mark at sea: Snapshots In the Life of a Gaucho

To inform and to clarify:
I will be transferring to UCLA this coming fall. After weeks and weeks of changing my mind, I finally feel comfortable with the decision. My time here in Santa Barbara has been unforgettable, and for those of you Gauchos who are worried about my transfer status, please worry not. I have every intention to make it back up here as much as possible over the next 2 years. At any rate, the next few months of my life are going to be huge.

I am pleased to say that my final days here at UCSB have been amazing. Everything seems to be winding down just as it should; inspired by David Sedaris (who has a new book out), I present some "snapshots" of my last few days as a Gaucho. This is likely to be my last post before leaving for Semester at Sea. Enjoy-

Moment #1
People who have any knowledge of UCSB should love this one. After months of boycotting FREEB!RDS (for plenty of reasons), I pulled the most stereotypical move of them all: devouring the largest (and most delicious) plate of steak nachos in the entire world. This idea was absolutely genius at the time after a long night of drinking. I must say that the mile-long line out the entrance at 3:30am is still fascinating. A thursday night during finals? I think so.

Moment #2
It's the middle of the day, and my Indian roommate stumbles out of his room. No matter what the hour, Vivek looks like he just woke up from the roughest night of his life. On this particular occasion, he approaches me with an ackward conversation right off the bat:
Him: "i swear that like, people in this world have no shame"
Me: "oh?"
Him: "i mean, couldn't they at least try and do the work for themselves? i stay awake all night completing this take-home final examination for my 'prof' and they just come over and take it.
Me: "really?"
Him: "no shame! and i couldn't say no to them of course, because i would be out of the group. no shame at all"

He then shakes his head (which is rapidly balding - proven by our clogged shower), and walks back into his room. Apparently the phrase "Indian Giver" has not gone out of style, because a couple of sneaky Indian dudes came into his room and "borrowed" his completed test. Although I feel bad for him, his way with words still made me laugh pretty hard afterwards. His english is better than mine for sure, especially his use of the word "prof." He once used the phrase "a very cunning prof." That was the best (even though it took me a few minutes to think about what he actually said. Then I laughed)

Moment #3
My last day of class, and thankfully a terrific one. The class - Soc 130ME, Social Change and Development in the Middle East. Hands down, one of the best classes I have ever taken. As we were filling out course evaluations, the teacher starts blasting Neil Young's "Living With War" and passes out the following handout:

--> Thats my teacher, John Foran, rocking out with his college buddies back in 1980. Included next to this legendary picture are the lyrics to "Lets Impeach the President." I walked out of classes so pumped on my education (and on Neil) that I may just utilize it someday. Until then, Obama 08.

Moment # 4