Oh Pierre, how can I thank you for your crappy design that keeps me coming back for more??

Half a semester down, 5 more to go. I think this means I am 1/6 of the way finished with grad school. How is this possible??

I can't say I've learned anything concrete, other than there is a lot of toxicity in the environment and a lot of it isn't even man-made. Oh, and Marty's on 106th sells the cheapest Monster around.

I've also introduced new vocab and buzzwords into my daily speech patterns, including "anthropogenic", "redox reaction" and "pesky environmentalist". I've also learned how to survive on approximately 5 hours of sleep on weeknights, using my weekends as extended siestas, wherein I become comatose and unresponsive for 2 days straight. (Sometimes 3!!)

I've made some really great friends already and feel totally lucky to have met such amazing people in this huge city. Once you have friends to have fun with and help sustain you, it makes living in a new city much easier!

I've realized there is still such a thing as a crappy roommate. My roommate is ridiculous. I don't think she's ever touched a dirty dish (after she deposits them in the kitchen sink where they mold and decay until I come in with my latex gloves and concentrated liquid soap). She wouldn't buy toilet paper after I held out for A WEEK. I bought it last time, so I assumed she'd step up. Common sense, right? Guess not. I kept a stash in my room for my own use, but I have no idea what she did in the meantime. I shudder at the thought. And the trash. She has never emptied any garbage can, and the "she who tops it drops it" rule is lost on her. Smelly garbage in the kitchen and girly (yes, girly) items spilling over the floor in the bathroom - it's the most puzzling thing I've ever witnessed. How is she able to be in an apartment that smells like steaming sour baby diapers and is littered with her disposable items. Truly disgusting.

Breathe.

Ok, so enough of that. Onto more exciting news...

I get to go home tonight!! I'm going to DC, which is so fitting for this weekend. What better place to celebrate independence day than the city where freedom was found? (Actually freedom was found in Philly...but who's counting) I'm so looking forward to hopping on my 6:00 train and truckin my yankee-poseur self back to the south where I belong. And taking a break from school. And being in air-conditioned housing. See you soon, DC.