rehearsals & dinner at joe's garage

So, today was our first rehearsal day for our presentations. Unfortunately, the squatting group went last... that means that I spent most of the time beforehand trying to calm myself down and frantically reading my notes over and over. So although I didn't take too much notes on the other presentations, I can say that I was pretty impressed with everyone's work. (Props to Eddy and Jenny for making it work after a vicious laptop kidnapping). It's apparent that everyone put a lot of time and effort into this research, and I also think that everyone was composed and presented well. I personally have a lot of anxiety about presenting; every time I have one coming up, my heart starts racing, I forget about all the work I put into the project, and I start feeling lightheaded... a little dramatic, I know, but it's true.

Anyway, our group presentation came and went without anyone dying, and I felt like I did okay. I took too long, I left out some really important things and kept in some trivial things, and my voice started getting pretty shaky at one point... but I think it went fine, and I think Fiona, Isaac, Ruben, Lauren and I went over to one of the markets and got a falafel- mmmmmm. I also found a pair of amazing purple pants for 3,50!!!! I should have gotten the yellow ones too.

Later on, a bunch of us got together to go to Joe's Garage (one of the squats) for dinner at the voku (folk's kitchen) they were hosting. Most everyone took the tram, except for Dylan and I who biked. Well sort of. Somehow Dylan caught some serious bad luck and his bike chain (er.. Kelsey's bike chain) fell off twice, and then the tire went flat. Once we arrived, we all had a bowl of soup... I don't really know what kind it was, but it was tasty. For the main course, there was chickpeas and curry, rice, and green beans. I enjoyed it, but I must say, I've had better squat dinners. (Competition is pretty stiff). Joe's was having an English theme... because they had this British beer on tap, and maybe for another reason but I'm not sure. The beer tasted good but was a tad flat... still good though. There was also a trivia game planned for the evening, but we didn't end up staying because everyone wimped out and went home early! (kiddingggg :) ) It was nice to have (almost) everyone out for dinner at the squats; usually Ruben, Emily C, Mimi, Haylee, and Katherine join us and it's always a great time. It was good to have the additional members this time! Here's a couple videos from our dinner. If I were you, I'd pay close attention to Ruben's dancing in the second one.... he'll be a STAR someday!

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