Road Trip!

This weekend I climbed aboard a rental van to participate in Theta Chi’s retreat to Norwich, Vermont where the first Theta Chi chapter was founded in 1856. The University of Norwich has since closed its doors to Greek organizations, making MIT’s Beta chapter the oldest operational branch of the fraternity. A monument now stands where the old Theta Chi house was located, after a fire consumed the structure and the rest of the Norwich University buildings.

Roads trips are always fun, especially with a great group of guys. In two massive 12-seater rental vans the new Theta Chi pledges traveled with Brothers on the 3 hour trek from Boston to Norwich. Along the way I was almost left at a gas station with a dozen donuts as my only food source. After arriving in Norwich, Ante, who organized the retreat, said a few words where the Theta Chi house used to stand, and then we played a heated game of kickball on the nearby soccer field. Other people found bikes, scooters, and balls of various sized which made for a great afternoon in Norwich.

Vermont in fall is beautiful, and the whole day lent itself to a truly “New England” experience. On the way home Schrock got our van hopelessly lost only to find The Polka Dot Diner, with the best pies this side of the Mississippi. Schrock and Francis split five pieces between the two of them while I polished of an open face turkey sandwich, sweet potato fries, and a generous slice of lemon meringue pie.

That night was the Brothers dinner, a time when all the pledge classes go out to dinner with their pledge brothers. The freshmen ate at Vinny T’s, across from the Prudential Center (which we ran to from Theta Chi in the pouring rain). Diner was exciting, to say the least, and I’m glad to be getting to know the rest of the pledge class.

Sunday was spent watching The Head of the Charles Regatta with Andrew and Karlen. The Regatta is a rowing race held on the Charles River which draws teams from all over the world and is one of the largest regattas in the world. Andrew used to row so he explained the rules and tactics while we all cheered on MIT’s crew team. At the finish line near Harvard were many booths peddling various goods (and free ice cream). That night I tried to get some work done before sleep took its toll.

No tests this week, which is a relief, but plenty of homework in the meantime. It’s quite cold and rainy which means time to break out the raincoats and sweaters.