My First Alumni Bonfire

Friday night marked the fourth anniversary of my Freshman Homecoming Bonfire, when I was initiated into The Dartmouth Family by running 107 laps around a 70 foot flaming wooden structure, getting sunburn at night in October while being informed very loudly and aggressively that I was a part of the Worst Class Ever. Normal schools have a homecoming in celebration of a football game, but for lack of a consistently inspiring football team, Dartmouth has homecoming for this. Lucky for me, this also means that I've been replaced with four other Worst Classes Ever. And no, I never Touched The Fire, or Licked The Fire, or Rushed The Field. But I really can't imagine a better reason for being arrested other than for organizing an illegitimate Tubestock.

The night began when I went to Thayer Friday Beers and got called out for "nursing" my drink ("Are you trying to stay sober?"). After that, I picked B up from the bus stop, Keggy in tow. First, B asked herself why the bonfire structure didn't have a number on top of it, representative of the class year, and instead only had two posts? Then, after crossing the intersection, we saw a car of familiar people, one of whom was wearing a Burger King Crown. Keggy called out, asking if they had an extra crown, and started running next to the car, in traffic, to grab this crown. It falls in the wet street and traffic stops so that Keggy can get his crown. Further down the street, B sees a girl in a t-shirt which looks strangely like a Class Jersey and screams "Oh my GOD! Is that an ELEVEN jersey?!?!" and laughs psychotically almost the whole way to my apartment. I felt bad for the little girl in the jersey; its not her fault she was born in 1989. THEN, B realizes that those two posts on the bonfire? They weren't posts. They were 1's, for the Class of 2011, and we really are alums now.
After some home-cooked mac & cheese (I REALLY love B) we walk up the hill to the Bonfire and the very familiar scene of yahoos in face paint and spandex and everything else you can possibly imagine running around a giant fire surrounded by thousands of shouting onlookers with tribal-esque drumming in the background (which is actually the marching band) hits me in the face like the wall of 110 degree heat on the edge of The Green. I love this school.

I also got to see some people that I really have missed, even if it has only been 4 months (or less) since I last saw them. It was a pretty low-key weekend though, all things considered, as I'm still recovering from a cold, and me? I'm a "grad student" now. I have "work" to do. Its true; Nobody [writing this blog] rages anymore.
And in case you were curious, Dartmouth beat Columbia 37-28.