I wanna rock right now

I had a great weekend. And it was funny because it was completely removed from all things BU. Do you ever think that sometimes you get so wrapped up in what you are doing and where you are that you forget the world around you is going on without you? That everything continues? That the CORE project you are working on is not the most important thing in the world? Guilty. I feel like this semester I've been so wrapped up in what is going on with my academics and the stuff immediately around me at BU that I haven't even really thought about the world outside. But, like I said, this weekend I got a chance to get away. I went to Connecticut and the Rhode Island because my Uncle got married. My parents flew to Boston on Thursday, picked me up, and we drove to Connecticut together. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Indian weddings, they are long. They are long and tons of fun because brown people will basically take advantage of any chance to party. Because we love dressing up, playing loud music, and being obnoxious in general. Because we can.

The thing that was the most fun about this wedding (apart from all the partying and the fact that my dad's family is so wonky that I have uncles my age so I got to do lots of going out for my 21st birthday) was that I got to see my dad's entire family. I never get to see them. I feel like every time the Patel clan decides it is time to gather they do it in either Houston or Savannah or somewhere else in the south while I am allllll by my lonesome. At school. In the North. Well, this time, the entire Patel clan came to the North. And it was great. I got to see my Dad's actual brother and his family, Akhil kaka (the one who lives in Boston), Akshay kaka (the one who got married) their sister avanee, and then sachin and samir kaka (both live in houston). So the funny thing about this, is that apart from my dad's brother, all of my uncles and aunts just listed are under 30, because way early on in our family someone decided to remarry twice to someone younger each time (my role model). So Thursday night after we got to the hotel and got dressed, we went to the house for dinner and then we all hung out talking and getting henna tattoos done on our hands (traditional part of Indian weddings-its how we start the party)

Friday morning I woke up, got dressed, and we went back to the house for the morning prayers that go before you move the groom's party to the Bride's "house" (in this case the Crowne Plaza where the wedding was to be held). The thing about Indian weddings when you are close to the family is that you basically don't eat even though the food is great and you basically don't sleep. But still, so much fun. So we went to the house and chilled while the ceremony was going on. I got to meet a couple of the groomsmen and paint Akshay kaka (in this weird paste stuff that is supposed to make your skin look awesome but really just makes a mess) and then eat. After that we all loaded up in our cars and headed to the Crowne Plaza in Rhode Island. Hello caravan. I slept the entire way. Which was probably the last good sleep I got all weekend....oops.

When we got to Providence, we checked in and then I...went to the gym. Haha. Big surprise. But I have to make sure I'm not getting fat if I have to squeeze into indian outfits. Let's get real. But after that I went to go shower, get dressed, and help set up for the garba. So I LOVE garba. It's my favorite part of any event, especially weddings. So I love that Akshay kaka made it a part of his wedding. I also did a dance for them because that is what close family does at Indian weddings and Akshay kaka had asked me to. Too bad I only took 3 days to prepare for it because of CORE midterms. Oh well. I think it went pretty well regardless. So garba: good. Dance: good. The other part of that night was going to Alfred's bar with Akhil Kaka and getting to meet all of the groomsmen....gooooood. Haha. It was actually just really funny because kaka tends to introduce me to his friends as his cousin, even though that is absolutely not true. But I have learned from experience that it is best not to correct him or risk his wrath. He likes to think he is still pretty young and I guess I'll let him. Hehehehehe. So I had drinks with them Friday night and it was an "official" celebration for my birthday because they insisted we take tequila shots to properly welcome me to 21....thankfully I had the presence of mind to refuse to actually take 21 of them... When we got back I fell into bed, passed out, and woke up a few hours later to shower, get dressed, and start setting up for the wedding.

So getting to an Indian wedding when you are part of the groom's side is one of the most fun things ever. Basically the whole groom's side takes an hour to walk from the hotel lobby to the tent where the wedding was and you have a bhangra drummer and music playing the entire time and you jam out and dance the whole way. Also, we spent the hour amidst all the dancing strategizing how we were going to avoid having Akshay kaka's shoes stolen. So another thing about Indian weddings: the groomsmen (and in our family the women in the party too because we have so few guys) protect the groom's shoes with their lives; the girls on the bride's side try to steal them. The point? If the bride's side gets ahold of the groom's shoes, they sell them back to the groom at the end of the wedding. Yah, we have weird traditions and culture, but what american wedding do you go to where you get to chase people around in the middle of the ceremony trying to tackle them to get a pair of shoes? So we hatched a plan. Two of Akshay kaka's groomsmen (the white ones...basically, pretend the shoe is a football and this is the superbowl...worked like a charm) took the shoes and hid them in their outfits. Halfway through the wedding they pretended they felt sick, went into the hotel, and put them into one of the rooms. The funniest part is the bridesmaids thought that Akshay had left his shoes out with everyone elses so they went and stole all of the groomsmen's shoes thinking one of them were probably Akshay kaka's. So they had all the guys' shoes and we had Akshay kaka's....The guys weren't so happy about that part but we eventually got all of their shoes back. After the wedding we had lunch and then "nap time" which was really only an hour so I went to the gym again...and the groomsmen were in there too but I got to the treadmill first :). Why no sleep? because I would have just kept sleeping through the reception if I went anywhere near my bed.

RECEPTION!!!!!!! After my run I got in the shower, got dressed (I wore my FAVORITE sari for the reception....it is very easy to put on compared to most because I didn't have to pleat it at all....for those of you who know anything about saris) and then I went to cocktail hour. My very first legal cocktail hour. Dad "bought" me a margarita (open bar) and we had a drink together....which was weird.........but fun :) After that Samir and Sachin kaka bought me drinks. Then avanee foi took a shot with me (she claims she is too old for them but she took it like a champ) and then Akhil kaka insisted on buying me a drink. Around the time the dancing started I was in a pretty good place and tried to avoid the bar all costs. But with my family....not so easy. After the reception we threw Akshay kaka an afterparty in the hotel....at which I did dumb stuff I don't care to recount. But oh well.

My opinion on dumb stuff: You do it and you get over it. I had a conversation with Shivkumar (one of my FTKD newbies) at our initiation party in which he drunkenly asked me if I had regrets. And I told him there is stuff in my life that I know I shouldn't have done and had I not done them I probably would have had an easier time/gotten in less trouble. But do I have any regrets? No. All life experiences are just that: experiences. You learn from everything and you take it all in stride. You know not to do it the next time. You are a better person because of it. You are who you are because of every small, tiny, miniscule decision you have made and experience you have had--these are the building blocks of YOU. Take out any one block and you are someone else.

Just my thoughts
Radhi

If you ain't running with me run from me motherfucker

Ok so the title of this post really has nothing to do with the actual post. It is just a line from a song that came on my Pandora station that I thought was kinda interesting. And lately I seem to have a ton of people running with me, which is kinda a great feeling. So after midterms were done on Thursday I went to practice and then commenced what was possibly the most out of control weekend of my life (barring London....but that doesn't count because it is a different country). Thursday night after practice I met up with Simoni, Arun, and my new friends Matt and NATHAN IPPPPPPP at Beacon Tavern for what I thought was going to be a couple celebratory "yay we are still alive" drinks post midterms. I walk into the bar and Govada is PLASTERED. I walk to the bar and attempt to order a couple tequila shots (brilliant me decides that in the hour and a half before the place closes it would be awesome to drink one for each of our four midterms). But Govada decides that he is drunk and loves everyone and he wants to buy all of my drinks....and there is no reasoning with a drunk Indian crazy person from Hong Kong. I then SNEAK back to the bar to order a drink but when I later go back for the other two tequila shots? Govada once again. He also picked up everyone else's tab that night (Saturday night I was forced to hide his credit card when we went out so he wouldn't really go for broke). THEN when I went to order my last drink, the bartender almost tried to cut me off, when I was VISIBLY not drunk. (ok maybe just a little, but nowhere close to needing to be cut off). In the end I convinced him to give me my drink though :) so all was right with the world. After Beacon Tavern closed at 2 (I will never understand why bars close at 2 here) we went to Govada's and smoked sheisha until I was close to passing the fuck out....and so I did.

Friday morning I woke up because my phone was going off the hook-we didn't have class so I intended on sleeping until I woke up (something I haven't experienced in a while). Then I realized it was no longer Friday morning. It was 12:40 pm and I was supposed to be at choreography for FTKD. So I lugg my sleepy butt to Roopa's to choreo. At 3 I lugged my sleepy ass back home, got into Connor's bed, and watch tv and napped and schnuggled with him. Until 7 pm. At which point I realized it would probably be a smart idea to go to the gym considering I have a wedding to go to this coming weekend and I didn't exactly visit the gym tons of times last week. So I made Connor go with me and then I went home, showered, got dressed, and went to the FTKD BONDING PARTYYYYYYYY. To prepare Riya had made jello shots and we had gotten ahold of four loco and slizzy cups. And what ensued was one of the most OOC FTKD get togethers I have ever witnessed in my years on the team. Alums from before I was even on the team showed up. I had a great conversation with Shivna, who was captain the year before my freshman year (everyone says I am the new her but there is no way. That girl is absolutely bat shit nuts). I also had a great conversation about revolutionizing our choreo with Ravi, who was also on the team before I was-and it was nice because we usually don't talk very much when we are drunk...anyways. Long story short? Night ended with lots of table dancing, lap dances, and sajan and me running around spanking everybody. Paven kept smelling my hair and body shots happened at some point....and finally we ended at Gigas. Dear Gigas. Thank god you stay open until 3 am :)

Saturday. I guess this part is where the post title kinda makes sense? I woke up (again...kinda late. You'd be surprised how much recovery sleep you need when you have been keeping yourself awake by drinking red bull/amp'd every 5 hours for 5 days....) SO I woke up and made my way to the gym. Did abs while I waited for FTKD to come join me forrrr......OUR FIRST TEAM CARDIO SESSION EVARRRRR :D I am SO proud of my babies for agreeing to do this for me, I feel like it is going to be a key part of us kicking ass and taking names this year. So I had them all on the track upstairs running with me. And it made me so happy. And then we went downstairs and had practice and as a happy little surprise, Paven, Parvo, Shivna, Nimesh, and Ravi allll came by to watch what we had so far and critique us so we can get BETTER :) It was a great practice for the girls....the boys kinda turned into chatty cathys but they paid for it later.....hehehe. So after practice I went home, napped (still feeling the effects of no sleep for a week) and then I showered and headed to Simoni's to get dressed for Shinjini's 21st!!!!!!!! I had just bought a new black dress when we went for our team dinner a few weeks ago and decided this would be a great time to pull it out. And I think it looked pretty good except it was a little obscenely short so I asked Sim to make sure to punch me in the face if I got too drunk and started being inappropriate. We went over to Shinjini's to pregame and wait for the partttyyyyyy busssssss and then pretty much danced the night away. It was her entire home crowd from Jersey and all of her friends from here. We ended up at Sanctuary, which was a BLAST because everyone was just having a good time. Minimal drama and tons of friends = goooooood night. I also met someone who I already knew but didn't realize it was him.....Sorry Kinnell. Kinnell is captain of one of my rival raas teams and I met him at a competition last year. He was at Sanctuary and I had drinks with him and his friend and talked to them but my drunkass didn't realize it was actually him (in my defense you cut off all your hair) until we spoke the next day...whoopssieeee.

Sunday I woke up for another day of practiceeeee. The team had breakfast together at 11 :) and then we all went to practice together. We got tons done and I was so happy. And then I headed to Simoni's where we basically vegged out, ate, and then allll of us skyped with my mom to pick out my outfits for this weekend's wedding! I went home and showered and then the girls took me out to dinner for a lil bit of early birthdayyyyyy. We went to bar lola (where they dance the slasa) and had tapas and white sangria (favorite meal) and then we headed home. The girls started being really shady and I thought it was because it was a sunday night and we were all tired, but every time I said let's do (insert activity), they go "ehhhhh why don't we just chill and watch a movie?" So finally I gave in. I figured everyone was a little partied out. We started watching "Ever After" and I actually fell asleep while we were watching. But these crazy girls woke me up at 11:45 talking about they suddenly had the urge to go smoke sheisha and wanted to go to Riya's to smoke. And so they dragged my ass out to Riya's and we walk into the building, up the elevator, and as we walk into the room practically everyone I know at Boston University is crammed into the room singing happy birthday to me. It was the cutest most adorable best thing EVER. And I LOVE my friends for doing that for me. There were three cakes and tons of happy smily loving people and I felt so damn lucky for having all of these people in my lifeeeeeeeee. After we ate all the cake and smoked some of us headed downstairs to An Tua Nua, where I officially used my REAL ID for the FIRST TIME EVARRRRRRRRRRR. It was awesome. Then I really did go home and pass out. Cause 21 or not, it is time for another week of CORE.

Radhi

Welcome to the 7th circle

If at this point in my life I could imagine what Dante's Seventh Circle felt like, this would be it. And yes, I'm being a drama queen because I know that the MCAT and the LSAT and the DAT and a whole bunch of other tests are a ton worse but at this point I've had enough red bulls and sleep deprivation to where I don't really care. Dear Professor Hibbard: I shook my fist at you in anger behind your back today. Why? Because I don't understand why a learning institution (and most humans interpret that as an institution designed to help students LEARN) would decide to simulate the real world in a fashion that is completely unrealistic and not at all conducive to learning. In what world would you be forced to ingest a whole half semester's worth of information in ONE WEEK for FOUR CLASSES right after a huge presentation and then regurgitate said information in two 5 hour periods spaced one day apart? Who does this help? The student? No, we forget the information a mere 2 or 3 days after we take the test. The professors? No. You have some skewed belief that those of us who do well on the midterms understand the material but really we are just good at memorizing and vomiting out information at you. Society? (as I have memorized, they tend to be the last stakeholder in all sorts of important decisions such as supply marketing strategy, implementation, and also Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives--for all you other SMG nerds out there) no. Society will shortly receive an influx into the working class of people who can memorize tons of information but actually DO nothing.

Anyways, I took a break from memorizing stuff for these exams to rant I guess about how pointless they really are. But then again. We are all just slaves to the system. We will continue to cram the information into our brains knowing that the only opportunity for actual learning is in the real world and the only means to that opportunity is to do well as a student. So the professors will pull the strings as best they know how and the puppets will dance. Just my thoughts.

Radhi

must function at design capacity!

Hey guysss! So I know it has been ages and the nerdy title can be attributed to the fact that I may or may not have been locked up in a hole of SMG for the past few hours studying my brains out. But I am in a good place right now and ready to open a can of whoopass on these exams...hopefully :) PS shawn...studying is not nerdy on a saturday night if you take breaks to do fun dumb shit and you have four ginormous midterms in one week. I'm jussayin :P. So where to begin? Barring the past week of intensive studying I have been dealing with a team intensive semester (good thing I love my team) and the pledge process has begun and thanks to my past experience with the fraternity I think I am well on my way of making this a very professional, successful pledge process. The pledges are being very receptive and respectful (they call me "pledge mistress Patel." HAHAHAHAHA). Things with the dance team are also going wonderfully :D except we haven't gotten our mix yet....which we were expecting last week....so I may be sending a strongly worded email to our DJ in the next couple of days. Or after midterms. But I'm not nearly as stressed as I thought I would be thanks to Simoni, Anika, and the few other people I seem to be practically living with of late.

Just thought of this (sidebar) Simoni and I had a rather hilarious study break thursday on our day off before BDW workshop presentations during which we thought it would be a great idea to go to the salon and pamper ourselves a little. We figured we should go ahead and get it done to be prepared for the festivities that would ensue when our midterms were over. So we (wo)man up, take a couple shots, and head in. All you ladies, I'm sure by this point you know exactly what I'm talking about. All you guys... you prolly can figure it out. Anyways, that isn't even the funny part of this all. I get into the room with the lady and she asks me if I want the normal or the "vajazzle," to which I BURST OUT laughing. Apparently they have an extra added service where if you wanna have a good laugh you can get decorated with gemstones. Because diamonds are now essential to the experience....? After that I really just couldn't stop laughing. I mean seriously. How comfortable would that be?!

Ok so back to where I was going with this before I thought about vajazzleeeee...I guess I have been a little messy with my life lately. I seem to be in so many places at once and kind of a whirl of emotions and feelings and activities. There has just been so much going on that I guess I'm not really quite sure how to process it all between the pace of my academics going so quickly this semester--not that i'm complaining (I am keeping up just fine)--and so many changes in the social atmosphere here and the people i'm hanging out with and the new acquaintances I'm making. I'm going to, however, have to take this week to turn into a robot and function at design capacity. At 10 PM on Thursday night I will resume my human functions when I walk out of the midterm with a bottle of tequila. And yes. I am taking the tequila TO my midterm so I can commence the drinking immediately after. And yesterday a pact was made between Ashwin, Vishal, Simoni, and me, in which the two boys will be waiting outside the building with lime and salt at 10 PM and begin the festivities with us. This is going to be an epic weekend. Thursday night will be the annual CORE post midterm drunkfest. This will be followed by datenight and the annual FTKD welcome to the team newbies drunkfest on Friday. This will be followed by PARTYBUS time on saturday with stops at all my favorite clubs in Boston for Shinjini's 21st birthday. Followed by MY 21ST BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES commencing Sunday night at either Btav or An Tua Nua....haven't decided yet...and then leading where the night takes us. Like I said. All I have to do is be a robot between now and Thursday night and then I have all the fun I could ever hope for waiting for me.

As for life? good. busy. I dunno how people do it in the real world. Hemal and I were having a conversation last night about this-it is amazing that more people do not go into a depression when they graduate from college and leave the student setting. My life revolves around sutdying, yes, but I am constantly surrounded by friends. There is not an hour of the day I have to be alone if I do not want to be. I can always walk across the street to Simoni and Ankias, Riyas, the guys, or any other number of my friends places and hang out. And the door is always open. What happens when I have to leave them all and go out into the real world where I really am all alone? Who will I find to handle all of my absurdity and dumb noises and sillyness? Hahahaha. Hopefully there will always be someone there to be silly with :) Things tend to work out like that.

Radhi