[MyPNMStory]

(Day 3) Round 2: House Tours

The next morning I woke up really early, and rushed over to meet my Rho Gamma and get my schedule. We could have up to 12 groups. This round was House Tours, and each roung was 20 minutes long. I ripped it open to see:
Frank
Dougall
Ian
BREAK
Roger
Rupert
Claire
BREAK
Laoghaire
Hamish
Jenny
Margaret
The first think I noticed us that I only had ten invitations out of twelve. I was a little disappointed because this meant that seven houses had cut me after the first day. That’s almost half! Then I realized that Lizzie had only seven invitations, and some of the other girls only had four!! Frank, Ian, Roger, and Jenny I had expected to see – after all, I had family involved with each of them, and 3-4 recs for each of them. But Rupert and Laoghaire?! I had ranked both of those as ones I would rather not see again, yet I was forced to go again anyways!!
I quickly made my way over to Frank. I was quite excited to come back here, since I hadn’t really loved it the day before, and I was hoping to see something to change my mind. Plus, this had been my mother’s sorority. I had an active I hadn’t met yet show me around. She was awesome at keeping the conversation, and the entire house was absolutely beautiful. Each room had its own color scheme and personality, and there were pictures of the sisters together in frames and on the walls in almost every bedroom. As we walked through the house, we talked about a lot of random things, including sports, school, and places we have travelled. I was so pleased to have returned here, I liked it a lot more than I had the day before.

Next, I went on to Dougall. I was really excited to come back here since they seemed like they had an amazing sisterhood, and I felt really connected to their philanthropy. I had one of the girls I had spent time with the day before, so it was nice to see a familiar face. She came up and told me how excited she was to see me back, so I felt like she truly remembered me and wanted to get to know me better. Again, this house was gorgeous, but some of the bedrooms were a little too … pink and girly for my liking. The girl who showed me around, who I will call Faith, introduced me to many of her sisters as we passed them, which made me feel like she was showing me off to her sisters. I left this house so excited to come back the next day.
Next up was Ian. I was a little sceptical about coming back here, since I hadn’t really enjoyed it on my first visit; but then again, it had been the last house I visited on Day 1. Going back, this house was huge. I don’t just mean physically, I mean the chapter itself was enormous. I was paired up with the second girl I had spoken with on Day 1, a really bubbly girl. She seemed a lot more reserved today – maybe she had just been exhausted too? This house itself was … alright. I didn’t feel a strong connection with either the girl showing me around (who seemed more interested in showing off her house than talking to me) or the house itself. “Oh well,” I thought, “at least I gave it a second try.”
Finally, it was time for a break! I wanted to make sure I looked perfect going into Roger, so I spent time touching up my hair and makeup.
Finally, on to Roger! My sister was a Roger at her school, and I had fallen in love with this group myself on Day 1. Here again, I got shown around the house by a girl I had already met. The house, although once again gorgeous, was not my main focus here; I was more interested in having a conversation with the active, telling her how happy I was to be invited back to Roger. Hopefully I didn’t seem uninterested in the house, I just wanted to get to know her better.
Before I knew it, it was time to move on to Rupert. I had not been particularly looking forward to returning to this house. Here, I was quite upset to discover, that we would have one active showing three Of us around the house. THREE! This I was not happy about. I was also not thrilled with the house itself – each of the bedrooms here slept twice as many other girls as some of the other houses, and it seemed like privacy would be absolutely impossible (whereas elsewhere maybe only hard to come by). It was also hard to have a decent conversation with the active when she was trying to talk to three of us simultaneously. I knew that I did not really want to return to this house.
I was beginning to get a little tired at this point, but on to Claire I went! Here again I was paired up with an active and another PNM. I was paired up with the second girl I had been paired with here on day 1, and again she was really good at keeping the conversation flowing between all three of us. I loved the inside of this house. I felt like it was somewhere I could see myself living. The dining room was absolutely stunning!
Time for another break, which meant I had time to relax and freshen up for my last four houses of the day!
After a (way too short) break, I made my way over to Laoghaire. The active showing me around, Amy, told me she was really happy to see me again (again? I had absolutely no recollection of ever seeing this girl) and talked a lot about how living in the house made you really bond and connect with your sisters. After touring the house and talking to Amy, I still didn’t love Laoghaire. I didn’t hate it … I just didn’t really care if I was asked back or not.
Finally, after touring houses all day, I got to go to Hamish, my favorite house of all from round one. Showing me around here was a girl I hadn’t met last time, but she came up to me with a huge smile saying “X and Z told me so much about you! I’m so glad I get the chance to talk to you today!” This confirmed in my mind what I had felt last time I was here; that these girls had a very tight sisterhood. Maybe that was a benefit to a smaller chapter, truly being able to form friendships with each and every girl in your house, rather than simply getting along with many whom you don’t really know. This house was, again, nothing special, but it seemed more … natural. It felt lived in, not like a super-sized dollhouse. I really, really wanted to come back here again.
“Two more houses to go, and I am ready for bed!” I thought as I headed over to Jenny. Here I got to spend some more time with one of the girls I had met previously. We had a great conversation, and the house was absolutely beautiful. Having her show me around the house today sealed the deal – this was where I wanted to be. I was sure of it.
Finally, it was on to Margaret. Here I had the opportunity to speak with three different girls while touring the house. All the girls seemed to be really close – and they seemed so thrilled to see me. I wasn’t in love with this house yet, but I couldn’t wait to see more.
In choosing which houses to attend next round, I knew we would be able to attend up to six houses. It was really hard for me to pick only six that I wanted to spend more time with, but ultimately I decided I would most like to return to:
Jenny
Hamish
Frank
Claire
Roger
Dougall


And for the houses that I was not sure about, and preferred not to return to:
Margaret
Laoghaire
Ian
Rupert

Heading back to my residence, I wished I could have picked seven houses – I still wanted to go back to Margaret, but I didn’t feel as strongly about it as some of the others … Maybe this was a sign that this was not the house for me? I spent some time talking with some of the other girls on my floor, some of whom had only had four invitations that day, and one of those girls only really liked one of the houses she had returned to. I hoped she would get asked back for the next round, as she was such a sweet girl; I couldn`t figure out how she didn`t have a busier schedule! After spending an hour or so hanging out, I headed to bed. Tomorrow will be Philanthropy Round!