Last Thursday will always be remembered as ”the night of too many fun events going on.” I don’t know why every department on campus voted on March 27th to be their activity day, but that’s exactly what it was. Since I’m the type of guy that needs to check out what’s going on outside, I had a little difficultly choosing where to start.
I left the engineering building by 5 p.m. after a grueling lab involving RLC circuits and filter design that I don’t want to bother explaining (mainly because I don’t understand it either). I planned to attend a campus festival, but that was before I started noticing all of the posters and Conference and Events workers setting up lights and tables. It didn’t quite hit me until I walked over to the caf. The Lancer stood outside announcing a chance to win a $100 In-N-Out gift card at the men’s volleyball game vs UCLA at 7 p.m. I’m all about winning In-N-Out gift cards and trash talking opposing volleyball teams, but I couldn’t pass up an Indian color festival. Then I learned that my roommate was going to downtown Riverside to see a CBU Art Expo in downtown Riverside. Some of his ceramic pieces as well as my other friend’s paintings and drawings would be on display, too. Of course, I wanted to support their work, but the times conflicted with my prior commitments to throw colored powdered paint at my friends.
The Festival of Color was at 7:30 p.m., but right before that, I checked out an East Colony event that conveniently was on the same night as everything else. The Unbirthday event was held out on the basketball courts with free pizza and candy for all to enjoy. The residential director rented a jump house, as well, with giant punching gloves to challenge friends, which I would have been all over if all of my friends weren’t already having a blast at other campus events. I walked past a West Colony Western event, too. There, honestly, was a different fun event to attend everywhere I went. Let’s try to space these out a bit for next time.
I finally found my way over to the front lawn. Already, a large group of students all dressed in white stood excited to start the night. The International Center hosted the festival for the first time last year and obviously word spread about how great it was. With such a large group of college students eager to drench themselves in powdered paint, I’m surprised how patient we were to observe the Bollywood dancers and to listen to the cultural traditions of India. At the end of the presentations, the announcer directed us to the lines full of green, blue, red, pink and purple paint bags, and I grabbed as many varieties as I could. We all bunched up close and at the countdown we launched our first fistful of paint into the sky. The paint scattered in the air, and the festival began. I quickly lost track of my group of friends with all of the people running about and throwing paint into each other’s faces. The air was thick with excitement, as well as purple and pink dust. I couldn’t believe how quickly my white shirt and khakis became plastered with every color imaginable. Still, I wanted to pelt my friends with a healthy dose of green paint, so I maneuvered my way through the color warfare and group pictures, photobombing everywhere I could. I finally found them, and my target quickly became my girlfriend’s clean, unpainted face. I took care of that swiftly. I couldn’t have been more proud of my work, and she couldn’t have been more opposed to my decision. Once all of the paint was scattered on the lawn and ourselves, I finally could see the masterpieces we all became. I had a large red stain across my left eye, which with all of the running around and excitement could have been paint or a massive bruise. Either way, the night was too much fun. I can see now why everyone wants to go to the Holi Festival.
I wish I could say that was the last event, but alas, there was one more. There was a Sophomore Second Breakfast event with a free eggs and bacon, as well as class shirts. We all walked over in our colorful attire and finished the night right. I still can’t believe how many things happened in one day. CBU campus life is the best.