Schadenfreude

Ehh.. not sure what to say, but I’ll try to force something out.

This week we are doing tons and tons of training, but ths is more technical stuff directly related to the program (instead of our basic introduction to Americorps and the organization as a whole). Yesterday we talked a lot about roots and began familiarizing ourselves with commonly planted street trees. Today we spent a long ass time talking about trees around SJ (about 40 of them), soil, and ways to choose the right tree for the right place. Tomorrow we’re going on a group hike (another team building thing, I think), and soon we’ll be getting our free cell phones and learning how to prune young trees. So much information is being thrown at us, but I guess that’s just the way we have to do it. I’m already noticing lots of things about all of the trees I see, which must mean I’m retaining some of the information.

I have been trying to "put myself out there" more, especially with the 2 girls I live with. I’m not super anti-social or anything, but I do enjoy copius amounts of quiet time… I’m trying to break that habit though, because I feel like I’ll gain more from this experience if I try to get to know the 20+ Americorps members I’m working with. I ultimately want this experience to give me a stronger sense of self, and I want to finally feel like I’m able to adapt to new situations without it affecting me so much emotionally.

Oh well, anyway.

I have been watching the last few episodes of Heroes. I guess I’m kindof into it, but not really… I just decided to watch it because Paul absolutely loves it, and I figured I’d see what all the fuss was about. I’m honestly more into reality tv… yes, it’s schadenfreude (satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune).

Something cool: I get to see Paul this weekend! He’ll be in the Bay Area and I’m going to hang out with him a bit. This will probably involve dinner on Friday, and we are renting a hotel room on Saturday night (I’ll probably have to pick him up after I get off work at 4). The week has been going pretty quickly so far, and that’s good. It’ll be nice to hang out with him again, because he’s cooler than any of the guys around here.

Hmm… umm… oh, so like I said, I’m kindof living with the grandparents of a girl I work with. I just wanted to let you all know that I do eat–the grandmother cooks dinner. Last night we had scallops (which I had never had before), rice, broccoli, salad, and white wine. Tonight I think we are having pesto, so the food is pretty good… we just have to do the dishes and clean up afterward.

There’s a lot going on in my head and it’s making it hard to relax… I’m not sure why, but I’m kindof getting used to having my thoughts continually.run.on.overdrive. I feel a lot better than I did a week ago, that’s for sure.