RUM Report

The Royal University of Meridies, like most events, had its ups and downs.

Let's get the downs out of the way, since they were minor: the feast hall was really crowded, it was beastly hot outside, and the chicken dish at dinner came out at about room temperature (which is a bit scary from a food safety standpoint).

Now, on to the fun stuff. Having taken Friday off to go to the event, Fjorlief and I arrived way early. We used that time to help the staff rearrange the bunks in the dorms to accomodate people better. That conveniently allowed us to set up our own room to our liking and reserve one for Corbin, Ysabel, and company, who were several hours behind us.

With our sleeping arrangements completed, we were ready to dress and commence with the Friday night amusements. I set up my stereo in the pavilion, and Francesca and I soon managed to draw a pretty good dance crowd.

Saturday morning I learned to juggle (a little) and make Aztec hot chocolate (which isn't bad). I also learned a little about period Middle Eastern games (and kicked Svana's butt at Qirkat, heh heh).

Saturday afternoon I took a class on Norse games which has inspired some activities for events (although some adjustments will be required for safety; the Norse were quite fond of hazardous sports). After that, I taught Intermediate English Country Dance and 16th Century Italian Dance. I had planned on teaching ECD for sets of three couples, but I didn't have three couples in my class (probably due to the heat), so we just improvised (I taught Cuckolds All a Row and Amoroso, which isn't ECD but was requested). 16th Century Italian was a bit better attended, and I taught both Contrapasso and Laccio d'Amore.

After the very crowded feast, we had the "official" dance revel out in the pavilion. Pure improvisation, but fun none-the-less.

A pretty decent event all-in-all. One important thing to remember, though. If I ever go to an event at Camp Riversprings in McKenzie, AL again, I'm going to pre-reserve well in advance to get the deluxe accomodations: those hotel rooms are nice!