Monday, September 08, 2003

Where to begin....
Obviously the past week and a half has been crazy.
I got back from Texas two Thursdays ago and started RA training the next day. Aya and I were also preparing for her brother's wedding which took place that Saturday. We missed some training on boy Friday and Saturday while we decorated and participated in the wedding. I had fun doing the music and then afterwards at the reception and dance. It's always good to see Aya's cousins. Her family has basically adopted me and so they're like an extention to my own family.
Training was insane. They had us from 7:30 am to well after nine almost every night, there were a couple we were done at 6:30pm but that was time to get our floors ready for residents. We even spent last Thursday night at a group of cabins - I slept in my car. It was so cold and the beds were so uncomforatble that at about 2:00 I finally gave up and went to my car. I would turn the car on and let it get warm for a bit then turn it off and go to sleep for an hour or so when I'd wake up with my teeth chattering and have to repeat the process. I got up at about 6:00 or earlier and waited for the rest to wake up. We spent the next day scraping paint of a couple large cabins and priming them. Let me just say this, in addition to little sleep and an already long week they had us doing manual labor... we were so exhausted. That was one of the nights we were done at 6ish and I went to bed at 8:30-9pm.
It was absolutely exhausting, but it was also fun. It was a time for us to bond as dorm RA's and I learned some interesting and valuable things, but UGH! I'm very glad I will never have to go through that again.
Training ended last Friday night and then we helped new students move in on Saturday, did check-ins on Sunday and Monday and classes started on Tuesday afternoon.
Where did the summer go? I didn't get a summer.... summer classes and work, trip to Texas to visit family and friends and help at the folks shop, RA training, and the first week of Fall semester done..... wow.

Oh, on a funny note: the night we were camping a lot of us hung out at the campfire and talked and I think I gave about 17 or 18 back massages, one of which was for an Albanian. The next morning he told me, in front of a bunch of people, thanks and that he slept very well last night. Of course for those not at the campfire... well... they had to wonder eh? ;)