Orientation, Day 3

Day 3: 9/24/09

Beatrice snores.

Other than that, it was a pretty ok day. Boring by the past 2 days’ standards, actually. Lots of talk about company culture and conflict resolution-type situations. We did go in-depth with our VADs – VISTA Assignment Description – which tells us exactly what we’ll be doing at our specific site over the next year. My biggest duty will be to develop a sustainable volunteer program at the housing site, consisting of 350 total volunteers – students, resident and community members. Obviously there will be some event planning and reporting, but recruiting a stable volunteer force will be my biggest challenge.

I got to meet some more cool people today, and had some great conversations. One young man from Gambia sneak attacked me as I was fiddling with my phone on a break. “I like to mess with people who look ‘too into’ what they’re doing,” he said. Great, I thought. So I acquiesced and asked him the normal getting-to-know-you type questions. After which he said, “You smell great” and “What are you doing tonight?” At which point I found it necessary to excuse myself down to the lobby to attend to some very pressing issues.

I am now in my usual place on the couch with the outlet closest to the bar. Typical. Slowly sending off wedding photos and wasting time online. A few new friends have gone to the mall (the mall?!) but I declined – I’ve heard pretty negative things from those who’ve ventured the 20 miles to downtown Dallas – not worth the time/energy, they say. I’m really not being anti-social, I’m just so mingled-out.

Here are two things I’m missing about LA right about now: