Routine has set in: every Monday is a class day, and Tuesday through Friday are days spent at our current rotation. I’m getting used to the area, and I’ve got my days in order.
I come home, work out when I’m not completely exhausted, make dinner, and do homework. Every night. That’s it.
By no means is this a boring schedule. On the contrary, it’s always changing. Our hours depend on where we’re working, and the longest we’re at any site is eight weeks. Then come the weekends, and I’m kind of lost. The area I’m living in is almost scarily close to Baltimore, and D.C. Not far from where I went to school, or some of my best friends, or five other states. Assuming I’m up for braving the traffic, there is certainly no shortage of places to explore.
After a week of learning, reading, studying, homeworking, and actually working…..it’s too easy to lounge around alllll day on Saturdays and Sundays, and relax. This is exactly what I’ve done, most weekend days. And then I get ambitious and realize I need to keep things interesting. I need to take advantage of this craziness. I need to explore!
So that’s exactly what I’m doing. If for no other reason, it’s just to keep things interesting. The roommate and I have already made two day trips, venturing to D.C. and Annapolis.
D.C. was certainly a learning experience, learning: to use the Metro, that you have to get there early or all of the museums have lines, that you will pay at least $3 for a bottle of water, how to read a map so you don’t end up walking all the way around Capitol Hill just to get to the Air & Space Museum (that’s a loooong detour), and that it’s nice and easy (and pretty cheap!) to get there and back. Yesss. Good exploring skills.
Annapolis was beautiful. Always is. I’ve been there a couple of times before, so I knew how to navigate. This is a necessary skill in these old American towns. Gah. Certainly makes you appreciate wide highways and four-way stops. Annapolis has narrow roads, lots of parallel parking (um, not my strong point), and roundabouts. When the GPS system says to take the fourth exit of a roundabout that means you are driving in circles and thinking “Um, which one is the “first” exit???” Clearly GPS was created long after the streets of Annapolis.
Aside from that, it’s hard to find anything not to like about this coastal town. Water, yachts, tons of shopping (which I’m avoiding, right?), book stores, the Naval Academy, lots of restaurants, and a plethora of places to get ice cream. Yummm. And it’s all found by walking the streets downtown. Wonderful.
Our little day trips are time to unwind. To realize that while this year is going to be (well, already is) stressful, it’s also a year to experience and enjoy this area. It’s almost too easy to get lost and frustrated and possibly end up in New York City thinking, “Um, oops.”. But that’s how you learn. And that’s definitely one way to keep things interesting.
Posted by Mary Ellen Nunes at 09/19/2008 08:10:04 AM |