Freshman Escort Service

Sincerely exhausted. I haven't been this tired by 11 (or as tired as I was by 10, or 9) since... elementary school. It was a good day though, super productive, pretty fun. Have to get up at 5/5:30 tomorrow though, so not too much time (but actually not enough brainpower) to write a full post tonight. Should get better by Monday... Sorry!

Anyways, memorable moments time!

~ Eisgruber coming to talk, us giving him the "OA" cheer and him looking completely confused

~ Rick and Elan singing "40's going to be a great Frosh Trip"

~ Playing all of the OA games (Captain's Coming, Little Sally Walker, Fleas Flies Mosquitoes, Entourage, Bananas) with the OA leaders and being the awkward purple shirt in a sea of red

~ Welcoming the freshmen! And seeing Frank! And finding out that he's in my jurisdiction haha

~ Buying tons of stuff I wasn't planning on getting at CVS because I kept getting coupons

~ Jump-shaking Elan and him actually doing it super dramatically around 10:00pm when we were all super tired

Me: "Our Freshman Escort Service only has one customer."
Kathryn: "I guess we're not that attractive in our sweaty and disgusting clothes."
(Background: The unfortunately named "Freshman Escort Service" is basically Command helping late-arriving freshman find their OA groups.)

Rick: "Erica has melted into the floor."

OA Leader: "So we have a backpack without a brain..."
Me: "Oh, it's okay. I hiked without a brain [last year]."

Kathryn: "When in doubt, we don't count."

Sleeping Bag Mountain!

An actual 12-hour day today. Didn't have a non-Command related task at all the entire day.

Pretty tired, so I guess just a brief summary of the day and some highlights and memorable quotes. Packed a lot of food boxes, called a lot of people (got to use the walkie-talkie!), made signs, handed out Epipens, sorted out gear... It was a pretty busy but also fun day. Lots of bonding over stuff like chucking oranges into a box haha.

Highlights of today:
~ Gave Elan three hugs! =P

~ Getting to say "Erica for Elan. Over." and calling/sending Support vans everywhere

~ Making food signs and decorating them with polka dots and tiger stripes

~ Getting a Crazy Creek! Well, sort of. Have yet to pick it up (but thanks Elaine!)

~ Pulling sleeping bags out of other sleeping bags and essentially jumping on and collapsing into a really soft mountain of sleeping bags

~ Chilling with Rory, Richard, and Ryan in Trap's new and *huge* room!

Elan: "Have any of you driven a Prius before?"
Aoi: "Well, it's Japanese, isn't it?"

Rick: "So if you've never used disc brakes, they stop really hard, really fast."
Elan: "It's the opposite of Rick's car."

Late to Sleep and Early to Rise Makes Erica Tired

Oh Command. So physically and mentally taxing.

Spend a few hours testing satellite phones. The signal absolutely sucked on campus - I sincerely hope (and I think) it's better in the woods, or else absolutely no one is going to be able to communicate using them. Ran sims in the Command Center too, which was... interesting. And got our OA shirts! They're purple for Command. =]

Highlights of today:
"Can you confirm that the cheese has been located? Over."
"Rocky is the one that's particularly Hogwarts-like, and Mathey is the one that's... less Hogwarts-like."

Command Center

Stressful, super busy, but pretty fun. The people are awesome, and it'll be interesting to learn what happens not on the trail during the trip. =]

I am a bit frustrated with the seeming lack of organization though. Stuff would go so much faster if I was actually told what I was supposed to be doing. And in my opinion we spend too much time sitting around in anticipation of someone needing help, but never actually being needed.

But after pre-trip, the actual trip should be more interesting. Setting up meetings, talking to leaders... It'll be fun!

Also, did I mention I'm in charge of Hansen's group? =P

132 1927 Hall

It's a sick room. That's all I have to say.

Going back, going back, going back to Nassau Hall!

It's been an absolutely amazing summer. Working with some of the coolest people I've met, being part of a wonderful family at GrX. Had enough time to hang out with most of my friends too, even though we were about an hour apart.

Now for Princeton Part II!

Farewell Interns

Grabbed one last dinner with the remaining interns. As always, Andrew Yelped the place.

I'm really going to miss everyone. I'm probably going to cry again.

The Boss

The last day of a 12-week adventure today. 

Joshua P. Taygerly: one of the chillest, funniest guys I have ever met, and an absolutely amazing person to work for. I still remember how, in the first week, he told me to take days off to go to the beach if I wanted, took me out for 2-hour lunches, bought me a $600 modeling kit, and briefed me on where to get free food.

I've had so many amazing memories from this summer. The project I was working on, of course, which was pretty exciting and allowed for a lot of interdisciplinary exploration. Snapchats of him going slightly crazy at 3am in lab during scale-up. Discovering that some Sharpies are double-ended. Learning that to commit to something is possibly the worst thing to do, and that laziness is an art. Walking me through pretty much everything I did this summer with tons of patience and just as much enthusiasm.

It's sincerely been amazing. I still can't believe I'm done. But off I go, with some new experience and new friends, and I know our paths will cross again someday. I've been so wonderfully blessed.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

Giants v. Pirates today! We lost but saw some great innings (sadly, most of those weren't in our favor...). It was a wonderful night though!

Last day of work tomorrow. Wow. Such bittersweetness. It's honestly been incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better manager, coworkers, mentors... I've learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I guess it's back home for a few days then off to reenter the Orange Bubble!

Beauty for Ashes

I had such a wonderful time of worship tonight with brothers and sisters from GrX. Just singing and worshipping... Sharing our fears and praying for one another. It was beyond words.

God has blessed me so much with this family. He's doing wonderful things in my life. Praise the Lord.

"Wait! ...I forgot my shoes."

And Then There Were Five...

It's so lonely in the apartment without Lucy! It's absolutely ridiculous.

Had a really nice lunch out today at Specialty's! Dragged Paul along too haha. All of the guys were there, it was pretty awesome.

I can't believe it's my last week already! Insane to think about... And I'm flying out three days after my internship ends. It seems so rushed... The summer actually flew by. At least I was sort of prepared for it to do so. It's been truly amazing, and I'll definitely cherish all of the time I've spent here, and the four days I have left!

Andrew and I are definitely cooking dinner together this week. Cooking for two's a lot easier than cooking for one haha. =]

CalAcademy!

Had an absolutely amazing day today!

Grabbed an early brunch/lunch with Andrew and Lucy at Nopalito, a cute and slightly hipster Mexican restaurant.

Met up with Daniel and Elizabeth (!!!) at the Academy, and proceeded to have an absolutely amazing 4 hours seeing tons of different animals, walking through aquarium tunnels... Butterflies and birds and so many different types of fish. It was sincerely amazing. I honestly love aquariums so much - there's no way I could maintain one, but being able to just stand and have fish swim all around you... It's absolutely great.

Had a wonderful service today, about covenants and covenant relationships. Really meaningful and I hope I can really implement it in my life.

Ate a delicious dinner at Beretta and finished it off with some tiramisu and chamomile tea.

I can't believe Blane and Lucy are leaving tomorrow! Work this next week is going to be so lonely... =[

Adventures in SF!

Absolutely wonderful day today. Super tired, so just some highlights.

~ Witnessed first-hand a Zhihong-Josh confrontation.

~ Work BBQ! And alcohol in test tubes.

~ Lucy's "prize" for finding Josh's hidden MySite message.

~ Meeting Karlie!

~ Dinner at Dosa. Super delicious, finished my food and Will didn't. HA.

~ Finding a nonsketchy cafe at midnight. Because apparently there are only Mexican bakeries and bars open that late.

~ Mexican hot chocolate. Mmm.

~ (walking down the up escalator with Blane and Andrew)
BART employee: "Hey, where are you guys trying to go?"
Andrew: "We're trying to go down. Is there a way to get down?"

~ Talking about taxes on the BART ride back.

It was Lucy, Liz, and Blane's last day! Super sad - not sure if I'll ever see Liz or Blane again... Hopefully I'll see Lucy since we're relatively close to one another...

Cuff Earrings!

Lucy and I went to the mall today! Bought cards for our bosses, ate at Sarku Japan, got some froyo. But we got cuff earrings! I've always wanted one of these - they're super pretty and fun. Also sort of painful/troublesome to put on/take off but still awesome.

Also got a pretty cute navy blue headband with gold birds. =] Lucy's last day tomorrow (along with Liz and Blane). I can't believe the summer's almost over!