First Vinton Post

So after five days, I've gotten a twenty minute slot in the computer lab. *Excited*
We had wireless internet fully functional in the dorms, but since I work for a government agency, it's not allowed. Something about security..

The campus for the Iowa Braille school is amazingly beautiful, and though it's going through some renovations, most of us have come to really love this place. Of course there are the few who say, "Where the hell are we again?" and "I left my dog to come to Iowa?" but many of them have been filtered out through the drug screening.

One girl named Taylor, 17, came home trashed the first two nights we were here. All the team leaders knew, which meant everyone knew. If she had kept it on the down low, she'd be staying, but alas, another one bites the dust.

Four kids dropped out before they even boarded their plane. At $350 a ticket, Americorps lost $1400 before the team even arrived. Maybe if they weren't so greedy, we'd have more than $12 dollars a day to eat, or some more team members who wanted to stay...

There are three main buildings: two dorms with a main hall in the center, and they are all connected by underground tunnels. A line of oak trees seperates the large field from the playground, and behind our dorm is a cross-country track. At night the dorms are blazing hot but in the morning the air is so cold and wet.

The designated "tobacco area" is where I've spent most of my time, not that I'm a chain smoker, but I enjoy the company of these people. With 142 members (after the six that I know have dropped out) the small strip of grass between the road and the sidewalk across the street from Palmer Hall has been a place to meet all my new friends. Cole: Texas, Brett: Michigan, Andrew: Conneticut, Loren: GodKnowsWhere... and new people show up all the time. Since the program is a designated age range it's very easy to connect, and after a few short days I look forward to seeing the people to which I was slightly nervous introducing myself.

Today was our first gimme a break day, and tomorrow we have nothing on the schedule. I woke at 7:05, the time I was supposed to be in my group to "muster", and after hitching a ride on the passenger vans to Virginia Gay Hospital, we came back for a quick lunch. As a note, imagine eating cafeteria food. Now imagine that half the kids in the room are vegetarian, and nutrition-conscious. Now scream, because that's how I feel. After lunch (tuna salad sandwiches/fruit cups) we had a walking tour of Vinton, and completed a photo scavenger hunt. It was a blast, and we met a bunch of the "townies" who have all been very kind.

My time in the computer lab is up; I'll post pictures of the hunt when I can link them online. Talk soon.