Olde Dirty Bash 2011

Spring is officially here in Chapel Hill and the weather has been beautiful (with the exception of the random spurt of tornados that whirled through the area this past weekend). One of the springtime traditions here in Olde Campus Lower Quad, the housing community in which I have lived and been an RA for three years, is called Olde Dirty Bash. Started as a tribute to rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard in 2004, it has escalated into a community-wide cook out each year, complete with live music, grilling, inflatable jousting and slides, snacks, free community t-shirts, and volleyball. This year, we had residents provide the music and were serenaded by an all-boy band named the Screaming Crayons, an acapella group entitled the Tarpeggios, and a few other duos and trios.

Dominos sponsored free pizza, and OCLQ resident advisors manned the grill, where we prepared turkey burgers, veggie burgers, beef burgers (for those who haven't been brainwashed by Chapel Hill's organic/healthy eating habits. I, admittedly, am one of them) and hot dogs. We also had an assortment of dining hall cookies, bags of chips, a variety of Pepsi products, cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones and candy. (I say WE grilled these things as if I were actually involved in the cooking process. For the safety of all residents eating and for the safety of those cooking, I was placed far from the grill, handing out t-shirts instead.) Since this event was advertised throughout campus, the line for food extended for what seemed like miles and managed to never get any shorter throughout the night. The inflatables proved to be the most popular of all events though, and after participating in jousting and an obstacle course, I can definitely see why.

Later in the night, one of the most exciting things to happen in my career at UNC occurred and I could finally cross it off my senior bucket list: I got a picture with not one, but TWO Carolina basketball players! Knowing there was free food available, John Henson and Kendall Marshall made their way over to OCLQ to partake in jousting and the slide. If you've never seen a 6'10" college guy joust (and dominate) another 6'3" college guy (which I am assuming the majority of people have not), it is undeniably priceless. Below are two photos that I will treasure for the rest of my life:

The first picture was taken by John Henson, and if you look down at the table behind us, you can catch a glimpse of the view from almost 7 feet off the ground. In the second picture, I tried to stand on my tippy toes to at least compare in height to Henson. Before the picture was taken, he pressed my head down, pushing my feet back on the ground and said, "Nah, it's funnier this way."

Like I mentioned, I was assigned to work the t-shirt station. We had a community roster with everyone's name on it, and they had to show their student ID in order to receive their t-shirt to prevent migratory students from south campus from getting their hands on our shirts. (Free shirts are almost as popular as free food on a college campus) Due to the overly-strict (in my opinion) rules on shirt distribution, one would assume that Henson and Marshall were not eligible for a shirt, being that they don't live in OCLQ. I made the executive decision to give them each one in exchange for the above photos. They were more than happy to oblige.

This week is SENIOR WEEK, filled with exciting events just for UNC seniors. Be on the lookout for a blog post with pictures from the Bell Tower climb and Senior Send-Off!

Happy Spring!

Nicole