain, and for once, a full program as compared to previous years. In the speeches this year, they managed to keep baseball a recurring theme, which also helped boost special guest Tom Werner, Boston Red Sox owner. It was awesome to say I had a good graduation, and this ceremony helps me realize what college means to everybody, even if I’m not too gung ho about it.

I started packing my big items into my parent’s van after graduation traffic died down. Massive cleaning of the apartment soon went underway, and the fun of the week’s activities stopped. No more Gables parties, late nights and Durham bar hopping. At least for me. There was a small party in Dover that night, and I moved out quickly the next morning. It was time to head away from UNH, reminding myself that I won’t be back in this area for the same reasons as I usually do. On my drive home, I encountered the same feelings I had my drive home Freshman year moving out. That year was a great year, life won’t be the same, and everything was a truly remarkable experience.

In my opinion, it certainly was. I get reminded every time I am at home that UNH has become my life. I’ve made lifelong friends and have memories that I probably wouldn’t have gotten outside of college. It was a smart decision to attend an out of state school, just to be out of the element and be completely focused. Every time I am home, again, it feels like summer is only an excuse to sober up, reflect, and look forward to next year. This time I’m looking forward to getting my career started knowing that even if I’m not at UNH, I’m sure whatever I’m doing professionally will be because of my 4 years in the small town of Durham. The 4 years we spent studying, always questioning if any of it would lead us anywhere. And the 4 years we spent drinking of course, knowing exactly where that road was heading. Peace out, UNH.

Photo links

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarinva/sets/291292/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarinva/sets/291303/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarinva/sets/390285/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarinva/sets/394867/

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