Setting Up

The third day was rather relaxed.  With no meeting set up and the hike cancelled, I had the freedom to sleep in.  This was good for me, because when I woke up at 8, my entire body was sore (from Insanity workout the night before).  It's still hard to climb stairs, so I don't know how I would have survived a five-mile hike.

First thing in the morning, we all had a message saying that our keys are ready for pick-up.  After realizing I did not have my $50 deposit, it was off to the Union for a nice lunch and a visit to the ATM.  The union has four ATMS - all from different banks. Of course, none of them were my UW-Credit Union.  I ran in to Clem there, and he directed me to the ATM with the smallest fee of $1 (Big Sky, for those of you wondering).  The two directors - Clem and Brendan - give our group a lot of attention and help all the time.  It is wonderful.   The have given us their phone numbers to call or text any time.  It feels so strange to text back and forth with my adviser.

Beatiful View on the Trail

I stopped by the EPS building again to get my keys, but the are closed from noon to 1.  So I decided to head over to Music Villa for setting up my music lessons (voice and piano) and rent the keyboard.  There is a trail that goes directly from campus to the public library, which is right across Music Villa.  This mostly dirt trail is short, but has great views.  Near Main street, there are some nice sculptures, some of which moved with the wind.  It is a gradual downhill to downtown, so the ride there was very easy.  It was the ride back, with my sore legs and back, that was very difficult for me. 

Music Villa itself was very nice.  They were already aware of my coming today, and had set aside two time slots for Thursday for me (as I had requested).  Paul helped me set up my appointments for tomorrow at 3:30 and 4:00.  I paid for my first piano and voice lessons along with the first week's keyboard rental.  This keyboard is very nice - 88 weighted keys along with a stand and bench.  They were even kind enough to offer to deliver the keyboard at the dorms later in the day.

Music Villa building

After getting back to the university, I went ahead with retrieving my office key.  After paying the deposit, I had to walk over to Plew Hall (interesting name) and show an ID.  After verifying that the key worked on my door, I had to jump through a few hoops to get logged into a computer.  I kept being directed from one office to another, but finally the system admin, Scott, helped me set up my password.  This means I should also have internet access now.

Today, I did something different.  Instead of leaving all the blogging to the night, I did half of the day's blog early, right in the office.  After some shopping at the bookstore (mug and notebooks) and some grocery shopping at Town and Country, I headed to the dorms for a Skype call with the family.  Saw my parents at home, having good food.  They are reading my blog and keeping up with what I am doing.  Finally, before dinner, music Villa's Megan dropped off my keyboard.

Montana State mug/bowl

As we had planned, the whole group had dinner together.  We met up at Roskie and decided to go to Over the Tappas or Naked Noodle.  Well, it turned out that Over the Tappas was closed for a private party.  Naked Noodle was fantastic.  I chose to try the Green Curry with the risk of having something spicy.  But it was just fantastic.  After dinner, the group split up and I went along with the people that went to Baccus Pub for a drink.  I had a bottle of non-alcholic beer; it was alright.  I kept pushing the guys to do Kareoke with me, but no one wanted to.  So we just left.

Sunset as seen from Maggie's room

By the time we reached Roskie, it was 9:15, so after some prep, it was time for Insanity.  My aching body told me no, but in fact the movement got rid of a major part of the soreness.  This workout is very intense.  After the warmup, I am dripping sweat all over.  I am just afraid I may wake up even more sore tomorrow.  We will see.  After all the insane fun, Maggie came over and played the piano in my room.  She even showed me a song to play.  It was great to have something that people can congregate around - come to hear the great music. 

Sweetest keyboard I've every practiced on

After my shower, I headed downstairs to see the pool game that Sabina was a part of.  Finally before heading up, I spoke to Sarah (the RA) and Muhammad (an international student from Saudi Arabia).  Muhammad had spent two months in Iran during the elections and riots, but his family was vacationing.  He and I spoke about Iran and it's culture for some time.

Playing Pool

Muhammad, Turkey, and Sarah having coffee

Tomorrow, Adib defends his thesis, so I better go to sleep.

 I really love this REU program.  I am having the time of my life.