The Face of a Party Animal

If anyone outside my immediate family can identify that reference, I will be impressed. Last week the new students arrived. Therefore, we had a few parties. Last week I managed to attend 6 parties in three days, plus some dinners as well. Only last night did I finally get to rest (though probably not for long).

Throughout last week new students arrived, but on Thursday the program officially began. The new students were taken on a tour of Delft led by staff and old students. They were one person short, so I volunteered to lead a group. Though I had not recently studied my formal history of Delft, I thought my tour was useful, pointing out the bank and grocery stores, explaining very clearly that one does not buy coffee at a coffeeshop, it is for marijuana, if you want coffee you need to go to the cafe, but not the coffeeshop. We also took a canal cruise. After the tour, the new students got a speech from the director, followed by their first official party, the IHE Dutch party. There was cheese and pancakes, raw herring and beer, typical music but no dancing. We met lots of new students and had a great time. For me the night ended early, considering I had defended my thesis proposal earlier that day.

Friday was much busier. That was the day of our departmental party. We had been planning this party for three months, for it had been postponed since August. The students pooled our funds and made dinner, while the staff provided drinks. So, once again we took over the school's kitchen for a few hours to cook kilos or rice, dozens of chickens, and hundred of chocolate chip cookies. Mmm, cookies. Maybe because they are easy to handle, or sweet and tasty, but it seems that about a quarter of them left the kitchen before the party (since the rule is that broken cookies can be sampled, many cookies happened to break :) The food was excellent and we had a great time, but when it was over I went to the Environmental Science party for a few hours, then a salsa party. Three parties in one night, not bad.

Saturday I slept in. But not for too long, since futbol began again that afternoon. It was nice to play with new students, but it was tiring since we hadn't played in a few months. After that I rested in preparation for the party here in Mina for new students. But in the evening, on the way over, I saw some of my classmates who invited me to their Ethiopian party (this year there are 22 new students from Ethiopia). I was on my way to meet friends, but decided to stay for a beer. Oh, but there is food, of course I will try some. It is time for the coffee? Yes, that would be nice. I cannot leave now because we are going to start dancing. For those who have not seen Ethiopian dancing, it is wonderful. I wish I had a video to share, but there is lots of shoulder movement that is almost impossible to describe. I tried to learn, but was not very successful.

Finally, there was one more party. It lasted all night, though I left around 3AM. It was lots of fun to spend time with the new students. The dancing never stopped, though I eventually did, exhausted by the busy days prior. And then it was Sunday. A Sunday that actually had sun. So Elena, Simon, Julia and I rode to town for a coffee, and I had an epiphany to cook dinner that night and suddenly it was dinner for nine at my place. While I do not have enough tables or chairs, Bin had left me with plenty of plates, forks, and glasses, plus a dishwasher too. Spend the week recovering?