Plans for My Day Off

I'm excited now. I had been bummed because I didn't have plans for my day off but now I do. I really wanted to leave here on Sunday night and go somewhere and spend the night. A fellow RA gave me the idea to go spend the night in San Jose then ride the train to San Francisco early on Monday morning.

Thanks to priceline.com letting me name my own price, I got a room in the Wyndham in San Jose on Sunday night for $60.00. Normally the rooms are $169 per night. So, I'm gonna ride the bus from Santa Cruz to San Jose late on Sunday evening, spend the night in San Jose, then ride the train to San Francisco early on Monday morning. Keep in mind, I'm doing this all by myself. There are a few things I didn't get to do while I was in San Francisco that I want to do. I would like to go to the Museum of Modern Art. I heard it was really nice and it's something that I really want to do. I like going to museums and I didn't get to go to any while I was there. So, I'm excited about that trip. I will be coming back to Santa Cruz late on Monday evening.

The past couple days have been good. This session is flying by. It is hard to believe that in just 10 days I will be back in Virginia. It's gonna be hard to leave everyone here at Santa Cruz, but I am ready to head back to Haysi and Emory.

Hope everything is good for everyone! Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

A Santa Cruz Adventure

Good morning everyone. Just thought I would put up a few pictures from my trip to the beach yesterday evening. I wish everyone could be out here to visit these places with me. They are pretty awesome. Have a good day everyone. Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Me holding a starfish.

Waves crashing into the cliffs.

Pacific sunset.

Lighthouse State Beach

Sea lion

Lance diving into the waves

Home Sweet Home...for the summer

So...on my way back from lunch a few minutes ago, I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of my dorm where I am living this summer. It looks pretty cool so I figured that I would put a picture up.

The past few days have gone really well. The dance was a ton of fun. I think they are one of my favorite parts of CTY. We had a really good playlist for Friday night and I think that all the kids really enjoyed what we did. Weekends are where us RAs really earn our money. It is our responsiblity to keep all the kids occupied for 48 hours...which can be a huge challenge. So, we had the dance Friday. Yesterday we had "Halloween in July." Basically it was just a bunch of random games with halloween names like "witchy wiffleball" and "headless ghoulie soccer." It was fun though. Last night was Casino Night. It was a lot of fun too. I was in charge of the marriage booth for the first hour. We had to come up with good vows for all the kids to say when they "married" each other. It's hard coming up with an hour's worth of different vows, especially when most of the kids were getting married multiple times.

I'm looking forward to today. Basically we're going down to a big field and we are going to "chill." It is going to be nice to take some down time. My day off is coming up on the 4th and I'm getting excited about it. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do. I thought about getting an early flight out of San Jose to Los Angeles and staying in LA for the day but I've waited too late and it is going to be too expensive. I'll figure something out. The way I see it, since I'm in California I might as well spend a little bit of money and enjoy myself because it's not all the time that I'm in a place like this.

Hope everything is good in Virginia. I'll be home in 14 days! Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Time Flies By

Hey everyone. Everything has been good around here the past couple days. Just busy. This past week has flown by.

Today I needed some down time so I decided to go into town around 11. It is so nice being able to walk 2 minutes out of my dorm and catch a bus that goes right to the middle of town. I went down to town, went to Gap, the bookstore, the surf shop, and ate lunch. It was nice to get away from campus. I wish I would have figured out how to use the bus system earlier so I would have done this more last session.

Activities have been fun this week. Yesterday we had a game of Capture the Flag with over 100 people. It was a lot of fun. It just dawned on me that I really haven't watched any tv in over 4 weeks. I feel like I have been cut off from the world. I never hear anything about what is going on in the news. I kind of like it.

I have a feeling I'm going to be bored once I go back to Emory in a couple weeks. There is not near the amount of stuff to do around Emory that there is to do there. I can't just "catch a bus into town." I have to drive everywhere which I've come to the conclusion is not very fun. I like riding buses. They're cheap and easy.

My day off is Monday, August 4th. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. I may end up riding a bus to San Jose and doing something over in that direction. I'll figure something out. I'm almost ready for a day off. I need it.

Well, I hope everything is good in Virginia and wherever else you all are reading from. I miss everyone! See you in a little over two weeks! Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Another Day

Hey everyone. Hope everything is good where ever you are. The weather has been really cold here the past couple days. I have been freezing to death. This morning I'm sure it was only around 50 degres. That's the thing about this place. You'd think that since I'm in California it would be warm, but that is not the case. Of the nights and mornings it is cold then during the day it is pretty warm.

Everything seems to be going pretty good this session. I have a really good group of students. I have been kind of down the past couple days though. I think it's a combination of things. One, a couple of our good RA friends had to leave because they were only staying for one session. That was upsetting. I'm also really missing the guys from my last hall. I think since it was my first time in California and they were my first group of students, I am going to miss them. They were an awesome group of guys. At time they were a challenge, but they made it through. I'm kind of missing Virginia too. Even though I love this place, I'm missing being in southwest Virginia.

I was talking with some other people and it would be totally different living here as a student. I think the reason most of us like the place so well is because of the people we are working with. We came from all over the country and we get along really well. It would be a totally different experience if it wasn't for those people.

Thanks to everyone who sent me a birthday card! I really appreciate it. I know the thanks are late but I still needed to thank you. I'm on the dance committee for this weekend so I need to go do some planning for the boogie night. Everyone have a good day.

Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

New Day, New Kids

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a few days since I have updated my blog. It seems as if I've not stopped to rest for the past 72 hours. We left on Friday afternoon for San Francisco. It was about a 2 hour drive up from Santa Cruz. We took Highway 1 which runs all the way up the coast. It was one of the most beautiful drives that I have ever taken. We basically drove on a cliff beside the ocean the whole way up.

Once we got there we checked into our hotel. 12 people in one room! It was quite the night. We stayed in a hotel called The Palace. It was super nice. Right in the middle of the city too. Friday night we went to the waterfront and then walked around the city some. After getting a little bit of sleep we got up early and headed out on the city. We ate at Mel's Diner for breakfast and I got gravy and biscuits which I was stoked about. We then walked through Chinatown, saw different places to shop, then went to the Fisherman's Wharf. After that, the day was practically over. We left and went to the Golden Gate bridge, went to Twin Peaks (the highest point in the city), and then we headed back to Santa Cruz.

It is so weird that Santa Cruz feels like home now. Even though I loved the city, I was so happy to be at Santa Cruz. It was one of those moments where you feel like you have been on vacation and you're so happy to be pulling back in your driveway, except I was pulling back into Santa Cruz.

This morning was sad. Some of the great RAs only here for one session left. I will miss them a lot. After they left kids started coming. I have a really good group of guys this time around. As of right now. Hopefully this session will be as great as the last.

It's time for me to go. I have things to do and people to see. Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Group shot.

Chinatown

Maxwell House guys

Golden Gate Bridge

Twin Peaks

I'm Free!

All the kiddies are gone!!! It feels nice to have a 48 hour break. I just wanted to update real quick since I hadn't in a few days. I'm leaving to go to San Francisco in a few minutes. Expect pics in a couple days. Have a good weekend everyone!



Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Birthday pic

I got 10 birthday cards yesterday! I was excited. I knew they were lost in the mail somewhere. I'll put up a picture from my birthday party with me and all the RAs that suprised me.

I'll update with more later. Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Days Gone By

Just to let you know, there is also a new post right below this one with a few pics from my day off today. My birthday was great yesterday! Mail travels really slow out here so if I haven't called to thank you for your card, I will when I get it. It takes a while to get to me once it gets on campus.

The awesome RAs that I work with threw me a suprise birthday party yesterday afternoon. I thought that I was going to "play whiffleball," but instead, a suprise party was waiting on me. It was fun. I swear I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be working with this summer. They are all awesome and I appreciate every single one of them. It will be hard leaving in August after making such great friends. I'll put up a few pics of my birthday party when someone gives them to me.

Today was my day off. I started by sleeping in...whooo. Did that feel good. I slept until 9:45 then layed in the bed for a while in the peace and quiet. I went to the office around 11:30 and the mail had run with a birthday card plus I got my paycheck. I left right after that to go to town. The strike is still going on. It was so confusing trying to get a campus bus to the entrance of campus. Once I finally got there after about 30 minutes, I had to walk across the picket line which was blocking the entrance to campus and catch a city bus into town. I walked down Pacific Ave for a while then went to the wharf and to the beach. The weather was so nice today. I layed on the beach for about an hour. It was good to relax.

Every once in a while we have a TA/RA soiree...or just a time for the teaching assistants and RAs to get together. Tonight, we are playing whiffleball and having a bar-b-que. The RAs team name is the Wookies. We are quite a team! I am going to lead our team to victory just like I led the RA team to intramural victory at Emory...haha.

Hope everything is great on the east coast! Just a few more weeks and I'll be home. Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Pictures from my day off

derelicte

Hey everyone! Cali is good. No complaints...other than this. Our luck: the employees of the University of California at Santa Cruz are going on strike beginning on Monday. So, that means that we have to walk an extra 5 minutes or so to eat at a different dining hall. Also, the housecleaning crew will only be cleaning every other day. You can imagine how that is going to turn out when you live with a hall full of 13-14 year olds. I gave them a speech tonight on how they should work extra hard to keep the hall clean.

Last night we had a derelicte themed dance. I had to design an outfit out of garbage bags. It was fun. I think that the dances are one of my favorite parts of CTY. We all have fun. Last week was our 80s dance.

Today was good. For the activity, we sort of had a carnival I guess. We played games and the students earned tickets for pies in the face, slushies, fun stuff. I've never played soccer in my life, but I had to play goalie today for the first time. We did soccer shots as an activity so the kids would earn tickets if they could get the ball past me. It was fun. Slightly painful sometimes though.

I'm going to San Francisco on Friday. A few of us RAs are leaving on Friday afternoon and coming back Saturday night. I am really excited because I heard that San Francisco was something that I needed to see while I was out here. I'll be sure to post pictures.

Hope everything is great everywhere! I miss everyone! Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Dang, Decieving Sun

Ok. The sun out here is crazy. I would say it's about the same brightness as in Virginia, but it will burn you about 5 times faster. Me and some of the other RAs went to the pool yesterday and I can now be declared a lobster. I'm burned to a crisp...minus my arms and face; the only two places I put on sunscreen.

The past couple days have been good. Activities are going good. On Monday I did Bingo. Tuesday, another RA organized an activity called, "How to talk to boys" in which girls got to come and ask me and another guy questions on how they should talk to boys. The questions consisted of, "how do I get a guy to notice me?", "what do you consider attractive in a girl?", "is it ok for a girl to ask out a guy?", and other random questions. I found it quite comical. Yesterday, I went banana slug hunting with a group of kids. The Banana Slugs is the mascot for the Univeristy of California here in Santa Cruz. We didn't find any banana slugs, but I did teach the kids the banana slug mating call...haha. It was something like "mur-mur-murrr." It's really hard to explain. I'll teach everyone when I get back to Virginia.

There is a ton of wildlife on this campus. I usually don't go a day without seeing a deer or two. I always see raccoons. There are also a ton of squirrels...and the occasional skunk. I try to steer away from those though.

I have come to the conclusion that it is unnecessary for me to wake up at 6am. I now shower of the night and wake up at 7 instead. Therefore I can get an extra hour of sleep. I have begun to read "Into the Wild." It is a really good book and I want to watch the movie after I get done reading the book.

Hope everyone has a great day. Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

No More Mr. Nice RA

The days are flying by. It is hard to believe that I have been here in Santa Cruz for almost 2 weeks already. I have had a hard couple of days. It's a long story and I shouldn't go into it on here, so I'll tell you later.

I think I started out my job being to nice...haha. Since I have never really worked with kids before I didn't realize that if you didn't set ground rules in the beginning that it is hard to set them after about a week. Kids are sneaky...they will lie straight to your face and that aggravates me sometimes. The students here are not allowed to have their cell phones outside of the dorms at any time. I used to just peck on their shoulder and be like, "you shouldn't have that...you need to put it back in your pocket." Now, since I am no longer nice, I take their cell phone away and give it to their RA.

My day off is coming up on July 15th...which is a week from today. I am really excited. Since I don't have a vehicle here I'm not gonna go far. First off, I'm going to sleep in. Second, I am going to ride the bus into town and lay on the beach for a couple of hours. Third, I am going to seek out Jack in the Box so I can have a biscuit. Fourth, I am going to shop. Fifth, I may go back to the beach for a while. Then, I'm going to go star gazing to end the day. It will be relaxing.

Just a reminder, I will no longer be a teenager in 6 days. Therefore, if you want your card to get here on time, you should go ahead and mail it. I've not received any mail since I've been out here so it would be a treat. I posted my address a week or so ago so feel free to mail me something.

Hope everyone has a great day! Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Things I've Learned About Kids

Wow. Working with kids is totally different than what I expected.

1) They are very observant. They caught on that I bite my lip to keep from laughing. So now when they tell inappropriate jokes that I shouldn't laugh at, they see me biting my lip and know I'm about to laugh.
2) I don't know what this world is coming to...but they know too much about stuff that I didn't know about when I was their age.
3) They're sneaky. They try to hide things (iPods, cell phones) and they think you don't notice, but you do.
4) Sometimes, for no reason, they choose not to shower. And it stinks...literally.
5) They like to play Jenga...or at least the kids on my hall do.

We have had some major Jenga action going on the past few days. Since we are allowed to order stuff for our hall and our programs, I ordered a new Jenga set for my hall and it came in today. I was excited along with all of the kids. Oh...here is the quote for the day from one of the kids. "Jenga is like a girl...you gotta prod in all the right places in order to win." Yes. That is what I have to put up with every day.

Last night was fun. A few nights a week we are allowed to go out after all of our kids have gone to bed. One of the other RAs knew of this big field where we could go look over Santa Cruz and the ocean. So, about 11:30, we went walking. It took about 20 minutes to walk there but once we got there it was amazing. Because of the way the Monterey Bay is set up, when you are behind Santa Cruz, you can see several miles south to Monterey. Since it was dark and the skies were clear, you could see the fires at Big Sur. Even though we were probably 40+ miles away, you could even sporadically see the flames. It was one of the coolest sights I have ever seen. It would turn the sky red and everything.

It was warm here today. I love the dry air though. No humidity at all is great. My wiffleball activity has become fun. All of the girls who are supposed to be playing badminton sit to the side and cheer for the boys playing wiffleball. I'm sure they'll be all kinds of couples for the dance on Friday. Yesterday I played basketball for a while then today we just did wiffleball because we had a fire drill.

Well, I'm gone for now. I'm leading a photography activity tomorrow so I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to put up tomorrow evening or Saturday. Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.

Good Morning

Good morning everyone. I figured I would update this since I had a little bit of extra time. I've been trying to wake up at 6:00 every morning to get ready before the kids wake up. I make sure they are all awake at 7:15 then we leave for breakfast at 7:45.

The past couple of days have been good. I am responsible for leading a daily activity which lasts only one day and a weekly activity which is the same activity everyday of the week. Since the schedule had been a little hectic, we just started activities yesterday. My daily activity was hiking. Night before last, my boss and some other RAs went on a hike and found a nice trail to walk the kids on. There is this one place back in the woods where there is a bench and then there is a cutout in the trees for the ocean and Santa Cruz. It is amazing. Anyway, we went hiking and then my weekly activity is wiffleball.

First of all, you need to remember that my wiffleball team at Emory is the intramural wiffleball champions. My team didn't do bad yesterday either. All the people that I work with are awesome. We were talking yesterday that it's so weird that we all got interviewed over the phone and got hired and we are all normal and all get along just fine. I am on the dance committee for this week. We are having an 80s themed dance on Friday. We let all the kids request some songs that they want to hear. We got around 5 pages of requests. Some of them we can't play though, such as "Sensual Seduction," "She Got a Donk," and "Some Kind of Bush" by Booty Love. I didn't know what "She Got a Donk" meant until someone explained it to me, but apparently it means the girl has a large posterior.

Well everyone, I am going to to leave you with some pictures. There is a perfect view of the Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean from the athletic fields and the other day the fog had cleared away so we could see. Hope you enjoy.

Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.