The prom

The prom was awesome. I really didn't want to go at first. I resisted for a long time, and then just a few days before, Max and I decided we might as well just go.

I made Max an edible boutonnière out of lemon thyme and mint.







He actually did finish eating it entirely by the end of the night.



Our parents took tons of pictures of us. I wore a dress that I bought in 9th grade, a Gunne Sax from the 70s, which I thought didn't fit anymore but magically did.



We both wore flip-flops.



Us looking prom-y.





Some of my class.



We took some great pictures of Max, his brother Oliver and me, with us posing as the charming prom couple and him as the suspicious stranger in the background:





The prom was on a boat, which to me sounded like it could either be really nice or really claustrophobic. It was, in fact, quite pleasant, and I'm truly glad I ended up going despite the banality of prom.

Model UN

For some reason, I was convinced I wouldn't have fun at Model UN. Social situations scare me. I worried I wouldn't do well. It turns out that not doing well is pretty difficult to do as long as you talk. I didn't say anything profound throughout the entire conference, but I talked a lot and as a result I felt really good about myself. I was a good Afghanistan, I think.

My friends laughed at me when I told them I had fun after all. They have a running joke about how I hate fun. Maggie said, "I TOLD you you would! This is exactly your idea of fun, because you hate fun!!" It's true that pretending to be the UN for five 3-4 hour sessions is pretty awesome. You get to sit in a room with a white tablecloth and a white placard in front of you and be talked to very seriously.

Yogurt

Since I've come back from Germany and been quite un-vegan, I've been enjoying yogurt. My favorite breakfast is Greek yogurt with walnuts, oats, and maybe some dried cranberries in it. Today I started thinking about this yogurt, which I used to eat in Germany sometimes:

It's yogurt that comes in big glass jars and all kinds of obscure flavors, like mango and cookies and cream. When I live in Germany, I will buy it a lot.

That's all. Three AP exams down, one to go!!

WWOOF

Something crazy happened to me this week: I got the NSLI. This is a full scholarship to study Hindi in India for a year. Last year only six people in America received it; I'm not sure what the numbers are this year, but in any case, it's pretty competitive. Here's the thing: I'm about to turn it down.

When I first got the letter, the thought that ran through my head was: How can I turn an opportunity like this down? This is amazing, learning a language like Hindi is perfect for me, and it's an award, affiliated with the State Department, where I (forgive me, I guess I'm "the man") may want to work someday. But I have thought about it a lot, and I think that working for a few months and WWOOFing in India from January to June is going to work better for me. I am no longer sure the exchange experience is the right thing for me to do right now, for my gap year, and I am so excited to travel somewhere as an adult, learn about farming, see everything I want to, etc. It's simply a different kind of experience, but I kind of feel I've done the exchange in Germany and I'd like to try something new -- being a worker, not a student, and an adult tourist, not a child. The other piece of this plan is that I'm going to go with Max. He has wanted to go to India for a long time as well, appreciates a good dosa, and knows an incredible amount about farming. I think we will travel together well, and without meaning to sound at all anti-feminist, I feel better knowing that I'll be traveling with a male person. I've heard that this diminishes the harassment that western women often experience in India significantly. We are beginning to plan things out a bit.

It's Sunday, my least favorite day of the week, but tomorrow there's no homework due (other than many IR readings) and I'm having lunch with my English teacher, who I love, so things are good. Also, tonight=pomegranate-ginger cupcakes. I will let you know how they turn out.