Adaptation, Improvisation

Today was the first time that the Summer Discovery program had to make a change of plans for the Saturday trip.  We were supposed to go the Jersey Shore for a day at the beach but that ended up being canceled due to bad weather, so instead we went to a massive indoor outlet mall on the outskirts of Philadelphia.  It was absolutely the largest mall that I have ever seen in my entire life. To give you an idea of the scale, it took about twenty to twenty five minutes just to go from one end to the other.  With all that space, there was a large selection of stores and things to do.

To keep everyone from being bored with shopping all day, the Summer Discovery directors provided everyone with an unlimited game card for Dave and Buster so that we could spend the entire day in the arcade if we wanted to.  I myself spent the majority of the day with a group of friends at the movie theater at the end of the mall.  We saw Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D, which ended up being not a bad movie.  I had read the reviews online and it didn't fare to well, but I thought that it was interesting enough.  The only problem that I had with it was that it was too loud; after we left the theater my ears were still ringing. 

After the movie, we all went to Dave and Busters for the remainder of the day.  It was a lot more fun to be able to play a game over and over without having to worry about running out of money than trying to strategize what games to play in order to conform to a budget.  I really enjoyed playing one on one Texas Holdem’ against anyone who dared to challenge me.  By the end of the day my record was six and zero.  By six O’clock, we were already headed back to the Quad even though it felt like such a short day.

Later in the evening there was a massive thunder and lightning storm right over the Quad.  I could heard soft booming sounds coming from outside while I was taking a shower but figured that it was the construction crews or maybe just the wind against the window.  Then I saw the flashes of light against all the surrounding buildings and realized what was happening.  It was an exciting experience, so I went outside and started recording.  The rate at which the lighting was flashing was unlike anything I had ever seen.  There must have been a flash every second in some part of the sky.  I was surprised at how quiet it all seemed though.  I would have imagined it to be a lot louder.  I planned on sleeping in tomorrow but I have to work on the multiple presentations for next week, so I'l been working in the library with my other group members bright and early.