ground control to major tom.

I am finally settled into UC Riverside. I know how to get to all my classes, I have found the closest grocery store and Bank of America (walking distance-- a long walk); nearly all my books are ordered, with the exception of my anthropology books and one of my Islam books. I am set.

I arrived Sunday morning. My roommate was already here and her side of the room was already all cleaned up. My side of the room is... far from organized. It will be, but here is why I have yet to complete the organization process: my bed is too low. My dresser doesn't fit under my bed. Because my dresser doesn't fit under the bed right now, it's just sitting in the middle of the room, waiting for it's turn to be put away, just like everything else in my room. I have had to start a little pile of things in my closet on top of my trunk/chest (which will be going under the bed later, for easier access). It's all quite a mess. I would adjust it myself, but I was told that there is a $500 fine for doing so, so I believe I will just wait for housing to respond to my request, no matter how long that may be.

I have made a few friends, two or three in my hallway, three or four from different dorms, and one that lives off campus. I have been taking long walks everyday. Today, Josh and James [two people that I met last night at the West Lothian (that's my dorm) ice cream social] and I all took a walk in the botanical gardens. I didn't realize how large the garden was until we reached a point where we could see the entire campus below and the valley beyond. It's really nice in the garden, and I'm thinking about doing a lot of my studying there. It's peaceful and quiet, and the people that I've talked to that work there are all very nice.

Tomorrow is my first day of class: I have Philosophy at 9 - 10:30 in the morning, and one of my Islam classes, or it could possibly be the Islam partner class, sort of like a CHASS (College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) intro class maybe? I'm not sure what it's going to be, but I have it in the early afternoon sometime. Friday, I only have two classes: Anthropology and another of my Islam/CHASS classes-- then it's my first weekend of of studying and assignments.

So, that's a brief update. Nothing too exciting. Dancing Dave Burtch gave me 8 gigs of music, and it's ALL good, so I'm pretty stoked-- I've been listening to it a lot, and trying to write some stories. Maybe I'll try to post some when they're done. They're sort of just practice-- I'm inspired and I have ideas, but the words just won't come out the way I was hoping they would, so I'll keep drafting and forming until it's right, and even then it might not be right. We'll see what happens.

And that's it for now, I suppose. I miss everyone!