At dinner at Firefly restaurant in Dupont Circle, sophomore Danny Barrow and senior Ashley Hines kept the conversation fairly clean of clich? topics from their initial meeting at the checkered table outside of the medical library to their farewell.

Danny: This was my first blind date, and my second legitimate “first date,” despite past relationships, so it was a good experience.

She was already there, so I felt bad because I made her wait, and hoped we wouldn’t start off on the wrong foot. She was really nice. I was taken aback in a good way on how poised she was. Very chill.

We shared an appetizer – crisp oysters and chipotle sauce. I had grilled lamb minute steak and she had a barbeque salmon.

I feel like we talked about anything and everything. We talked about school spirit, definitely hit upon hometowns, and she told me how there was a documentary on HBO about hers, which I found interesting. We talked about traveling, and studying abroad and about her study abroad in Barcelona. I brought up the “tell me something weird about you” topic, and she told me about how she was absolutely repulsed by any mold or fungi, and I told her about my thumb and nose fetish. She didn’t bring up my heavy New York accent, which I appreciated.

My lasting impression is that she’s a very nice, outgoing, go-with-the-flow type of gal, and a person who will always succeed.

I would give this date an A. I would go out on another date just to get to know her better, but I don’t see myself with her. I still had tons of fun, though.

Ashley: This was my first blind date. Right away I could tell he was a really nice guy, and he was definitely very chill. I saw him walking towards where I was sitting talking on the phone about going on a date with someone, so I assumed it was him.

Our conversation wasn’t the typical, “Where are you from and what’s your major?” We talked about the histories of where we lived, weird things we do, pet peeves and things like that.

We also talked about what we wanted to do later on, like life after college, and how he wanted to get into community service. There was never an awkward silence. It was random, but I really did have a lot of fun.

My lasting impression was that he’s a really, really cool kid. I would love to hang out with him again. He’s a lot of fun.

I would give this date an A-. I wouldn’t go out with him on another date, but I would definitely hang out with him again. He’s a really chill, cool guy and GW needs more
guys like that.

Dater Bios

Name: Danny Barrow
Year: sophomore
Age: 19
Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.
Major interest: psychology

Name: Ashley Hines
Year: senior
Age: 21
Hometown: Lowell, Mass.
Major: business administration

What would be your ideal date?

Danny: Not a sit-down dinner, but something more active, casual and less structured. Maybe like a baseball game.

Ashley: My ideal date would probably happen over dinner.

What characteristics do you look for in a person?

Danny: A person who can carry on a good conversation, make me laugh and someone who knows what she wants.

Ashley: Self-respect, intelligence, a sense of humor and I really like tall guys.

What are your own personal interests?

Danny: Meeting new people, making people laugh, and cookies and cream.

Ashley: Cooking, music and going out.

“GW Blind Date” is a regular feature in the Life section modeled after Washington Post Magazine’s Date Lab. If you would like to be set up on a blind date with another GW student, e-mail [email protected].

Firefly Resturant
1310 New Hampshire Ave. N.W.
202-861-1310
www.firefly-dc.com