I left straight from the BHP, early on August 7. The first day I drove 15 hours and stopped at a Super 8 in Cedar City, Utah. I was surprised that the day went so fast. There was barely any time that I was going crazy being bored. I was really emotional leaving the BHP. I'm not going to lie. I spent the majority of Wyoming and parts of Utah crying. Wyoming was pretty in that western kind of weird pretty. I had no idea Independence Rock was in Wyoming or that it was so HUGE. I totally thought it was in Nebraska. There was basically no phone service anywhere in Wyoming so I'm glad it went fairly fast. The scenery changed drastically right at the border of Wyoming and Utah. I couldn't believe it. Wyoming was brown, golden, and fairly flat. Utah was green and mountainous. I wanted to get to St. George because that's where Flako says he usually stops. I stopped at Cedar City, UT. I hadn't reached the point where I knew I should drive anymore, but I was exhausted when I got to the motel, which I did not have a reservation for. The room they gave me had a GIANT whirlpool tub in it. I was actually disappointed it was there. I really wanted to use it but was so tired that I knew if I got in it, I would probably fall asleep. I sent an email that I had been thinking about all day, let the important people know where I was, and fell asleep.
The next day, I think I drove six hours. When I got to St George, I was so glad that I had stopped earlier. There is no way I would have made it that next 45 minutes. Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California all were beautiful to drive through. Almost every curve I drove around I thought "wow." Truly gorgeous. I felt really lucky. Even when my A/C stopped working for the last hour of the desert, I was crazy hot, and my phone stopped working for a bit because it overheated. I still felt lucky. I drove 1294.5 miles from the top of the hill at the BHP to the hotel in Arcadia.
I checked into the hotel, first going to the wrong one. There's two literally around the corner from each other. I moved all my stuff into my room from my car. It took three trips with those hotel baggage carts. Then I went off to find where I was supposed to go the next day.
On Friday, I went to the district office to actually meet the HR lady and to fill out some paperwork. I had to get fingerprinted in CA before I was technically allowed to start work and before they could offer me a contract (which I realized I still haven't signed...) I went and got fingerprinted and then went off to Pasadena to go apartment hunting. The first week is a blur of apartments and streets.
I started work on Monday. Last week was an introduction of the district and whatnot. Nothing very exciting. A lot doesn't apply to ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education). One of the biggest problems I had was that I share a classroom and the other teacher didn't start back until today. There was a lot that I couldn't do or actually wouldn't do without her there. I'm not going to move stuff around without checking with her first. I teach in the afternoon which is when Cristina used to teach, so I have a lot of questions for her about how she ran her classroom in the space so I at least have an idea.
Last week was a lot of work and apartments. That was pretty much it. Mom and I got pedicures on Friday. Saturday, after dropping off the deposit, we went to the LA Zoo. It's a nice zoo...or I'm sure it will be when it's not ridiculously hot and I'm more relaxed. It's no Omaha, but nowhere is. Sunday, we picked up the apartment keys and went shopping for apartment stuff. New couch, bed, computer (mine died over the summer), and basic kitchen stuff. It's all a little ridiculous. We also had dinner with Bob and Minnie, which was so nice. We ate and played some card games.
I'm ready to get settled and start setting up my apartment. I'm ready to have kids in my classroom. Not really, because I haven't done anything to actually get ready for them (or for her....the one on my list so far...). I made a comment today that the things that I want to do won't take me that long. The teacher I was talking to said "oh no, it's going to take a long time." Yeah, it will take longer than I think it will, but I know my working style and what I will do for school. I also wanted to tell her that just because I look young doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing, but that's for a different post. I have a lot more feelings about everything but I'm getting tired and need to get ready for tomorrow when I have to actually get work done. More writing later.
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