bak in sodak

Midway through my third trip to South Dakota, things are going great.

So far:

• It's snowed about 5-6 inches
• While driving through the snow (because plows are few and far between) we flew off the road in a fish tail into a ditch - no worries, no damage, we were all set. we had to drive in the ditch for a little while in order to get up the embankment
• Went to mass in a tiny little church with 18 people - actually really cool
• Got to go back to a few of the historically significant places to get better pictures for when I teach about them again
• Went to a trading post
• got to see the new site of the organization I used to work for
• and have just hung around in the volunteer housing

it's a great low key kind of break from the stressful and crazy life teaching high school

tomorrow, I'm going to go to elementary school to observe my friend teach and get to see her classroom and all that. it's gonna be fun to see what education is like in different parts of the country

Wups

I went to go for a 5 mile run. Actually, the run was about 5.3 miles. So instead of running the normal route, I decided I was going to extend it by a block to make it a nice 5.5 mile run. That's what I planned on doing.

So I went on my run, got to the street I normally turn at and continued to go to the next block. I turned and right away it was a big hill. Great. Well, that works ... did that. So I kept running. Right now I'm living in a pretty residential area, but still pretty crowded (no big city, but there are lots of houses around). So normally when I run there are sidewalks (for the most part) and lots of houses.

As I was running, things started to get a little suspicious. First off, I didn't recognize street names after a while, but I didn't mind. It was a nice day, the run was going well, so I figured I would keep going.

Soon I found horses, and pigs, and ACRES of farmland. This is when I got really confused and realized I had no idea where I was. At this point I was about 25 minutes into the run so it was a little late to stop and turn back, so I kept on going thinking that eventually I would see something I could recognize. Well hopefully.

I did, I recognized a street name, so I turned onto it and it was for at least another 10 minutes that I recognized where I was on the street. But I got back onto my normal route and finished my run.

Aim - 5.5 mile run.

Actual - close to 8 mile run

Aim - 45-50 minute run

Actual - 70 minute run

Here's a map to give you a better idea

what I meant to do ........ what I actually did

Hurricane!

So the community I'm living in has decided that we are going t have a "hurricane party" tomorrow

Rules of the hurricane party:

- wear pajamas

- rain gear over pajamas is acceptable

- watch movies all day

- no lights, just flashlights

- only eat canned food

(it's a hilarious wok in progress)

Moving On Up

So things are coming along smoothly in the new (old) house (convent). Today one of my roommates is ripping out the carpet in one of the staircases, it's taken him half an hour but he has finished two stairs.

Beyond that things are good. It's pretty good here, boring but good. Yesterday I played 9 holes of golf (shot a 68). It was frustrating but I didn't mind because I wasn't paying for it (thank you gift certificates).

After that we got back to the convent and watched Resident Evil. I didn't really appreciate it, it was too weird. It lost me at the skinless dogs. Then in order to watch a less scary movie because some of the girls have a real problem with zombies, we watched Star Trek.

After 4 hours of movie watching I had to do something. So a few of us walked into "town" to see what there was. It is 11pm at this point so not much was open. I just needed to get up and out of the house for a little to regain some sanity.

But that's all for here as of now. Teacher's meetings start monday. I'm actually pretty excited for them, just because I really know nothing about the school so I have a lot of questions.

If a real fire alarm went off, I would have no clue

So completely unpacked and moved into my new house (and old convent). My bedroom and office are unpacked and are awesome, so there. The house is a mess so a few of us living here have spent the past few days cleaning like crazy. It seems like in the ten years this house has been used as a PACT house, it has never been fully cleaned. So that's fun. I been opening cabinets and closets and finding the most random crap. In one of the drawers I was cleaning out I found torn up construction papers, pine cones, walnuts, leaves, sharpies, and a clock. Random.

Anywho, started wearing another heart monitor. I have the amazing opportunity to wear this one for 30 days. I'm so excited. When the things goes off, it first sounds like a truck backing up, then a fire alarm, and then a tea kettle whistling. This is gonna be awkward when it goes off when I start teaching.

Speaking of teaching, I'm starting a new blog (I will keep this one but I don't think I'll update as much). But it's gonna be all about my first two years teaching and the crazy and weird stories that happen. Check it out.

Already Drowning

So I had my first day of real graduate school today. It's a 5 week summer session and I'm taking 12 credits. AWESOME!

So from just 2 of the classes I have for the next 5 weeks, I have 27 assignments. I can't wait to find out what else I have from the other 3 classes I'm taking tomorrow!

Help me.

All Growed Up

I got my schedule for the classes I'm teaching next year, ready?

5 JUNIOR US HISTORY CLASSES

pumped. we're using the same book I used in student teaching, and the class starts at the same point I started student teaching. So I pretty much have the first three months already all planned out.

suckahs.