[kelcaopi]

The next day we could attend up to 4 houses again. I got my invitations and was happy to see that I was invited back to all of them. But so was everyone else in my Rho Chi group so that didn’t over excite me too much. Generally the only people that were cut after the first round were the ones that didn’t have the gpa or had done something really bad! I wore a blue sundress, espadrilles, and pearls

First we visited Giverny. I don’t really remember much about the girls I met other than we made the usual small talk and they seemed friendly but we didn’t really connect. Still feeling a little apprehensive about the house in general I asked as many questions about social events as possible. In hindsight they might have thought I was a little too interested in the party scene but I didn’t really think about that at the time. They showed a slideshow and it looked like they had fun but I wasn’t 100% convinced. They said that they had parties with every fraternity on campus and I was impressed with that. Their skit was fun to watch but looking around I thought the actives just didn’t seem very into the skit. The looked slightly embarrassed which made me uncomfortable for them. I was pretty confused about this house in general. These girls were just sweet and down to earth, which was who I was also, but I didn't want "nice" I wanted "stunning."

Next was Bordeaux. Again I had an amazing time here. Sally picked me up and introduced me to a lot of other girls. They were so easy to talk to and again they seemed to hang on my every word. The president and rush chair also came over and talked for a while. I started to feel like maybe they were too interested and I felt like they were being kind of fake. I was really nervous that I was say the wrong thing and be shunned. Still they had a ton of energy and I really enjoyed myself here. Their skit was funny but one thing that weirded me out a little was that they had a few lines joking about how they had the lowest gpa on the row. I didn’t know how to react to that but I still left thinking that they were so much fun and I’d love to go back. I was really self-conscious though and I had a feeling they would cut me because they just seemed so perfect and they would realize I wasn’t good enough for them. They were the girls I was completely envious of in high school and seemed to have nothing in common with but unlike Giverny these were definitely the girls I wanted to be. I just hoped that I had made a good enough impression to get invited back.

Next we went to Marseille. The girl that picked me up was wearing a toga and I didn’t know how to react to that. I wasn’t sure if I should say something or just act like it was completely normal. All of the others girls in the house were wearing cute cocktail dresses and I was just so confused! But then she explained that she was dressed up in one of their theme party costumes. I looked around and noticed maybe 15 other girls also wearing bizarre costumes so at that point I thought it was pretty funny. They talked a lot about their social events and had a slideshow that looked like they were having a lot of fun. Their skit was very catchy and I had their song stuck in my head for the rest of the week. I thought these seemed like really fun and laidback girls and I enjoyed my conversations with everyone today. By this day I had completely forgotten about their reputation.

Last was Lyon. I was not comfortable here. The girl talking to me seemed completely disinterested and like she was mad that she had to talk to me. I tried to ask as many questions as possible but she pretty much answered all of them in one word and didn’t initiate any conversation. Finally after many awkward silences she took me over to another group of PNMs and rushees. The conversation there wasn’t much better but at least there were more of us. Finally it was time for their skit and I was relieved because I knew after that the party would be over and I could leave.

We didn’t rank the chapters and instead would wait and see who invited us back then accept or decline our invitations. We knew that we could only go back to three parties for the 3rd round so all anyone could talk about all week was who they were going to drop assuming they got invited back to all of them. I had a feeling I would be cut from at least Lyon and I was still convinced that I was going to get cut from all the houses. All my quad mates were dropping Giverny but I hadn’t decided if I would cut them or Lyon. I had liked Giverny much more than Lyon but Lyon was just so much more elite than Giverny and I was definitely concerned with prestige. So what’s an insecure freshman trying to make a name for herself supposed to do?