first couple of weeks in delaware

kitchen common
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Hello everyone,

There’s so much been going on since I’ve moved to Delaware I couldn’t find the time to get online and write a thorough blog. Rather than describe in lengthy detail all of the things we’ve accomplished, I’ll enumerate them in semi-chronic particular order:

1.    rented a car

2.    moved into the University Courtyards

view into the living room area
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3.    long chat with Rob, fourth roommate from New York

4.    drove out to Wal-Mart and dropped nearly $500 on stuff

a.     bathroom stuff

b.    food

fruit salad was goooood
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c.     cooking ware

d.    utensils

5.    unloaded everything (note, no sleep, maybe 2-3 hrs on the plane ride) back at the apartment

6.    went to student services center to get ID cards and Abby had to get some international stuff out of the way

abby and i at deer park tavern
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7.    went to GoodWill and Salvation Army to find stuff for the kitchen

8.    Burger King for dinner

9.    burgers made by Rob for a really late night dinner (~1 AM)

10. slept until 12:30 PM the next day

rob, me, andrew, and abby
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11. breakfast was a bowl of cereal and a banana

12. checked stocks

13. went to get more international stuff out of the way for Abby

14. visited the Colburn laboratory (home of the ChEng groups) to see if any loose ends needed to be tied up

suave andrew
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15. checked out a bicycle store to price out a bike (probably $400)

16. drove to the nearest Bank of America (in Wilmington) about 30 minutes away despite the fact that BoA is headquartered in Delaware

17. traded stocks

18. cooked chili for dinner with a green salad and a French baguette

rob and unknown butt
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19. watched the democratic convention and felt exhilarated when Obama spoke of a new America with such patriotism and pride

20. edited a clinic paper written for Los Alamos National Labs in hopes of getting published for our results

Tomorrow I have a lunch with other IGERT students. Chili will be on the menu for lunch and dinner since Abby and I made so much!

long party night
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Alright, that was written in August, since then we've been hitting the gym everyday, cooking meals under Abby's supervision and making great stuff including lasagna, jerk chicken, beef stew, curry, and I can't even remember the others.  I'm mainly in charge of the fruit salads and green salads to keep the apartment healthy hahaha.  It's easy and doesn't involve much cooking knowledge so I do what I can.

I'm planning to buy a mountain bike because I've been told there are good trails nearby at White Clay Creek.  Andrew already bought a bike off of propertyroom.com and just has a assemble it.

my room
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Oh yeah, my roommates are Abby, Andrew, and Robert.  They're all cool and we really get along which is great.  We've been going out together on weekends, primarily to a bar/pub called Deer Park Tavern on Main st.  It's great because they usually have live bands on the weekends at nights and you can dance and do whatever.  It's small enough though that we're starting to get to know the employees...maybe we're becoming drunks?

Classes are fine so far, not a big fan of the teaching in two of the classes but it's hard when you're coming from a great place like HMC.  We've been spoiled there.

living room area
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Andrew and I want to plan a long-distance biking trip around the state of Delaware, we'd do it in a week or so in the spring/summer.  We're also hoping to hit the mountain biking trails every weekend here.  There's quite a bit of stuff to do and a decent nightlife in this area, which is really surprising to me.  I hope to also get around to visiting friends in Boston, Ithaca, NY, and Atlanta.  Finally, we'd like to hit DC just to check out the nation's capitol.  enjoy the pictures!