Sunday, April 20, 2008

Happily Eva After


Spring has officially sprung. Three weeks are left in the semester. Yet, from the looks of the quad on campus these days, school's already out for summer. Between the young women in bikinis and men without shirts, it is a veritable Flesh Fest out there. For some reason, I fail to remember a single moment in my undergraduate years when I would have been caught dead wearing a bikini in full view of my professors, but that seems to be the norm here. The hormones and phermones of the student population hang in a dense cloud over the campus right now, mixed right in with the unmistakable smell of grilled burgers and alcohol.

It makes for a quite a fervor. Last week, the usual stony silence and deep cold that accompanied me all winter on my daily walk across campus from my office door to the classroom where I teach was replaced with a barrage of young men trying to talk to me. One particular young man very boldly asked to carry my books and walk me to class.

"What class do you have right now?," he asked with sugary sweetness. I laughed (inwardly) when I told him that I was heading to Professor Namaste's class.

"Oh, really?," he continued. "I hear she's good. I don't know her, but someone told me that she's really young and super cool."

"Yeah," I smiled back. "She's ok."

"Hey," he kept pressing. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Eva Longoria?"

Oh, he was too cute for words.

I graciously thanked him for making my day, but turned down his proposal to "do lunch"...

Yesterday was heavenly. Instead of hitting the gym, I decided to go for a long, afternoon run along the lake. Twenty minutes into it, I ran into a gaggle of my bikini-clad female students and their friends on one of the lake front boat piers. They appeared to be doing a mixture of activities--sunbathing, boy gawking and beer drinking...even though they had their books and highlighters in hand. Of course, I politely decline the beer they offered me, but they still kept me chatting for a few minutes. At one point, one of the girls (who I didn't know) looked up and said from under her enormous sunglasses:

"Wow. Are you, like, really a professor here?"

"Yep," I replied. "At least, that's what they pay me for."

"And she's so awesome," interjected one of my students. She gave me a sweaty, bikini-clad side hug as she said this. "Professor Namaste is, like, the woman I want to be when I grow up!"

(Ha.)

"Wow," said the first student. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Eva Longoria?"

Apparently, the students aren't the only ones who are coming back into their skin this spring.

Thank goodness.

Namaste

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should correct your students and tell them that you are actually a mix of Eva Longoria and Kate Beckinsale.

Gorgeous inside and out. Smart too!

Anonymous said...

If only it would keep, you could bottle it. But cherish it still. Cheers & Good Luck! 'VJ'

Anonymous said...

And what would they do if their professors walked around in bikinis?

Anonymous said...

And what would they do if their professors walked around in bikinis?

Anonymous said...

And what would they do if their professors walked around in bikinis?

Namaste said...

Thanks, VJ. It's cherished, believe me.

I dunno, Laura...they already freak out so much when they see me at the gym. I should take a picture to show you what the quad looks like today. It's hysterical.