1st Day of classes ( a lot of firsts)

My first day of classes today!! hoorah!! It actually felt pretty good to have a real purpose and a real place to be. My first class was Spanish, I was a little nervous after not having taken spanish for 3 months over the summer. Everything went just fine though. My teacher seems like he tries to intimidate you but deep down inside he is actually really sweet and really funny. I think the workload for that course should be fairly manageable. There are a lot of online assignments, which I think are a good idea because that way you don't have to waste paper by turning stuff in and you don't have to worry about leaving stuff back in the dorm. Then I went to my education class, I actually really enjoyed this class as well. Basically, we learn about different ways to teach and different ways a student can learn. A huge component to this class is doing service work out in the community of Carlisle. I can choose to help tutor at the special eds program at the high school/middle school, an afterscshool tutor program for kids with learning disabilites, or take care of children aged 1-kindergarten. I am not sure which one I am going to do yet, they have a thing next week where someone comes from each place to explain about what you would actually be doing. Then I have my freshman seminar, the teacher for this class is by the way SSOOOO COOOL!!! And she will be my academic advisor all 4 years and dickinson. This class is about social inequality and poetry in the United States, it sounds sooo interesting and I am so glad to be taking it from her! I had lunch with Mary Grace, Nina and a friend from my floor named Hily. Then I went to my last class of the day, Greek and Roman Mythology.. in theory I would really love to know those ideas at somepoint... but I would not stay awake through any of that class, so I've already discussed in detail with my advisor and she recomends i trade it for something else!! So, I dropped that boring class and enrolled in a creative writing class!!!! HOW FUN!!!! I can put some of my creative writing up here! How great!!! Anyway, i spent the afternoon walking into Carlisle.. we found a local organic foods store that we stocked up with healthy snacks. We just searched around for all the shops. Then we walked to Walmart... i know, its terrible.. don't support huge industrial stores that don't treat the makers well. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of other options here. THere is a target! It is just a farther walk, and in theory, they are basically the same thing. We had dinner at the Quarry which is a little Cafe type thing on campus that is really really cute. You can enjoy outdoor seating, or inside seating on cozy couches with a fireplace. There is a pool table and sort of like tavern on the upper level and darts and a ping pong table in the basement. Here is outdoor seating...


Anyway, I chatted with Mia and Matt tonight, two people who were extrememly close to me at home and it feels really weird to be so far away from them. It is weird that you can still feel so close to someone even though, in reality you are so far away. I think it will continue to be a challenge to stay close with people from home while maintaining friendships here. Hopefully, it will be easier than it seems. I think that even though we may not talk every day or tell each other every detail... when we do talk, it will feel like nothing has changed. I miss my family a lot. I have been talking to them a lot, trying to figure my cell phone. Anyway, I am really tired tonight.. luckily.. NO CLASSES TOMORROW!!! How nice! Just for me, my schedule just worked out that way. Anyway, goodnight guys... hope to hear from you soon! *Vanessa*