let's talk about... rain!

so, we all knew a big storm was coming for several days. most of the country has seen it in some form or another. rain is nothing new. campus is along a river, so minor flooding and choosing routes carefully is nothing new. however, in my 4 years of grad school, i've seen night classes delayed, but never day classes cancelled. this wasn't even a blizzard, so i was all prepared to go about my traditionally hectic monday as usual.

instead. drama.

i woke up an hour before my alarm to colleen and leigh talking right outside my door. when i overheard:
colleen: "classes are actually cancelled for once. how exciting is that?"
i jumped out of bed, opened the door, and replied, "you're kidding!"
leigh: "nope! now who wants waffles?"

free waffles and less to do than planned already makes for a happy day. my advisor, who lives half an hour south of campus managed to be in his office by 9:30 and expected that unless roads prevented it that we'd still come have our regular research meetings with him. so i went in to see him, had very late lunch around 4 with eric, and then headed home around 7.

then, too excitable to sit still, i went for a walk to the park at the end of my street (which lies right along the river). check it out:

usually there are several soccer fields there, and the water only comes up to the very far treeline in the back!



fuzzy, but you get the idea



...and how.



ok, so dusk-time pictures don't turn out the best if you so much as breathe while the shutter's open, but, see the light in the middle? it's on top of a park pavilion that's 2/3 full of water!



not that elucidating, but i liked this shot:



a very grainy shot of the water compared to the NJ transit train bridge.



while i was wandering out and about and gawking at the water, i actually made a new friend! i was minding my own business taking pictures when juliana started talking to me, telling me just how much worse the flooding was in 1999 instead. she works for rutgers dining services and asked what i study. when i said math, she commented that she's hungarian and knows there are many famous hungarian mathematicians, then delightedly told me lots of things about hungarian language, history etc., 2/3 of which i knew, some of which was new. :) she has a 21 year old son, so she's basically old enough to be my mother, but she was so delighted to talk to an american who has been to hungary several times before, and loves it. she told me which cafeteria she works in, and said if i stopped by to chat with her sometime she'd set me up with a good meal. :)

so summary:
(1) yay for days that start off with cancelled work and free waffles!
(2) i am in awe of powerful weather.
(3) i seem to attract hungarian friends wherever i go, and that makes me smile. :)