Arrival

(The next month's posts will all be about my EPGY summer institutes experience, so...enjoy.)

June 23, 2013:
"Make as many friends as possible!" - camp counselor

I forgot to give my parents a goodbye hug, and they chased me to the security check-in and took about a dozen photos of me awkwardly standing in front of a statue made of paper airplanes, backpack over my shoulders and a small suitcase in my hands. And then they were gone.
The line moved slowly, as lines usually do when there's nothing entertaining going on. I could talk about my purchase of a Whopper from Burger King for lunch and the subsequent 2+ hours we waited before the plane could safely take off, and I could describe in detail the character sheet I drafted on the plane after a half-hearted attempt to finish my Why College and Why Major essays; but let's fast forward to what you actually want to hear. (Or, well, read.)
I dorm with the Anthropology students and the Creative Writing students (a remarkably larger number of the former, I am happy to say). The house has two CW counselors and two Anthro counselors, one Tech Guy, and one Supplies Guy. They're all really easy to talk with - lots of friendship to go around! The first night, barbecue was served, which was about as good as any barbecue really, and we did a few Name Games and Ice Breakers (some absolutely hilarious and fascinating stories to go around between all 28 of us) before tumbling, exhausted, into bed.
Sudden overcast weather greeted us when we arrived, and it rained in the night. It's not too cold though, so I'm comfortable enough. Palo Alto weather is slightly more humid than the weather at home, but that's all.
The only thing is, there isn't a whole lot of time for internet use (which is a good thing when you're supposed to be socializing with everyone else in person, but this means my blog will be updated a little sporadically and what little free time I have left will be used writing short stories and Sun Road.
Looking forward to class tomorrow!