My New Life

So I am going to do a much betterjob blogging this semester because I feel that by keepingtrack of what I've been doingduring my internship, I will be able to go back and look at what I've learned over the next eight months. I'mgoing to start with the journey to Florida..

The plan was for Heather and I to take off for Florida early on Wednesday, January 5th. Of course I would have to have two

fillings replaced at the dentist, and the only time they could fit me in was at 8am that morning. So it wasn't until about 10:30am that Heather and I (numb mouth and all) packed my little VW bug with as much of my belongings as I could, and we headed south. Who would think that our parents would let two curly-headed blondes who are occasionally ditzy and not excellent at driving take a road trip 27 hours with no direction or plan except to just get there. I had intended on teaching Heather how to drive my manual vehicle all last semester, but that task continually got pushed back and eventually forgotten. So yes, only one of the two could actually drive my car. Great, we were already off to a good start, but believe-it-or-not, neither of us were too concerned.

The drive was surprisingly easy. We didn't have a destination point, but the goal was to drive until we (meaning I) were too tired to continue driving. We were making excellent time. I wasn't tired at all, and Heather never passed out which I found shocking because she's usually the first to fall asleep during car rides.

We were about two hours outside of Nashville when it became close to dinner time, and Heather used her Garmin to find what was available for food. She decided on a home-town restaurant...

Well this restaurant was 10 minutes off of a restaurant. I was already unsure. I don't know if it was because we had been in a car the entire day, but everything about the place was hilarious. It had quilts covering the walls, and Wheel of Fortune was playing on a TV. We knew it would be good. The utensils were plastic, and fried food was served on china. We made a seen by laughing hysterically and taking photos.. Whoops.

The minute we got back onto the interstate, we found a sign for the World's Largest Superman Statue.. and it was in the town none other than Metropolis. We had to stop. This town was also 10 minutes off the interstate, but the photos were worth it.

We weren't tired once we got to Nashville, so the goal was to continue driving until we did. We were about thirty minutes outside of Atlanta, and we were going to get gas in Atlanta and see how we felt. Then our car began to climb and we got lost in the clouds, or fog (I'm not sure). I mean, I couldn't see a damn thing. We were driving 40 on the interstate! So we pulled off ASAP into this shitty Days Inn that was overpriced. Our room's door didn't close all the way, and the heater wasn't working. Awesome. So we froze our tails off while sleeping with one eye open. At least the complimentary breakfast was decent.. oh wait, no it wasn't.

We were pretty nervous to roll through Atlanta. (We put our hoods up.) And of course some gangster song about poppin' peeps with 40's would be playing right then. Fortunately we drove through the city around 10am, and the traffic was pretty mild. Phew!

It wasn't long until we were in Florida. Almost there right!? Wrong.

Fort Lauderdale is at the bottom of the state. We knew that Florida has a thing for oranges, but we didn't expect there to be giant billboards every five miles advertising a welcome center with 'free orange juice.' We eventually had to get gas before we got to Orlando, and the gas station was definitely from another planet. It had a Disney souvenir shop, stuffed gators for sale, and an orange/orange juice building.

We finally rolled into Fort Lauderdale at around 10 and grabbed food at a restaurant/bar called Tarpon in the area where all the bars happened to be. After that, we just headed home so that we could get up early on Friday to be productive. On Friday, we went to the beach for breakfast, then to the grocery store and Target to get a few things. That night, we made dinner and drank too much to go out, but of course we did anyways. For some reason (that neither of us quite understand), we were only out for a few hours and even made it home an hour before the bars closed. The next morning we woke up and didn't feel well, so we just laid out on the beach all day (rough life, I know). That night we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Maracas and called it an early night.

Heather's plane left the next morning at 7:45, so I had to drop her off really early. I think we both broke out in tears before we had even gotten out of the car to say goodbye. My best friend was leaving me. I was alone, and I didn't like that. (Not really alone- I had a roommate already there and another to come in the next week, but it isn't the same). I drove home and went back to bed still crying.

I woke up later and felt a lot better. I was tired of driving, so I just did things around the house- putting my clothes away and organizing my room. I then went on a long run to the beach and back and ended up going over 9 miles without realizing it, but it was probably because I was gawking at everything to see. The weather was just gorgeous ever since we got here, and I was amazed by all of the green, the tropical plants, and yachts! It was then that I finally realized that this was my new life for the next 8 months, and I was surprisingly content with that.

I was beginning my first day at EDSA the following day, and I started to become more and more excited for it..