The trip out to Alabama was nothing if not exciting. What was supposed to be a light trip in which we'd arrive early Saturday (if not sooner) stretched out all the way until Sunday morning. How? Weeell, let's just say things got sticky about 500 miles in. Dad and I were driving through Wyoming when my car suddenly lost all power. We'd vapor locked. It eventually got to the point where we were towed fifty miles back to the nearest mechanic. Highway robbery is still alive, in case you were wondering, but we eventually got back on our way. Ironically, we found out that there was a tornado further along our route that day. Who knows, maybe having that awful breakdown meant we didn't have to deal with a Nebraska tornado?
Evie was a complete trooper through out all of this and only whined when the need to go on a walk arose. We made it all the way to Missouri before trouble started to arise once more. My car locked up again in a little place called High Hill. The people there were so nice! A bride was getting ready for her bridal shower at the local town hall (tiny little building that looked like it could've been a church once upon a time). She had me come inside and gave me a bunch of ice water while I sat in front of the air conditioning. I don't think she realized it, but she literally saved my life. The high temperatures were taking an extreme toll on me, and when I collapsed in that blessedly cold air... Well, let's just say I knew how close to danger I had been. I think it was about an hour further down the road (once we got going again) that we came upon an absolutely awful accident that had happened recently. Because of our delay, Dad and I weren't caught in the cluster of traffic that was paralyzed on the freeway until the accident was cleaned up nor were we involved in the accident. I hate (absolutely hate) breaking down, but it certainly is a better alternative than dying! Sadly, the accident we passed was a fatal one.
Somehow we kept dragging along - at that point we were all very much ready to be done - and when we came to Memphis is was late Saturday night. Dad and I both were very uneasy about stopping, though, and so continued on quite a bit further. I can't quite remember, but I'm fairly certain we made it to Mississippi before we stopped for the night... That or we were very close to the border. When we finally made it to my apartment we were all very happy to have safely arrived. But, it wasn't over! Dad and I quickly made the trip over to meet the members of my church, and after that hour I was completely burnt out. I wanted nothing more than to sleep for the rest of eternity - an option that came to no fruition.
The next morning I started orientation at the university. I was quickly inducted into the world of the writing center, and got to know the other students that were also coming into my department. Christopher, the first person I met, could have walked off the cover of GQ or Vogue. He dresses at the very pinnacle of fashion and is a poet, not to mention as sassy as you can expect. Then there's Erica, a really laid back nonfiction writer, and Collyn, a girl with a tongue so sharp I'm amazed she doesn't cut herself. I also met a guy, Nathanael, who I swear is a modern reincarnation of Mark Twain; ironically, he is a literature major specializing in early 20th century American works... Coincidence? I think not. And then there's Jason. He's another Strodie (which means he is also in the Renaissance program) and just about the coolest kid I've ever met. He is horribly shy, and so to avoid that he has the most amazing ability to ask just the right questions to get people talking. Quite literally, he fires off three questions, you reply, and before you quite realize it you've spent two hours talking to him about yourself...without feeling at all guilty about it. Jason also happens to be very smart, and working with him (so far) has been an absolutely great experience.
At current I'm running around rather like a chicken without a head. I spend several hours a week tutoring at the writing center, several hours more in classes, and even more hours helping two of the professors on campus with their research. As you can imagine, when I'm not doing those sorts of things I am either walking Evie or doing reading for my classes. It seems like a never ending cycle, and time is slipping away so fast! An extra job I have at the writing center is to run the facebook and twitter pages, which gets a bit exciting. We're presently trying to rename our twitter account since it's too close to the name of the University of Arkansas' twitter, but we'll get it eventually. I'm apparently doing good work (so far) and slowly people are taking notice. I have big, big plans for our social media network, and hopefully some of it pans out! If not, I'm at least learning and experiencing new things.
So far the beautiful state of Alabama is being very good to me. There are challenges, as can be expected, but I think I'm flourishing. My biggest concern at the moment is getting my car fixed, which is going to (hopefully) take place on Tuesday. It's definitely getting worse, and I just hope I can make the trip to Birmingham without incident. I'll try to update y'all sooner rather than later, but we'll see what my schedule allows. I have a paper due the first week of October that I want to get started working on, if only so by the time I get it turned in I might've had the chance to edit it at least once...
Here's hoping, right? Right!
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By way of random addition, Dad and I played a fun game on our trip. We were collecting license plates, you might say. We found almost all of the states (excluding Delaware and Rhode Island if I remember right), France, five of the Canadian provinces, a government plate, and a military plate! It was a great way to pass the time, that's for sure! Funnier still is that we saw Hawaii and Alaska within the first two hours of our drive...within ten miles of each other.
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