For the first time this semester, I missed class due to being ill. I’m not sure if I’m actually sick or if my incredibly hectic schedule has just made me really run-down, but being able to lounge around all day has been really nice and I feel more relaxed. My weeks are so busy because I’m a bit of a sign-up junkie and consequently, I will be playing intramural softball for the rest of the semester, and yesterday I found myself tutoring two inner-city kids (Marielis is seven and Tamia is ten) – an activity I had signed up for about two months ago.

The tutoring was a really interesting experience. After my accidental foray into the ghetto during Lizzie’s visit, I ended up in a different and worse ghetto yesterday. As we (Peter, Jenny and I) approached the school, a woman was screaming and shouting and cursing. Once we arrived at the thick metal security doors, we realised that she was there to pick up her child from school. The school official who came out to meet her had some issues about this, however, as she was quite obviously either high or drunk. This was my introduction to the tutoring program.

The school was unlike any I had ever been in before. Obviously, it is a difficult area, and so it’s probably a good thing that most of the teachers I saw looked like ex-wrestlers. Signs warned “Weapons are prohibited on school property”, and I wondered whether they were for the children or their parents. The two kids I tutor were nice, though, and Marielis told me that she doesn’t have any toys at home, which broke my heart a little. Although I do not in any way want to be a teacher, I enjoy being around kids, and seeing as I geekily love learning I always want to impart that enthusiasm to others. I don’t think Marielis likes me much (she kept asking when she could go back to class), but hopefully we’ll be able to work through that.

Saturday was Rufus Jones Day at Haverford, and it was also Holi, which is one of my favourite festivals. But before I describe just how paint-covered I got, I’m going to give you a rollicking ride through one of the best college-sanctioned events at Haverford so far this year.

Rufus Jones, after whom both Rufus Jones Day and one of the dorms are named, was a Haverford graduate and professor who wrote part of the Honour Code, founded the American Friends Service Committee, and won a Nobel Peace Prize. He is seen as the embodiment of Haverfordian values, and so a group of students and alums decided to celebrate him through a series of events on Saturday. Blueberry pancakes, discussion groups, a game of giant Twister (sadly curtailed by the weather), a panel discussion, and a faculty and senior students mixer were held. As I was covering the panel for the Bi-Co (my article: http://www.biconews.com/?p=16596), I had to go, and it was probably one of the most interesting events I have attended. The panel was made up of three alums – a political analyst for NPR and Fox, the head of the New York AIDS Institute, and the head of domestic operations for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For two hours, students could ask any questions they wanted, and the responses were candid and informative, the debate lively and good-natured.

Later in the evening, I got to interview the two alums who helped to establish the event, and then even later in the evening I received a phone call to round up the exchange students to help finish the keg that was left after the mixer. Consequently, I found myself drinking beer with my previously intimidating Jihadi Movement professor, which was a slightly surreal but great experience.

Right after the panel, I dashed over to Lloyd Green where some of my friends had decided to hold a Holi celebration. Holi is the Hindu festival for spring, and involves throwing paint and water on people. I love it. I got absolutely covered in a variety of colours despite arriving a couple of hours late, and danced to Bollywood songs to ward off the cold. Unfortunately, as I stupidly left my camera in my friend’s room in China, I have no pictures of this, although I will try and find some. The blue paint (in which I was liberally doused) was especially hard to get off, and the palms of my hands were a blue-ish green for a couple of days.

Yesterday marked the beginning of water-tag. It used to be called “assassin”, but in the light of various school shootings, this name was deemed to be in bad taste. Basically, you sign up, you’re given the name of your target, and you have to hunt them down/stalk them/surprise them and then shoot them with a water pistol. Meanwhile, someone is hunting you. Once you have shot someone, you get their target’s name and you continue on until you’re shot. It’s going to be great fun, although I’m already paranoid that everyone I see is waiting to shoot me. I have survived the first day (many did not), and in the morning I’m off to the toyshop to buy myself a water gun.

Until next week.