It's Raining...

Today is Sunday, and it's been one of those weekends when you just shake your head and wish it was over. But first, I need to update you on what happened these past couple days, after I finally got my blog set up...

The three sites I went to Friday were...interesting. The first two were at the same place. I rode over to the site with a girl named Rachel (who is really nice and from Long Island, New York) and Nina. Rachel has a really nice car and a good sense of direction, so we didn't get lost. We drove out really far, it felt millions away from civilization. It was in the middle of a huge field. For a second, I felt as though I was back in Wisconsin. ha ha

Then we went through the playground, into this small door and then into a child's play room. It was very small, and I actually felt tall for once in my life. Then we entered into the back area and I once again felt short. We had found the "big kids" area.

The lady who interviewed us (in total, there were six of us...including my roommate Jennifer) was from the Neverlands. She had a really fun accent and she reminded me a lot of the grandmother in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She told us about the job, teaching little kids (pre-K and younger) to read, helping them with their ABC's and even reading to little babies. It sounded interesting, but then we got to the site that was grouped with the first site. I did not feel comfortable there. They explained that the AmeriCorp worker would have to help kids with their homework, especially math and be responsible for helping a certain amount of kids get their grades up. I'm not a tutor, and I don't do well with math. I was screaming in my head, "HELP".

Anyway, defiantly not choosing that site. Around 4:00 pm, a girl named Sarah and I went to the third and final site of the day. I can't really explain to you what you were doing at that site, everything went in one ear and out of the other. The lady was nice, don't get me wrong, she just rambled a lot and didn't make a lot of sense. The place was crowded with kids and everything was crazy. What I got of it was that the person would be tutoring kids and helping to catch them up on their reading, but you had to identify who the kids were and how you would help them. Sarah and I both didn't feel the site "fit us".

After that, I went back to the apartment and just chilled for a while. I needed to relax because it had been so draining going to each of the sites. I ended up reading this book I borrowed from Jennifer. After dinner, Jennifer came back from somewhere and we got ready to go down to the "house party" that one of the AmeriCorp members was holding.

First we hung out in Nina's apartment with her roommates who are really nice. Alex has a really cool room, and it's decorated really cute. I love her style. My room is still in need of some serious help-but that's mostly because I don't really have a bed or bookshelf. Once that is taken care of, I will feel a lot better.

Then we went over to the place where the party was being held. There was only about ten people there, and we all introduced ourselves and said an interesting fact (this lasted a while), then they played some card drinking game. I enjoyed my water, but this time I wasn't the only one. One of the guys was drinking water too.

Then, suddenly, a ton of people started coming in and the party just got really crazy after that. Some people just have been drinking before they came because they were just smashed. And it was so loud! But I got to talk to a variety of people, so that was fun. And then I tried water pong, and we weren't so bad, but we certainly weren't very good. Then again, I think I've maybe played three times or something like that.

Around midnight Sarah and Sabrina asked if I would take them clubbing (since I was the only sober one and I like dancing) and so the four us (Jennifer came along) went to this place called Roxy's in West Palm Beach. It was on the roof of a building, and it was so pretty out. It was a great place, and we had so much fun. The best part was that it was free to get in. However, there were some creepy people I didn't like very much. They keep trying to come by us and grab our hands. But since there were four of us, we just stuck together and ignored them. The most annoying were these really white guys in khaki pants who could not dance at all. They kept trying to come by us and we would just push them away and stick together. They bothered me so much. And one guy couldn't figure out why we thought he was creepy, he bothered me the most.

We got back around 3 am, and then had to wake up by 8am so that we could get to the thrift store with the cheap furniture by 9am. And that's when all the problems started...

We went to the furnature area, and found the couch we had reserved. But Mercedes found other couches she thought were better, so we went around looking at them. She found one that was really nice, but it was a lot more money and we weren't really sure. Then we went outside to look at tables. We found a table we liked, but before we could reserve it, someone had already bought it. So then we went back inside and someone was looking at the couch we wanted! So then we went and stood by the couch we wanted until the guy came and we purchased the couch and some cheap coffee table set we found.

Then we left and waited till we were going to meet with the girl about borrowing her truck. We met with her, but then the guy who was supposed to drive the truck for us (it's stick) wasn't around. So we then we found a girl from the group who could drive stick and so she took us to the place. They loaded up the furnature and then we brought it back to the place. Some people offered to help and we brought the couch up the elevator. But it wouldn't fit throught the door...and we spent a lot of time trying. And it was just a big mess and we were all frustrated and not sure what to do and then Jennifer was really upset and said "Just dump it" so we took the pillows and left them in the room and got rid of the couch. But it was just a huge mess. We wasted all this money and now we have nothing to show for it, and I'm pretty sure we are never getting another couch again. I don't even think any couch would fit throught that door, it's so small. What a mess.

And then we were all frustrated and angry and upset, and snapping at each other and it just wasn't good. I ended up hiding in my room and scrapbooking, but before that, I was just so upset that I ended up having some kind of panic attack and used my inhaler and laid down for a while. Everything was spinning and it just wasn't cool. I just wanted it to be the next day or something.

Around seven, we took a group trip to Walmart. I know, there again? But we all needed stuff still (such as food, etc) and we spent a good hour getting everything we all needed. I think I'm good for a couple days, ha ha.

When we got back, Jennifer and I watched Sydney White, but she ended up falling asleep and then Mercedes came out and watched the second half with me. I love that movie.

This morning, Mercedes and I went to a Baptist church around here. It was okay, but I think I'm going to keep checking out the churches. I want to find one that I will fit in, and feel comfortatble going to, for the next year.

Then we walked over to the Dollar store, because I needed a tape measure. Now, I'm typing this and around four, some of the guys and whoever else comes, are going to the park to play Ultimate Frisbree. Can't wait!

Some snapshots

My camera was starting to die, so this turned out a little too blue and the camera died minutes later.

The view here is awesome! (from the bridge you can walk on)

My wonderful mess (second day)

Here is some of my stuff in my room.

There must be a way to rotate pictures on here, but I'm not sure yet. This is the bathroom (there are two, but Jennifer and I are sharing one)

This is our living room. It's still sadly empty. (I took all these pictures the first day. Once we finish getting everything on Saturday, I'll show you the finished pictures)

This is the view from the living room into the apartment.

Here is a view of our kitchen. It's so nice!

The view as we were driving was really pretty. Check out that sky!

I'm HERE!

Today is Friday, and I have been in sunny for Florida since late Tuesday night. The reason I haven't written on this blog yet is that the wireless is a little limited at the moment. You can access it in a few areas, but it's hard to find the time, or the energy to get there.

It started on Monday. Nina got to my house around 10:00 am. I had spent all weekend trying to pack my car and get in everything I felt necessary, while also leaving an unknown amount of room for Nina. As I've mentioned before, a big problem for someone who is a pack-rat and always likes to be prepared. (now that I'm here, I know that was the best decision I ever made. Everything I brought was, and will be, useful!)

I ended up with what I felt was a reasonable amount of room for Nina, and had just finished cleaning my room for my parents, since they wanted it to look clean and tidy while I was gone. I guess a big mess wasn't really appealing to them. Nina got there with her dad, and in a little under twenty minutes, we had all her stuff in the car and were pulling out the driveway. We had to stop at the end of the driveway to fix the straps for the car-top and to make sure that Nina could sit in her chair without it sliding forward. And then we were off!

The first couple hours were good...Nina slept because she had a headache. I drove through some construction, had to turn around a couple times because for some reason, people in Wisconsin think it's more effective to make you drive all the way to spot where they cut off the road before telling you that you can't go any further. Then, when you are all frustrated, they fail to give you a detour. The GPS can only handle so much...

Anyway, we switched driving around 2:30, because we took a break at a subway somewhere and got some lunch. Then we continued on. We asked each other questions, got to know each other...it was going well.

We probably switched around 5 or so that night, stopping at creepy gas stations to use the bathroom and get gas. We didn't use as much gas as I thought we were going too. Around 10:00, we started counting down the hours till we got to Alissa's house in Georgia. The GPS had slowly been changing the time of when we get there with each stop, getting later and later. We were starting to get frustrated. Around eleven thirty, I took over driving again. It was dark, we were going around curves, and it was raining. Not fun. I was counting down until we would switch.

Around 2:30, I called Alissa and told her we would be getting there in an hour. It was late, and I was getting crabby. Nina gave me some her 5 hour energy drink, and we think it took an opposite effect. I also had some mountain dew...Nina told me to go to sleep, so I did. (I was trying not to nod off anyway)

We arrived at 3:30, and stayed at Alissa's house. It's a cute one-story house and I slept on the guestbed and Nina took the couch. Alissa is really pregnant and it's cute. It was a real shocker at first, but I've slowly adjusted.

In the morning, around 10:30, we woke up and Alissa feed us breakfast. We chatted and relaxed until about 12:30, then we took off. I drove first, and we didn't switch till around 3:00 when we stopped to get food. We made it all the way through Georgia and into Florida, which was nice. Nina napped, and I think we were starting to run out of things to talk about. Ha ha.

Then Nina drove and I read some of my book, and then we switched again. We took the Florida Tollway (I think? something like that) and only switched once more. When Nina drove into the "mini island" of Via Ventanas, we were in awe. It was pretty, huge, and we got to live there.

Jennifer, my new roommate, came down to greet us. She's a bubbly, fun girl from Florida, and she helped me move up about half my stuff to the apartment, which looks just as nice (if not better) than the pictures. It's definatly the nicest apartment I've ever seen. It reminds me of a hotel.

I needed batteries and shampoo, so we ran to Walmart. Of course. I come thousands of miles and the first store we first is Walmart. Doesn't that sound familiar? I live in small town where the closet big store is Walmart, and I come to a new place where Walmart is the big hit. Well, I am poor. ha ha

Anyway, this is post is getting long. So I'm going to catch you up to speed a little faster. I unpacked the first night, and then went to bed since we had to be up at eight o'clock. I got a call from Mercedes, our third roommate really early in the morning, so I never really got to sleep after that. Plus, the sun is really bright here, and it's hard to adjust. Our third roommate was arriving at 2:30 the next morning.

Later that morning, we had a meeting with everybody. It went for about an hour and a half, and we learned a bit about the sites we would be visiting the next couple days. Some people had been at the apartments for two weeks, so they were surprised we had just arrived. I met one guy who had just come from California, and he drove the whole way! He was disappointed that the waves didn't appear until December (he likes to surf). It seemed most people had come from the cold states. Hmm, that doesn't surprise me!

Then Nina and I went to Target since we didn't have to visit any sites. Then I unloaded the rest of my car and started unpacking some more, then I did a little exploring before my roommate got back. We ran once again to Walmart...I needed hangers and we needed food. Then we eat dinner and hung out, she went to bed early and I finished unpacking as much as possible. My closet is huge and almost everything fits in it. I called my parents and then Jennifer and I went to the beach and took a walk. It was so pretty, and the water was really warm. We saw some fishermen, but Jennifer explained that there weren't too many surfers in Florida. *sigh* Then we got back to the apartment and went to bed, because for some reason, we were both really tired.

Our third roommate arrived in the middle of the night, and I helped her get her stuff and showed her the set-up, then went to bed. Thursday was a long day. I had to be up early, in business attire, to go to my first site. It's sort of an interview, but you are also interviewing them because you have some say (not much) in what site you end up at.

I left early, but because I didn't know how far away it was, and I'm unfamilair with the area, I got a little lost. I ended up being about six minutes late, but I did try to call (no answer) and I had to talk to three different desks before I found the right one. The interview was interesting, another girl named Sarah was there and they had already started. Sarah was really nice. I loved the library, it was the most amazing library I have ever been in! The floors are almost the size of a football field, and there are over 180 computers. They have rows and rows of books, all neatly organized. The first floor of the library looks like Barnes n' Nobles with the layout, and it's so pretty. Every little detail is there. The kid's library (where I would work if I got the job) is amazing! The desk has light-up bubble tubes around it, and there are games everywhere. They have state-of-the art technology, and the chairs even turn into toys! I could on and on, but hopefully I will work there and you can see the pictures. Either way, I'm definatly getting a library card there.

I was running a little late when I picked Nina up for our second site. It was at another library, the Boynton library. This one was not as grand as the other library, but it was homely, and still very nice. The ladies interviewing us were very nice, but liked to talk so we had to cut the tour short so we could get Nina to her next interview on time. I ended up being half an hour early to my third and final site, so I ate my lunch in the car. But then I was getting hot, so I headed to the doors. I went to every door (which didn't open) and finally headed for this building next to the church. I got lucky, and some lady was just leaving. She told me to push a buzzer above a mailbox at the church. I did that, and I was soon in a long hallway. I noticed the first door was open and peeked my head in. A smiling lady ushered me in and showed me to a table. She quickly spotted my resume and was extremely excited I had website experience. When she found out I went to school for advertising, I could tell they wanted me already.

Three other people ended up coming for the interview, and one of the ladies interviewing/explaining was really nice. They didn't ask anyone else about what experience they had, which I thought was a little odd. They kept pointing at me during their talk and saying "And that's where your marketing experience would be great!" What they failed to realize was that most of what I would be doing if I chose them was working with adults and teaching them English. I don't speak Spanish, and I wanted to work with children, not adults. I was a little confused as to why I was there, especially since everyone else in the group had already interviewed at the second site that went with this option, but I didn't have it on my schedule. I hope they aren't too disappointed when I put them on my "no" list.

When I got back (which was pretty early), Jennifer and I went to the Faith Farm, where the furtaniture is extremely cheap! They go through stuff within hours of receiving it! We reserved a couch that is ugly, but super comfortable! Then we agreed to come back at 9am on Saturday morning. We called the girl in our group who said we can borrow our truck and made plans to borrow that as well.

After yet another trip to Walmart (I hope this doesn't become a really annoying theme, it reminds me of college at Whitewater), we headed back to the apartment. We had dinner, and then went for a run. Since my doctors think I have ashma, I had to try out the inhaler they gave me before we left. I think I did it wrong, because it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Yuck! I lasted about half the run (we got all the way to the beach) before I wasn't sure anymore. Jennifer wanted to run for an hour, so I went on the beach and walked along the waves. She came back in fifteen minutes (we only had one key) and that was when I ran into four other AmeriCorps members. I stayed with them and we must have talked for two hours. They were so nice! Then we walked back, and the guy in the group, Don, went to get food. The three girls and I went back to their apartment to check out their ceilings, which are really low compared to our beautiful third floor high ceiling. When I brought them up to our place, they said they were jealous. We definatly got lucky!

Well, that should bring you about up to speed. I have three more sites to visit today. I know this is a long post, and people don't like to read, but my job now is to make people ENJOY reading. So get used to it! lol. I'm going to post pictures next, for those people who always looked at pictures instead of reading.

For a small-time Wisconsin girl, going to Florida for a year is like a dream come true. Especially when you enjoy the heat, and are sick of the snow and cold. Last summer, it didn't really feel like a summer. It was warm maybe four days the whole summer! I hardly went swimming all summer and felt like I was working all summer. It was my idea to have a regular job and an unpaid internship. But at the end of the summer, I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.

Flash-forward to today. In less than a week and a half, I'll be in warm, sunny Florida working for AmeriCorps. All summer, I've been hanging out with friends, working 40 hours a week, packing up my dorm room, then my house room, and now packing for the trip. Even though I'm a huge pack-rat, I have to shove everything I want for a whole year in a small car with room for Nina and all of her stuff. Talk about impossible.

But impossible is not a word, it's just a reason for someone not to try. I am definatly going to make this work! I can't wait for a year of changing lives, especially my own!