Spring IMs begin!

Friday was absolutely freezing (we could actually see our breath!), but we dedicated Sillimanders still turned out for an afternoon of IMs: baseball, 4x4 lawn volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee. This was actually my first foray into spring IMs, aka I haven't run this much since IM cross-country last fall ^^;

4x4 lawn volleyball is a totally different experience than indoor volleyball, with a co-ed team (2 guys, 2 girls), much smaller space, lower net, and (of course), the wind. I ended up not playing, but it was interesting to watch how people had to adjust their serves and spikes for the smaller court, yet each person still had to cover a lot of ground. We eventually beat JE in three games, pulling out the third in rally scoring 16-14.

Stan spiking on JE

Angel hustling toward the ball

Ultimate was my first game since Freshman Olympics, which was not really legit since we were playing on the New Haven Green and it was quite difficult to play around the trees. For IM Ultimate, club players aren't allowed to participate since that the "highest" level available, which meant rank newbies like me could actually get into the game. Rules are pretty standard: 7-on-7, with at least 2 of either gender. We were again against JE, at it turned out to be a pretty intense match:

My friend Kyle, the IM captain and a varsity swimmer =P

One of the freshmen, Jack

Time ran out in the second half while we were playing, so we just played until the next point and ended up losing 7-6. However, I realized I was a lot better than I thought (aka I could actually throw), so I'll definitely be back out for more ;-)

Pieces of Heritage

The Yale African Students Association (YASA) and the Yale West Indian Students' Organization put on a cultural show tonight entitled "Pieces of Heritage," with songs, dances, poetry recitals, skits, and more.

First up was Pan, Jam, & Lime, the Yale Steel Pan Band. Personally, I didn't even know such a group existed, so it just goes to show the wide variety of interests and semi-hidden talents =P

Next up was Asempa, one of the newest a capella groups here, which focuses on African music. They even sing in languages such as Swahili, which is pretty cool.


There were a couple of poems and skits - my friend Nicole (from Antigua) performed "I is KAISO" written by another Yalie, and fellow URC Damilola was in a skit called "Sweet Mother." Please, if you ever get the chance, ask Dami to do her "mother" voice for you ;-)

Nicole reciting "I is Kaiso"

Dami in "Sweet Mother"

As a dancer myself, I'm always interested in seeing new styles and moves, so it was great to watch the high energy of Konjo! Konjo! is also super-welcoming to anyone interested in learning, like one of the dancers here is a Silliman freshman who's actually Vietnamese! SRC Jeff Brown and a couple YWISO members also performed to a medley of pieces, which was also a lot of fun.

Konjo!


YWISO dance

All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday night =)