So, it’s up and down here, all the time. Checking in was, in the beginning, such a mess. There’s still construction going on all over Tempe and Forrest Ave was closed, which is how I know how to get behind my dorm. I parked far away and walked, sweated, and then had a hard time finding anyone once I got there. I finally found my ACC (Assistant Community Coordinator), she showed me my room (right next door to where I was last year!) and that was it. She seems really nice though. I spent the rest of the day in a total sweat, dumped just a few things in my room and then moved to my temporary assignment. My roommate is the other girl RA in McClintock, Micheal (named after the archangel and is anything but). I thought she was pretty cool at first, really happy and social, but oh how that changed!!! Her 21st birthday is today (you would never know if you saw/spoke to her), so last night at midnight she went out for her “power hour” and drank. I spent some time in my room trying to get my internet working (failed) and finally got so fed-up and miserable from being alone, I wandered out the hall and walked into a noisy room a few doors down and found a bunch of people from Center Complex (that’s my group). So I stayed and chatted with all of them for a few hours and had a really good time; my face was hurting by the end from laughing so much. After that I decided I had to take a shower (it was cold) and finally got to bed at about 12. At 2:30, Michael comes stumbling into the room with one of her friends, “She might throw-up,” the friend says to me. Great. Totally woke me up, but fine, Happy Birthday, roll over, sleep. An hour later I hear her get up and walk out (the doors are extremely noisy and you know how easily I wake up). Every hour on the hour, she’s up and moving. Then one time I wake up to the sound of running water, remembering that these are community bathrooms and there are no sinks in the room. I look in the dark and see her sitting by the desk, making noises of relief and realize she was peeing in a garbage can! Again, NOT dealing with it, roll over. For the next 30 minutes I hear her in and out of the room as she cleans out the trash can. She continues to get up periodically all night long. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. Today was our first real day of training and thank goodness it’s Wednesday. It’s been such a long day with nothing really that important. We have had some good laughs, but mostly it’s been a lot of sitting, a lot of listening, a lot of walking, and a lot of sweating. I’ve met some interesting people and have fun here and there, but every now and again I find myself alone and that always makes me sad. I try to stick with the people in Center Complex and McClintock, but my talkative and apologetic roommate is driving me nuts, and one of her friends is extremely annoying—a real wise guy who thinks he’s clever but is actually just a pompous ass and a pain. So I just smile when he talks and avoid him when I can. Better to pretend than to make enemies. I’ve been hanging out with old RA, Matt. He’s actually pretty cool. Last night I listened to him and this other guy from CC, Aaron, play a duet with the guitar and mandolin (Matt plays the Mandolin and Aaron has an incredible singing voice). The food has also sucked. Breakfast is practically nothing, lunch isn’t bad because they give us employee cards so we can go wherever we want in the MU, and then dinner is always different. The problem is that everything is very high on carbs and is really tiring me out. Anyway, we’re all playing dodgeball now….wish me luck.