A glass shatters in the Peterson apartment. Vicky stares at it blankly, and the speedy clicks of Erica's Dell computer serve as the only sound. No one makes an effort to move. Finally, Erica asks, “Where did you put the broom from Thailand?” She rises from the couch and uses the white, plastic dustpan and bristle brush. As she leans, her necklace, which a Buddhist monk blessed and gave her, clangs against the floor. Just like Mary Kate and Ashley, Erica and Vicky are fraternal twins, but identical to the untrained eye. They live in a South Campus apartment, the only shag pad where a framed portrait of the King of Thailand hangs juxtaposed with a Snood poster. An authentic Native American headdress, an Idaho license plate, a poster of Stone Cold, and school photos of their younger brother, Graham, hang on the other wall. Erica and Vicky may not live in a Manhattan penthouse like their more famous counterparts, but their pad is just as cool. Keepsakes from their travels- a collection of international glass soda bottles, felt artwork, and two sacred Quechua (descendants of Incas) mesas (a birthing cloth that, after serving its purpose, is used to keep holy objects)- litter all of the rooms. Both count the following country stamps in their passports: Peru, Mexico, Canada, Iceland, Jamaica, Barbados, Italy, England, France, Thailand, Guadeloupe, and St. Croix.
Erica and Vicky qualify as Syracuse's own version of mirror-image celebs. They starred in their own movies when Vicky was a film major. Photographed in countless student projects, the twins attract a collegiate kind of paparazzi. Like the Olsen twins, they also garnerattention for their style. Erica wears her shoulder-length, light-brown hair in dreadlocks. Another travel keepsake. She says showering proved to be a luxury this past summer in Thailand, where she and her sister volunteered for five and a half weeks. Vicky favors anything Icelandic.
The twins spend their free time learning languages. They are fluent in Spanish, Erica currently takes Italian and Vicky started Arabic this semester. On their own they study Swedish, and Icelandic respectively. The twins watch ridiculously bad horror movies like the Wicker Man and 1,000 Corpses. Their favorite movies however, are foreign films. Vicky's favorite movie to watch is Icelandic flick Noi Albi Noi, and Erica's loves Y Tu Mama También. Their style, a manifestation of the cultures they observed, appears effortless and eclectic. If you see them on campus, you'll know Erica by her collection of hats and Vicky for her favorite Icelandic sweater, which the locals call a lopapeys.
