Tired but Excited!

A few quick updates:

1. Coming into this, I wasn't positive what to expect. On the one hand, previous corps members all got the same strange look in their eyes as they recalled their institute days...waking up at ungodly hours, freezing inside and sweltering outside, no time, tons of work, session after session. But I figured, I should be prepared. After all, my schedule has been SO crazy for so long. I mean, look at Senior Week! I figured I would be able to handle it, since I had handled similar intense times before. But this is completely different. The work I have to do may not seem hard initially, but it's incredibly difficult to try to understand concepts of teaching, then try to apply them in lesson plans while we are still taking in everything ourselves. So institute is really, really hard--and we haven't started teaching yet. That's when the real craziness begins! Right now, we are all completely exhausted. I have to go in 15 minutes to another session...

2. I love the Hawai'i corps!! The first week was fun, but at institute, we're all really bonding, and I love it. I think that's the experience of every region--shared experience unites (especially when it's rough, haha)--and it's fabulous. But I've also met amazing people from all over the place.

3. This weekend's going to be great! On Friday night TFA is busing us to Rice Village, which I hear is a really fun hangout, and then on Saturday I'm going to a brewery tour and Astros game with my friend Cait who works at NASA. She's amazing and I'm so excited to see her!