Engagement Party

Engagement Party My dear former floormate Shannon 05 (whos still at MIT pursuing her Masters in Course 16: Aero/Astro) held an engagement party last Saturday at MIT, and at first I was going to spend the weekend in NYC, but then I noticed a funny question on the invitation and was so intrigued that I knew I had to attend. I put down Jane Austen for my favorite historical character, and Sam put Benjamin Franklin (he cites Pennsylvania pride) other people were not so conventional. So how did these historical figures figure (haha!) into the party? Well, the nametags we wore on the front of our shirts displayed our real names, but the nametags Shannon 05 stuck onto our backs displayed the name of someone elses historical figure. Not only did we have to figure out who the person was, but also who had submitted the name. Add to that the fact that some of the people who submitted names didnt attend the party, and you had some intense problem-solving going on. Take that, Mystery Hunt. From the front, Richard 06 is Richard. From the back, however, Richard 06 is Richard Feynman. (Very smooth, Shannon 05.) To help diffuse the very high level of stress in the room, the happy couple hired salsa instructors from the MIT Salsa Club to teach us how to dance. After we learned some (not so) basic steps in lines, we got into a circle and rotated partners counter-clockwise. Sort of like going from Cartesian to polar coordinates. (Ah, MIT, Ive missed you.) Here I (James Cook, explorer) am with partner #4. And heres partner #6. Notice how much more into the salsa dancing he is, compared to me. It looks like Im holding his hands, but basically, Im just hanging on for dear life. In this picture: #1 = William Shakespeare (Sam) #2 = Abraham Lincoln (Salsa teacher) I regularly need to look at the instructors and make sure Im doing the (basic?) moves correctly. Better than looking at my feet, right? William Shakespeare, Amelia Earhart, and I take a water break after all of that dancing. Here, some former and current floormates of the best floor ever pose with Shannon 05, whose hair, as evidenced by Sams pose, must smell REALLY good. The one historical character Shannon couldnt assign was the one she herself had to guess, so her fiance decided to give her OPTIMUS PRIME. Dont feel bad if you have no idea who this is I didnt, and Shannon certainly didnt. Apparently hes the leader of the Transformers. James Cook doesnt sound so hard to guess anymore.