Hello there! Well, I finally arrived in DC yesterday at around 1PM! That was one LONG car ride. Very pretty, but LONG! I definitely won't be making any car trips back down south anytime soon. ;-) I was completely convinced that I could make the drive in one day. Thankfully, my parents insisted on reserving a hotel room for me in Christiansburg, VA (close to VA Tech). I thought I would be so "journey proud" that I would just whiz right by Christiansburg without even blinking, but by the time I got there my head felt like a ton of bricks! I got a good night's sleep and only had a short three hour drive to DC yesterday morning. Driving into the city was almost surreal. I couldn't believe that I had really driven all the way from Monroeville, AL to Washington, DC!
All day yesterday and last night I was a complete nervous wreck about starting work and going to my first class today. Well, the mother of the children I am nannying for called this morning and told me to take the day to rest and regroup and to come in on Thursday instead. Wasn't that so nice of her? I wanted to jump through the phone and give her a hug for the few extra hours sleep she had just given me! I spent the day reading over my homework assignment for class (yep, an assignment before the first day of class!) and praying that I wouldn't forget everything in the fifty pages of material we had to read. Well, at 5:45 I packed up my brand new book bag (courtesty of my old boss - thanks Tom!) and headed out to class. Unfortunately, class was to be held at a Georgetown U. office on M Street, which is the main drag that contains alot of the posh retail shops in Georgetown. Naturally lots of posh, pretty people walk up and down M Street going in and out of these shops. Can you see me right in the middle of them with my fifty pound book bag on my back? Believe me when I tell you I was the ONLY person on M Street with a book bag! I probably wouldn't have looked so ridiculous if I hadn't filled the thing with: all of my books (even the ones I didn't need for this class), three legal pads, a three ring binder, a laptop, about fifty pens and highlighters and a thirty ounce water bottle! I thought that if I kept everything in my book bag at all times that I would never forget to bring anything with me to class. Forget that! I think I'll be taking just the necessities for each class with me from now on. Maybe my book bag won't stick out five feet behind me and I won't hunch over while trying to walk! Hopefully I'll be looking a little more "posh" for class next Tuesday. :-)
While I am so excited about being here and starting out on this new adventure in life, I have to admit that I am already feeling pretty homesick and scared. I realized this morning that I really am a long way from my friends and family. I can't just jump in the car and come home whenever I want to anymore. That's a pretty hard pill to swallow for me. I've never lived this far from home before, so I guess these feelings are normal. They certainly don't feel good though. I spent alot of the day bursting into tears and then stopping and then bursting into tears again. It was pretty pitiful! Despite how rotten it feels to be homesick, I'm thankful that I have such wonderful family and friends to be homesick for! And I know that adjusting to a new place with new people just takes time. Hopefully my adjustment time will be short! ;-)
Well, this homesick little country mouse is about to turn in for the night. Tomorrow really will be a big day and I can't afford to be sleepy with two little girls to take care of from 8AM-5PM. I will post again tomorrow with a full report on how the day goes!
Sweet dreams to you!
Hi, Little Mouse,
ReplyDeleteDon't think you're the only on who is homesick. We're homesick for you too. But, as Mother Buck used to say, "It's a good miss," because we know you're doing what you want to do and have worked and planned for it. Love reading your blog. Keep it up !
Love you,
Mama