All in a weekend's work =)

After spending 4 hours a day in the Off-Broadway Theater (plus hanging lights, setting cues, and checking the sound system), all our hard work paid off in a spectacular fashion Friday at the opening night of the Phoenix spring show. Despite the date of ill omen, there were only a few mishaps: no dropped fans, crashing umbrellas, or tangled ribbons. So many things came together last minute - the seniors learning a metal fan dance in 72 hours, frantically safety-pinning Daizu skirts that somehow ripped at the seams - but it all worked out in the end. A couple clips from "Moonlit River" (my watersleeves solo) and "Summer Day" (the umbrella dance I choreographed) are below:

Curtain call was bittersweet, as it marked our seniors' last show...

Shani, Margaret, Alyce, and Zimo

...but at the same time it was a huge relief that we had successfully completed a show. The other really nice thing was to see that we had so much support from our friends: I was surprised by a bouquet from the seniors (how did they sneak it in and hide it backstage?!) then surprised again by a huge bunch of baby roses from Atisha and Regina . That's currently sitting in a container in the sink because I don't have a big enough vase =P

Group photo!

Since I was in the show, I obviously didn't get to take too many photos/videos, but I promise links to those will go up as soon as we get them on the web =)

Even as we cleared out of OBT, some of us had to change back into costume, check our makeup, and run over to SSS for Kaleidoscope, the International Students Organization annual cultural show. We performed the Mongolian bowl dance (one of the few pieces that can fit on the tiny stage in SSS) and stuck around to watch a few other acts, like the Yale bhangra team Jashan:



Saturday we had a show at 2 PM, which might seem a little weird, but it gave us time to clean up and still make it to Marga-RELAY-ville, aka Relay For Life 2007. The steering committee did an amazing job, organizing hundreds of volunteers on dozens of teams into one crazy 18-hour event. Campsites covered the floor of the gym as those who were waiting to walk listened to a couple bands and watched The Incredibles - there were even giant balloon sculptures hanging from the ceiling:


I stopped by to visit the Silliman '09 team, but I couldn't stay for long because I had to catch an early train to NYC with the rest of my "Medicine, Molecules and the Millennium" class. Professor Modlin was giving a lecture to a patient-interest group at Mount Sinai Hospital on carcinoids, a rare and difficult-to-diagnose class of endocrine tumors often found in the abdomen. In classic style, he was rather amused by his photo on the poster:


Besides attending the lecture and doctors' panel, we got a short tour of the hospital, which really has a long and fascinating history. For example, it was one of the first places to offer dialysis for patients with kidney failure and the place where Crohn's disease and several other disorders were first characterized. The day ended with quite the adventure - trying to get home through a nor'easter! Our MetroNorth train was stopped after 125th Street because of flooded tracks, but we all got back to school safely in the end.

Craziness coming up this week: Bulldog Days Mon-Weds, the YAGS show Revolution Thurs-Sat, Communiversity Day and CASPY this Saturday, then another trip to NYC Sunday...I finally get to see Avenue Q! Yay for Silliman =D