Baby Bro's Grad

At the end of May, Brian and I headed across the Atlantic to Providence, Rhode Island for my brother, Riley's graduation from Brown, University!  I had really wanted to go visit Riley's school since he started, so it was an awesome opportunity for him to give us a tour and share the campus with us.

Since Providence is actually quite small, the Brown graduation pretty much takes over the whole city.  As a result, they have a little festival and fire show on the river at the same time.

They had these neat fire displays all the way down the river, and music and everything.  And kettle corn.  Kettle corn makes everything fantastic.

B, Riley and the 'Rents.

Superweird candy cane car.  I dunno.

 It was hella hot and muggy on the day of the graduation.  The photos don't really convey the sweaty yuckiness, but it was a very fun day indeed.  People's parents flew in from all over the world, so there were some really cool cultural outfits and stuff.  I'd have taken pictures if it wouldn't be creepy.

B and my middle bro, Connor.  Lookin' cool while keepin' cool.

The parentals sought out the shade though. 

Connor and I. This was right around the time a creepy old man walked over, adjusted his SLR, took my photo,  and then walked away with his wife...  WTF?

The hockey rink where Riley used to play for the Brown Bears NCAA hockey team.   It's a really nice facility, being all open and bright.  We hid in here for a while to cool down.  It was a welcome, yet short, retreat from the heat :)

Riley had to stand/meander around the campus wearing the black robe pretty much all day with no food, water or bathroom breaks.  This photo doesn't do his sunburn justice :P.

My mom and dad with the happy graduand.  

Yay!

Following the degree certificate ceremony we all headed to one of Riley's hangout spots for a cool down refresher.  I believe this is called a "tube".  There may have been more than one of those enjoyed that afternoon.

After the graduation, Riley took us on a great tour of Providence and the Brown campus. So many residents around the campus take such amazing care of their original New England-style properties.  It makes for a really beautiful walk.

Skyline shot of Providence.  The sun nearly melted my camera.  It still thought it was in Britain.

Capitol building.

I *love* this pic.  Two dudes hanging out on the free rocking chairs at the hotel.

Brown campus is really pretty.  They've really tried to keep the buildings within a certain design type (but for the odd erroneous 60's concrete mistake of course.  No campus was immune it seems), and the trees were all huge and green.  Very lovely.

More campus.

Riley took us into several of his old classrooms, and this was left on the board in one of them.  Very profound statement.  A university education is effectively an expensive means of talking shit.  Hmm.

Bronze of the original campus buildings from the 18th century.

Pembroke College was a very famous women-only school that eventually merged with the larger Brown University when people figured out that the cooties wouldn't ruin Brown's reputation.

Entryway to Pembroke College.

Obviously a new build.  I believe this is one of the art and design schools.

Le map.

Brown has many hang out spots for students, this being one of them.  Yeah.  Not a cafeteria, or a classroom, or anything particularly educational.  Just a spot to hang out with pals and meet people.

Meh.

And in the basement - a whole bunch of lounge chairs, pool/fooseball tables, and flatscreen TVs.  Pretty rad, if you're into that kind of thing :).

The Brown bear statue.  Grizz's got a mighty six-pack it seems...  They don't look that toned in real life, but maybe we have slacker bears today compared to those of yore, or something.

The detail on the buildings is great.  Each building is entirely unique, yet they all follow a pattern.  

The aftermath of hundreds of people milling in the sun.

Yeah, I'd probably snooze on that lawn too.

Plaque re: American Revolution.  Pretty neat to think of dudes with muskets and horses traipsing through such a peaceful place.

B, Riley, Dad and Mom having a chitty chat.

An ode to Rome perhaps?

Nifty building.

Dad, Riley, Mom and B standing beneath THE gate.  Brown has a tradition where all grads walk through this gate and are cheered on by the alumni of prior years (they hold the alumni reunions at the same time as grad) as they walk along.  The gate is only opened for the graduation and remains closed the rest of the year.

I have no idea why someone has a snotting bear fountain on their lawn, but I had to trespass to get this photo.

The sign reads: "You stole my bike! You stole my bike in October.  I've been looking for it all year.  Way to replace the seat to make it look different.  You made me sad, jerk."  I guess you can't key a bike for revenge...

Brown University war memorial.

So yeah.  It was a whirlwind couple of days in Providence, but it was wonderful to have the opportunity to share Riley's grad with him.  Also, I'm really grateful to have been able to catch a glimpse of what his life was like for the last 4 years.  Brown is such a small school (especially compared to the U of A!), and it has a unique history (check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_university if you want to learn more), which makes the experience of going there special.  So proud of my brother!

More adventures to follow!

M