I made it!!!!

So I made it here, safe n’ sound.

Sarah got me to the airport in plenty of time, and the LAX gods were smiling upon me as there was hardly any security line. The flight was long, but uneventful except for the following exchange:

Man sitting behind me who snored most of the time (MSBMWSMOTT): What state is Chicago in?
Annoying woman with him (AWWH): I don’t know. Idaho?
MSBMWSMOTT: No, I think it’s Iowa. I think we’re in Iowa.
Smart person near them: You’re in Illinois.

Yes, that really happened.

I then successfully navigated my way to the bus that would take me to campus. While waiting, I met Jenn, another UIUC student that was waiting for the same shuttle. She was a very nice, very chatty Kinesiology Masters student. Between Jenn, the constant rattling of the really old bus (which had a “Fasten Your Seat Belts” sign but no seat belts) on bumpy roads and the woman who kept hacking up her lungs, it wasn’t a quiet trip for most of the 3 + hours it took to get here. That’s okay because the shuttle was cheap.

I got to my dorm and discovered that:
a) It’s uglier than I thought.
b) They gave me sheets, a blanket and towels despite saying they wouldn’t. I’m gonna use mine anyway since they’re nicer. I’m using the washcloth they gave me as a napkin because for some odd reason there are no paper towels in the womens’ bathroom.
c) My internet connection wasn’t working so I had to call Sarah to look up the UIUC Housing web site only to discover in a random doc that I had to have a non-standard cable. I retrieved said cable from the front desk.
d) My room is right next to the lounge. Some from the first LEEP group (who leaves on Sunday) have decided to have a meeting in there which apparently involves a lot of laughing and clapping.

After I unpacked and called everyone to check in, it was 8pm. I decided I wanted to find food before dark so out I went. Guess what? Nearly every place on my “Restaurants in C-U” list closes at 8 during the summer. Only the “Chocolate Cafe” was open, and tempting as that sounds, I kinda wanted real food. Oh well. I got a nice walk after all that sitting today.

So here I sit. My risotto in a cup is cooking, and I’m munching on olives. Thank you, Sarah, for making me get food that I could make with my tea kettle.

I’m also enjoying the air-conditioning. It’s so humid outside that there are signs up asking us not to open our windows as the humidity will set off the fire alarm. Really.

I’ll go to bed in about an hour n’ a half so I can get up bright n’ early for class n’ stuff. Whoa, that was a lot of n’s.

Anyway, a slap dash page of photos can be found here until I get a nice gallery going. Oh, and I guess I should get the date on the digital camera fixed, huh?