Positively tickled

Sunday morning, sun is shining. I've watched a lovely bluejay flitting in the backyard, but when a cardinal flew by, I felt a small pang in my heart. The cardinal is the state bird of Virginia, a place that I am miles and miles away from.

Friday morning was a bit scary for me. I woke up in a strange hotel at 3:00 am, darkness and disbelief clouding my vision. It was the day to begin my trip. My mother and I traveled to the airport quite early and got checked in. She stood in the security line with me for as long as she could, and then hugged me goodbye. Thankfully, I was not frisked as I went through the large glass dome containing the detector that tells everyone if you are smuggling things or merely forgot to take your belt off. I passed through this examination and then looked back to wave a sad goodbye to the lady who raised me to love and to be friendly and to say things like "Hidey" when you meet someone, instead of just "Hi." I walked through the airport, ready to take on the challenges set before me. Stopping quickly at the bathroom on the way, I looked in the mirror to see my mother's lipstick stain left on my cheek.  I reached up to wipe it away with a sad countenance, and I felt that it was symbolic in more ways than one.

The flights went by fairly quickly. I was airsick on the first, and getting through the big transfer airport was a little tricky with all these monorails to glide you between gates. The plane that took me to my destination was a very tiny one. The engine roared and the whole little place, containing about ten of us, was shaking as we crawled through the sky. Of course, we weren't going that slow, but it felt to take lifetimes. I dozed in and out of sleep, and was happy to have survived the rigorous landing when I stepped from the aircraft. Upon retreiving my suitcase, I guess I rolled it too agressively, because I ran it straight into a woman. Embarrassed, I whipped it away from her and my suitcase took a flipping tumble. The plastic legs on the bottom were broken off, and so I hastily grabbed the broken pieces and went to baggage claim. When I met one of my bosses for the first time, the first thing out of my mouth was, "Hi. I broke my suitcase." That's pretty typical of me to say something like that. However, she was kind and helpful and took me to the place I am now calling home for the summer.

I can describe to you the ins and outs of my new place, the hours I spent waiting to meet my fellow interns and roomate, but they are probably frivolous details in the scheme of this all. It will suffice to say that the house is great. I've got a room to myself, all the ammenities that I need, and the living space is large. My fellow interns are great, kind people, and I am very pleased with everyone I have met so far. How nice it is to be in a place where people share my interests!

We went to the zoo yesterday. It was positively lovely. I have no idea what my expectations were, but it surpassed them. It is quite large, and the landscaping is superb. All throughout, there is bamboo that lines walkways, giving you an 'in nature' sort of feel. A zoo truly is an art project. My favorite exhibit was by far the African exhibit. You stand on a bridge and what you see is a vast field, where there are lions and an ostrich, warthogs, kudu, elephants and three young giraffes all roaming together. You feel as if you are truly on the plains of Africa. Here's the crazy thing. Upon walking around the enclosure, you see that there are different layers to it. The lions are kept separate by a moat that drops off, the kudu by a fence that looks like fallen trees, and the elephants by a moat, as well. What an incredible design, and how aesthetic, to incorporate naturalistic barriers in such a way that the whole group of enclosures seems as one. I was very impressed. In another room where vast tanks of fish swam, birds flew free before the observers. In another part of the zoo, macaws sat on perches, fully free to hop off and meet you if they so desired. Many enclosures had waterfalls, plenty of real vegetation, and ample room. I was very pleased with the whole set-up. As one intern said, it is a bit of a 'bird-zoo,' which will be interesting for me, a mammal-girl. However, as I walked through the whole thing I felt positively tickled. Apparently 'tickled' is not a phrase people from outside of my area have heard, but I was feeling just that way. I smiled the whole time, knowing that this is going to be a great experience.

The rest of the day was passed lazily, and today will be much the same, but we are traveling back to the zoo, where I am eager to spend more time. Work starts one day next week, and I positively can't wait to begin.