Brrrrrr!!!!!
Yesterday’s weather was the coldest I have ever experienced. I wondered, biking to breakfast, why my fingers were sticking to my metal handlebars… only to discover when I checked after class that it was -17° C! (-1° F). Wow. Wow wow wow. This may not be fantastic for anyone that has lived in Colorado for any amount of time, but I’ve never lived anywhere with temperatures below freezing. So, I thought I’d call my parents and do a little bragging about how hardcore I was living in Colorado… and they told me that my hometown of Victoria B.C. (located in a relatively warm part of Canada) was having record low temperatures of -18° C. Yeah, they basically stole all my thunder.
Last night's Kwanzaa Celebration
I had several “first” experiences yesterday — “first” lipchap freezing in my backpack, “first” wet hair freezing stiff. It was actually kind of fun — I never knew what was going to happen when I stepped outside. I was really relieved, however, when someone assured me that Colorado weather doesn’t get much colder. Right now we are enjoying a sweltering 30°F, so, braced by yesterday’s freeze, I’m feeling ready to don my bathing suit and do some sunbathing while the warm weather lasts.
However, not all was cold about yesterday — I attended a toasty dinner in Gaylord Hall to celebrate Kwanzaa, put on by the Black Student Union. Kwanzaa (I’d never heard of it before coming to the US) turns out to be a celebration of African heritage, which last for seven days, during each of which you light a candle that represents a different principle. The first principle is Umoja (unity) and the last is Imani (faith), so the man leading the ceremony joked that we should pay close attention because all college students need these two things to finish the four years.
And speaking of unity… I’ll be working on that one really soon because this Friday I fly back to Canada! And as the cold weather has given us an unusual present this year — a white Christmas — I’m sure I’ll be blogging about all my shenanigans in the snow with my family.
Oh, God! You are so lucky to have a real snow winter! I live in Russia and our weather is still more like fall’s – -5 and NO snow!! Something is wrong, what do you think?!
I think it’s very strange!! Hey if you want someone to talk to about CC, my best friend here at CC is from near Moscow — might be cool for you guys to get in touch. Shoot me and email and I’ll see what I can do!