Reunited

After a whirlwind tour of half the country (leave Mexico Beach on Saturday morning, drive 15 hours to St. Louis, unpack, repack, say a quick hello to Maizie and leave for the airport Sunday afternoon, fly from St. Louis to Chicago to Providence, arriving Sunday night), I'm back at Brown. It's strange here, though. I liken it to seeing your ex for the first time two weeks after breaking up.

At first, I was incredibly excited: Brown, here I come! Oh how I missed you! And then I was nervous: I don't know anyone here. I don't belong here. For the first time in two years, that corner room on the fourth floor of New Dorm A isn't mine. And then I was sad: everything has changed. I don't feel different, but things are different and they can never be the same. So now: It's time to move on. Thanks for the memories, Brunonia; we spent a wonderful four years together and I'll never forget you. There's a special university-shaped place in my heart for you, but I think we both know that we're ready to move on.

So, if I don't spend all day everyday reliving my college years, then what am I doing? The answer is, not much. Monday was a full day of training, learning about the developmental needs of high-schoolers and various leadership styles. Because I was trained to facilitate a ropes course last year, I could skip the ropes course training on Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead, I ordered some supplies online, sent some confirmation emails about field trips, and printed some stuff for our lessons.

And then I ate a pint of strawberries, went for a five mile run, watched a couple episodes of Arrested Development, and took a nap. Last night (after the ropes course facilitators-to be returned), we went rock climbing at a climbing gym. We had to pass a belay test before they'd let us on the floor, and I was so nervous! I have belayed before (when we took the BELL students to a high ropes course), but BELL uses the facilities of the Wheeler School and they send along a certified supervisor to watch our every move. I barely had the chance to tie my own figure-eight-follow-through knot last summer for all of her hovering. Sure, I may be a measly 100-ish pounds, but with an anchor holding me to the ground and my mad belaying-skills, no one's falling anywhere. Anyway, we ran through the test in about fifteen minutes and we all passed with flying colors. We climbed for a couple hours, and I successfully belayed several people, and then we went to my favorite pizza place - Antonio's - for dinner. Delicious!

This afternoon was when I attempted the 5+ mile run, and while my head was saying yes, my legs were saying HECK NO. Not after hours of rock climbing last night. But I managed it anyway and now I am going to sit for the rest of the night.