Thursday, August 11, 2005

213 in tha 2-1-3

A head count:

LA corps, pre-institute: 237

LA corps, post-institute: 213

I can't remember anymore - too many numbers - but I think something like 249 were invited to matriculate in the first place. Regardless, it's a big drop.

One girl I really liked - a Cal girl, no less - is gone, for reasons that seem vaguely sketchy and political. Everyone else I was hoping to see back was present today, which sounds funny considering we've been in the same place for the last five weeks, but unless we ran into each other in the computer lab or the dining hall, we really had no contact with people teaching at other school sites.

Many frosty looks were exchanged between my ex-colab teammate and myself, of the "I did not just even see you" variety. Ouch. I spent the whole day scanning the crowd for my ex-roomie, who has Jody's copy of Harry Potter, and it seemed like every time I lifted my eyes, there she was, coldly looking right through me. I never spotted the roomie. 213, however diminished from our starting numbers, is still a lot.

I was surprised to find, though, that each time I glanced up I also spied someone waving me over, mouthing hello, or calling my name. I don't know how I failed to notice this, but I've made some real friends here - good ones, strong ones, which sounds like an odd adjective but is really the best one to be under these trying circumstances. Also, very funny ones, who always have a cutting comment at the ready whenever things get just a little too Program. You can only see so many PowerPoint presentations before it's all a hideous blur.

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