Moving Mayhem

Remember when my pod got separated and divided into new "teams" that would be ours for the next 9 ish months? Well, with that separation came a change in rooms so that we could be closer to the team. We all moved to the hall where our Team Leader resides to make communication easier. Or we were supposed to...

First off, don't ever tell 300 people to move their rooms at the same time, it's fuckin pandemonium. There were traffic jams up and down the stairs. Trying to switch buildings was like playing Mario Kart in Reverse Mode at Toad's Turnpike. There was clothes strewn about that had fallen out of hampers and unzipped duffel bags. People were getting clotheslined by bed posts (not really but it sounds cool.) It became very clear why traffic exists on the roads.

I got to my room, saw that my roommate had already moved his stuff in, and plopped my last bags down by the open bed. I vaguely started unpacking (even made my bed) before I decided to try and visualize my new roommate by looking at his shit. Well, first thing I saw was Mickey Mouse bed sheets. Ok, so he's a little childish, maybe a momma's boy (I have odd-colored light purple sheets so I can't judge on sheets alone). Next, I saw a white tank top sticking out of the duffel bag. An immature, white trashy meat stick? Unlikely, but not implausible. I got a little nervous at this point. The next thing I hear from across the bathroom door that connects to the other suite is "Christina... are you in there?" A girl I vaguely know named Finley bounds into the room and we stare at each other for a split second, than grin. Hi, suite mate.

So it turns out they roomed me with a girl in a suite with all girls. Why can nobody understand the name Ari? Even after Entourage? I thought that show would be my coming out party in the world of jewish names. I met Christina, a rather shy asian girl. I asked her how she'd feel living with a dude, and she said that she didn't mind. The other suite mates agreed. I even worked in some of the dano charm in the hope to stay there. Alas, the Americorps higher ups did not approve, and moved me within the hour, to a room one floor higher and on the opposite end of the hall. In hindsight, I don't think I would've lasted long in that room. Not many appreciate the socialist style of living where everyone in the room owns everything, and "everything" is usually located somewhere on the floor. Just pick through it damn it. It's gotta be there somewhere.

As I said earlier, now I live just far enough away to make meeting with my team a bit of a drag. It's mostly mental. Realistically it's about 50 steps away, but when you leave your water bottle in your room consistently, it gets old walking the route again. Not only do I miss out on a lot of the gossip going down amongst the team, I also miss such important things as "departure time" and "dinner time" if they forget to text me. To make matters worse, only 5 teams are left on campus right now. Guess how many live on my floor. 0. I have an entire floor and suite to myself. I'm still convinced they intentionally quarantined me after the results of my shots came in. I wonder what disease I've got...

It sounds great at first, a whole suite to oneself. But it's lonely. I try to spread out the clothes lying around the floor as much as possible, but that empty bed across the room still glares at me. It's also always dark in the hallways, because I can't find the light switch. My team may or may not think I'm a totally dependent mooch from the amount of time I spend in their rooms. I hope I'm kidding.

Not much new has happened. Been a little slow at Larchmont because of Thanksgiving this week. They have the whole week off. We went to the school today and weeded the gardens and helped the injured janitor (we think he strained his hip flexor) get the rooms cleaned. Of course he doesn't go to a doctor due to a fear of paperwork. He is orginally Guatamalen and speaks minimal english. It sucks. I recommended ice and rest, but he says he can't sleep it hurts so much. Send a prayer to Isea for a quick recovery.

I'm missing everyone quite a bit, just had to throw that out there. I presume you knew, but it means something more in writing. Be good.