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The Scarlet & Black

The Scarlet & Black

Pangea sticks together, travels en masse

The women of 1005 East St. did not begin this year as a solidified friend group. Rather, Pangaea formed from a series of connections (a first-year roommate pairing, a shared tutorial class) to fill seven of their rather spacious house’s eight bedrooms during their senior year.

“I knew since first year that you guys would be really compatible with each other and I wanted you to be friends,” said Kayla Koether ’12, regarded by the housemates as the group’s architect.

Pangea residents Sophie Haus, Maia Pillot, Mona Porter, Devin Ross, Laura Glass, Kayla Kalether and Marie Ackerman, all ’12, lounge at home. Photograph by Joe Wlos

Besides Koether, fourth-years Marie Akerman, Laura Glass, Sophie Haas, Maia Pillot, Mona Porter and Devin Ross make up the house, which has undergone recent renovations.

“Carlos Ferguson is our landlord; he’s an alum,” Glass said. “He lived in this house when he was a student, then it was sort of abandoned and then he bought it and fixed it up really well. … He first rented it last year, when it was Moby Dick.”

The group came to rent 1005 after Porter completed a summer internship with Tiny Circus, a community art collective led by Ferguson. Members of Tiny Circus stay in the house during the summertime, and Ferguson keeps a workspace in the house’s eighth bedroom.

The house’s artistic connections provide a well-decorated atmosphere. Two of Porter’s sculptures sit in the living room, one made of laminated firewood, the other of welded rods. Other fixtures include a piece from Bread & Puppet theatre, and works left by members of Tiny Circus.

The rest of the housemates are more inclined towards music than visual art. “We have a tradition of singing folk songs in harmony on our way back from Harris,” said Haas. “We sang ‘I’ll Fly Away’ [and] as much of the soundtrack from ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ as we can remember.”
Though the house members enjoy attending Harris, they have a slight preference for events at Gardner.

“Gardner is nice because it’s close enough to run back to our house and do … things…” Ross said.

“Take shots,” Ackerman clarified.

“Yeah, there have been times when we didn’t think there was enough alcohol at the Gardner event that we’ve literally run back to our house without clothes on and then come back,” Ross said.

“Without our coats on, at least,” Glass added.

The house has also hosted several parties this year.

“There’s one this [Saturday] actually. You can put that in the article,” Haas said. “People say they’re really fun, too.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen some blog posts saying they’re really fun,” Pillot said.

“Those might have been on Maia’s blog,” Ackerman added.

The housemates agreed that throwing parties has been a pleasant experience, with the exception of one minor incident. “Somebody broke our watermelon, which pissed me off,” Pillot said.

“Yeah they went through our vegetable drawer and smashed everything in the kitchen,” Ackerman explained. “It sounds like sexual innuendo but it really isn’t.”

Pangaea has also hosted daytime gatherings, bats, and, in one notable instance, a group of couch-surfers. “We got this request from this band that was like touring and they were, I don’t know how to explain … they’re, like, electronic … hips-… they’re from Portland,” Glass said.

“They were called ‘Breezin.’ They came and we hung out with them. … We played flippy cup, it was super weird, and the next morning we decided to play a show with them, or, well, they kind of made us let them play a show,” Glass said. “So we made breakfast and had pancakes and muffins and bacon and eggs, and we had a bunch of off-campus people come over and they played, and they were actually really good.”
Other house traditions include a “share closet” from which housemates can borrow each other’s clothes and a “delectables drawer” full of candy and other indulgent items.

The housemates spend large periods of time hanging out together at home, and members of Pangaea are now known to arrive and leave social events as a group. “People have mentioned that we leave [together], Pillot said. “It’s kind of a problem for potlucks and things like that. Half of the party is gone when we leave basically … the fun part anyway.”

“I know that for a lot of houses, they were friends before, but living together was a wear on their friendship,” Pillot said. “For us it’s been the opposite, we live together and we’re better friends because of it.”

“I feel like it couldn’t have worked out better,” Haas added.

Overall, the housemates say they plan to stay close after graduation.

“[Our name] makes sense,” said Koether, “because there are seven of us and when we all graduate, we’ll split apart, … but I think we can change history and stay together.”

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