The new place

So it's been an interesting day. I have finished a few errands and continued settling in to my new place. I dropped Dad off at the airport around noon and braved the Boston traffic on my own. I think I've spent the majority of my time here driving around, half lost. The pictures posted below are from my bedroom window and the view from the living room, respectively. It was taken on my cell, so it doesn't do the spectacular view justice. I can hear segulls as I write this. The air is cool and even though it is midafternoon I have the windows wide open. I really lucked out so far. My landlords are really cool, the other tenant is friendly and the pets are friendly too.

So far the only thing I have struggled with is driving. My poor father was a terrified passenger for the past few days, and things were so rough that he got me a GPS. I could not be more grateful. I would probably stranded somewhere in Downtown Quincy with a dazed look on my face if it weren't for him. The big problems I've encountered are 1) traffic signals are more or less meaningless at busy intersections, 2) Many roads will quickly change from 2 or 3 lanes to 1 and you're forced to merge. Then, when it splits up again I am often in the wrong lane for where I need to go. That will change as things get more familiar. 3) Even when I know which street I'm on, the names change so suddenly that I am lost again. If I am having trouble with this, I shiver at the thought of driving in downtown Boston. I really hope I never have to.

My new job will start on September 1st. The first weeks will be training, and I'll be sent to my site on September 12th. I can see the island where I'll be working from the living room, and everyone I've talked to says the drive will be really nice. This is going to be interesting.

Lots of love to everyone back home. Miss you!

Springfield, MA

Hi again everyone,

Still not a lot of news. We're having fun and I'm so excited to get to Boston tomorrow. My dad and I are now safe and sound in Springfield, MA. We were fortunate enough to only face a little bit of wind and rain today as we drove in. Otherwise, we missed most of Irene. We have come to a lot of detours due to flooding, but nothing we couldn't get around.

Our first night was a long one. We had planned to stay in Nebraska City on our way to Kirskville, but due to flooding all the highway exits were closed. We ended up getting into Cameron, MO at around 2:30 Friday morning. We were exhausted, but we didn't have a long way to go to Kirksville that next morning. We arrived in the late morning and were greeted by a very happy Anneliese. She ran up to Bapa and gave him a big hug. Those two are best buddies. She gave us a very thorough tour, running from room to room in the house and telling us what we could and couldn't do in each room. "Mommy says we don't turn on the fan in here," or "we can't open this or this" in the playroom. We had lots of fun with the Gillettes those two days. We got to go swimming at the hotel and eat together, and the next day we got to play hide and seek and see Anne ride her "tot rod." Anne loves the water and I think she will love her first swimming lessons. She wouldn't let me sit in the hot tub very long. "Why are you in there? It's so hot!" she would say, a little annoyed. The next day when she took out the tod rod, she was very good. She has learned to pedal, can almost steer (Mommy has to help a lot) and always moves to the side of the road when cars come. As soon as she learns to steer she will have surpassed my abilities on a bike. Anne wanted us to stay at their house, but we told her we had to get to Boston and left early Saturday morning. I know I'm biased, but I'm so impressed with her speech. She sounds like she's 4! Her parent have their hands full, but they seem really happy even though she is a little pistol.

The drive that day was uneventful, albeit with several construction projects along the way. We made it to Buffalo, NY that night only to discover that all of the hotel rooms were booked (it's right next to Niagara Falls) and had to drive to Rochester, NY. The whole time we listened to radio programs where people called in and talked about the storm as it moved in. When we went to bed at 2 AM, we could only imagine what we would run into the next day. There was some wind and rain on the road, especially near Albany, but we were really lucky to avoid the worst of the storm. I'm also really glad we have power here, there are a few areas that have been knocked out.

Tomorrow we will go the rest of the way into Boston. I'll meet my new landlord in Quincy before she leaves for Vegas and my dad is going to help me get settled. I'll put some pictures in my next post of the new place.

Lynne

First Post

Hi everyone,

Since I am embarking on an East Coast adventure in the next couple of days, some friends encouraged me to start a blog. I don't know that I'll have anything interesting to say, but you can check back every now and then just to make sure.

I'm headed to Boston, MA to work for the Americorps through next July. It sounds like I'll be working with the homeless at two shelter-based clinics out there. I'm one of 9 Americorps members working for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, and my position will be on Long Island (yes, there is one in Boston). While I haven't received an official job description yet, most of what I will be doing is benefits enrollment, health education and a few outreach events on the weekends. One of the clinics will be based in a standard emergency shelter while the other will be associated with individuals just out of detox. I have only worked a little bit with those populations before and this should be an adventure. It will be great experience and I hope it makes me a better doctor someday.

I was a little sad to leave Fort Collins yesterday. I got to see a few friends and old professors before I left. They had lots of good advice and encouragement. I'll miss my job up there. Teaching was really fun most days and my boss was really great to work with. I'll miss my folks at the assisted living facility and the AIDS Project too, but I'm excited to set off into the unknown, so to speak.

The trip out there will start Thursday. My dad has taken off work and he'll be going with me to make driving easier. It should be a really fun time, at least for me. I'll make sure to get some audiobooks to listen to so I don't talk his ear off the whole time =). We will also get to stop in Kirksville, MO to visit the wonderful Gillette family. I've been missing them, and I'm sure that quality BaPa/Anne time is long overdue. I can't wait to see their new house!

From there we'll drive straight on to Boston. I'll be moving in with what seems like a really friendly couple in Quincy (the house is right on the water - awesome!) and my new job will start on September 1st. I'll have to commute everyday though Boston traffic (boo), but my landlord used to work on the island too and she said the drive isn't that bad. We'll see how I do in winter. Stay off the roads if you value your lives...

From there we'll see how it goes. I'm really excited and really nervous to be moving to a brand new city and working in a job with a steep learning curve. I've been given many assignments from people back home that I'm to accomplish before I return. These include a picture of the Bull and Finch Bar (Cheers?), a t-shirt from the Sam Adams brewery, making obscene gestures at Fenway (I don't know if I'll follow through with this one) and finding an old park set up by a great-great uncle. My friend Christina has been really helpful and supportive. It's so reassuring to have a friend in town before I go. I imagine I'll be on the phone with her a lot in the next couple of weeks asking questions. I'll probably be calling home too, since I will miss my family terribly.

I think that's all for now. I'll post more details as soon as I have them.

Lynne