Yale

This weekend I volunteered as a writing coach with College Summit. The experience changed who I am... but, to be honest, my motivation behind signing up was simply to see the Yale Campus and experience the college dorms. Since arriving in the US I have heard my American friends and colleagues talk about dorm life - it sounds like so much fun. This weekend was my chance for a taste. 

Myself, and three workmates took a two hour train trip from Grand Central to New Haven. It was a nice journey with lots to see. In order to save face in front of my American friends I managed to stop myself from squealing every time I saw a cool sight "A wheat field!" ... "A pink house!" ....  

When we arrived in New Haven I could no longer keep my remarks to myself. It was gorgeous. 

It had a sweet small town vibe, but was in no way lacking in energy or excitement. Just so beautiful!

Me: I wasn't expecting it to be like this

Pizza: Like what?

Me: It's perfect

Pizza: Well, there is a lot of money here you know.

If I didn't know then, I was about to find out. The Yale campus was breathtaking. I cannot do it justice in words.

Castle like buildings, winding paths, manicured lawns. Just gorgeous. It was like stepping out of the real world and into a perfectly constructed fantasy. It was almost disturbing that people could live here - so far and excluded from reality. 

As beautiful as it was, it frightened me. It was intimidating. The grand buildings looked down and challenged me - "You don't belong here." 

They were right, of course - I didn't. Everything about Yale screamed legacy and exclusivity. There were chandeliers in the Cafeteria. The walls were lined with painted portraits and photographs of the generations of men who have passed through. The giant leather chairs and fireplaces in the common rooms were decidedly masculine. It was beautiful, but I felt disconnected - an outsider peering into this fantasy world. 

My students nicknamed the campus Hogwarts. When one finished early I allowed him to explore the building we were in. He came back ten minutes later eyes wide and keen to tell the rest of the class about the winding stair cases, secrets windows and passage ways. 

It wasn't just the students who were in awe of the mysterious campus. One night myself and four colleagues went exploring. We started out simply walking down to the basement, looking for the common room. What we discovered under the dorms was a labyrinth that would surely shock Harry Potter himself. As we ventured through the endless maze of passages we discovered a halls of historical art, a theater... even what appeared to be a crypt.  

As we explored further we found a dimly lit dining room. It had two imposing portraits and huge green leather chairs - it was a room of shadows. Despite our swipe passes letting us in we felt we didn't belong there. "I don't like it in here, lets leave" said one of the men in the group. I felt shivers, but was curious. A couple of us started to venture a little further. "No. I said let's leave." We listened that time, because he was right. It was spooky. 

Eventually we did manage to find the common room - fancy! It had two kitchens, two pool tables, fooseball (I am now a grand master) and table tennis. Oh! And a wide screen TV. 

Sadly, our dorm rooms were not so high tech. Our rooms were not air conditioned - it was the hottest weekend of my life. After a long night I climbed onto my one inch plastic mattress at 1am and turned on my portable fan. The fan seemed to turn the room into a fan forced oven. How could it possible be this hot at 1am. I checked the temperature... 100F. This was crazy. Surely some of that Yale trust fund money could go towards air conditioning? Perhaps we were in the servant quarters...

Me: How did you sleep?

Fail: In a pool of sweat.

Because of the heat I didn't spend much time in the dorm room - 1am to 7am to be precise. One afternoon I was reading my students papers outside. Feeling the mosquitoes bite, I made the brave decision to venture upstairs to my room. I put my fan on my bed and sprawled out. I was dripping, - but it was OK. I mean, if nothing else, I can handle the heat. 

That's when I saw it. The world's largest cockroach. Deep breath. No big deal - I mean, I'm not quite a New York girl yet. I wasn't going to scream and cry at the mere sight of a bug. I tried reasoning with it - "Hey you, go away!" Nothing. OK, so we would co exist. That was alright... so there I was, reading papers and coexisting with the cockroach.... until two minutes later when it started walking towards my bed. I grabbed all my stuff in seconds flat and bolted from the room. And the winner in the Battle of Zubi versus the Cockroach is.... the Cockroach! 

I never did find out what happened to it. 

So, overall impression of Yale? Out of the world - literally like a fantasy. So, one night, when I was returning home well past my student's curfew and I saw one dangling out of the window from a sheet, I turned a blind eye... I mean, this was Hogwarts after all.