Yesterday around 21:00 IST (14:00 EST), I was angry. I was in the common area cutting potatoes to make tortilla española and one of my roommates was having an impossibly loud conversation on Skype next to me. She was calling all these different people and saying pretty much the exact same thing to each of them at a gajillion decibels higher than necessary. Then I was arguing with my mom on Skype chat over whether or not I should go to Bethlehem for Christmas. So I wasn’t really paying attention to the potatoes and, for the first time in my life, I cut my finger with the kitchen knife. I never have kitchen accidents. Ow.

About an hour later, my boyfriend was on his way to a job interview in Chinatown. He took the Metro, and I guess he was in a hurry because he had to go right from school to his interview. He didn’t specify exactly how this happened, but somehow he took a pretty serious fall down some escalator stairs and ended up going to the ER. Fortunately, he didn’t break anything. He’s really athletic and about the least clumsy person I know. I fall down all the time, but he never does.

How do we both get uncharacteristically hurt an hour apart from each other? I don’t know.

What is one thing you miss about your partner when you are gone for an extended time?

Not being able to touch him. It kills me. When we video chat on Skype and I see him, something in my brain tells me that I should be able to touch him if I can see him, and when I can’t it’s basically the end of the world.

What is one physical trait of your partner that you adore?

I am 5’6” and had never dated someone significantly taller than me before Marvin. I really don’t think I could go back to dating someone my height if I had to.