Activities I have participated in since moving to Montana 3 weeks ago:
- Hiking up Mt. Helen (2 1/2 times. Video to be coming soon)
- Attended a Brewers Baseball game
- Listened to the Helena Symphony orchestra outside at night (with fireworks)
- Played pub trivia twice, and once tied for 3rd place
- Explored the historic downtown
- Watched a thunderstorm overtake the sunset on a porch
- Scouted every bar in the downtown area
- Danced like an idiot to bad top 40 at Miller's Crossing
- Played a rousing game of croquet
Weird things I'm learning about Montana:
- The air is thinner than you'd think it is
- There are magpies everywhere
- There are also plenty of seagulls (wrap your head around that one)
- No one drives over 35 mph in the city
- On that note, people will pull out in front of you and you must slow down and let them
- The skies really are freakin huge
- Helena is like a bowl. It is set inside a valley with mountains on all sides (pictures to come soon)
- People here like the outdoors. a lot.
- There is decent Mexican and Cajun food here. Who knew?
- They like their karaoke here
- Families rule this place. Most of the population either has kids or grandkids.
So my pre-service orientation (PSO) was two weeks ago. Three days of learning how to adapt to a new culture and reach out to a new citizen base you aren't used to. Most of it didn't apply to me because I won't be working with the community directly. It frustrated me a bit because our orientation leader would go on and on about how to recruit volunteers and work within the community to gain support for their organization. I however, will be working exclusively online and over the phone, teaching legal aid societies around the US about new technology. So not quite the same thing. It's going to be a bit difficult to keep my eye on the prize: addressing poverty in America. They are looking to give me some video production and editing assignments for both Montana Legal Services and my service corporation LSNTAP, so that will be nice. See Mom and Dad? I'm using my degree you so kindly bought me!!
I started my job last week at Montana Legal Services and since then its been all training and meetings. Things are pretty laid back here. That isn't to say that people don't work hard, there just isn't a really strict corporate structure and rules. Everyone is very welcoming and helpful and smart (and I thought I knew coding and website design. lord help me!).
The roommate and I are getting along smashingly. My apartment is about 5 minutes from my work and 5 minutes from downtown. In all honesty, its about 5 minutes from just about everything in Helena. Its a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with living and kitchen areas. I furnished my entire apartment for less than $150 (thank you, Good Samaritan and Goodwill!).
My car still has its "check engine" light on (it came on when we reached Helena), but since the only person who can fix it is in Billings (4 hours away), it's going to have to wait to be fixed until I go to the blues festival there next week. Otherwise, I've used only a half a tank of gas in 3 weeks and have spent maybe 4 minutes in traffic total! So yay!!
I'm oddly more nervous about this whole new experience than I was with moving to Boston. I guess I just feel more comfortable in a big city than I do in a smaller town. But I have some pretty awesome new people in my life who will keep me occupied as well as a job that looks like it will challenge me quite a bit. So nervous-excited, rather than nervous-scared.
The Next Adventure: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (Red Cross Edition)
No comments:
Post a Comment