At Penn

I am sitting in some student study area with my friend Katie. She is working on a physics problem set which she "started" an hour ago but only just now did she pick up her pencil and sit still for more than two minutes.

For my ride down, I was squished in the back seat with my two second cousins, ages 4 and 7. They are very energetic and wanted me to play all sorts of games. The trip went well except for one meltdown at a rest stop caused by some controversy over a freshly purchased bottle of orange juice.

Katie and her three friends live on the 16th floor of an apartment building. It is the tallest building for miles and so you can look out and see the entire horizon of Philadelphia. Apparently, even though there are many times more students at Penn, the campus isn't much larger than Williams because of these tall buildings. From the ground looking in any direction, there are about twice as many stores as in all of Williamstown. I'd like to live in a city some time in the near future so that I get used to navigating subways, streets, etc. That is a skill I would like to learn now rather than when I'm middle-aged.

Katie has stalled again and is fiddling with her iPhone.

I have to sign up for a PE course for next quarter. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have done cross-country skiing, squash, and yoga, and I need one more. I'd really rather do yoga again but for some reason they're not offering it. Yoga made me so happy and slightly more flexible. I'd like to continue it on my own but I'm a little concerned that I would strain my back or a muscle or just topple over. Also my room is not nearly large enough to stretch out in.

Now Katie is being distracted by a boy that came over to sit with us. He is talking all about Penn frat parties and how non-Penn girls keep showing up. I suppose I will stop writing in a moderate effort to be more sociable.