I woke up at an uncomfortably early, and dark, hour of 5:15 AM to be at the course by 6:30. I am not a morning person. I was so thankful for my Keurig as I painlessly popped a K-Cup into the machine and was greeted by the smell of warm, toasty coffee in less than a minute. My warm shower woke me up at least enough for me to be able to exit morning-zombie mode. I had been promised breakfast at the golf course for my efforts but downed a chocolate rice cake before leaving to stave off the lingering low I had woken up with. I then exited the dorms to climb into my car. It was dark and chilly outside. The sun had yet to rise. Khakis were required and all I had were a pair of khaki capris; I was worried jackets weren't allowed, so I hadn't thought to bring something warm. I don't know what I was thinking - correction, I wasn't thinking.
After driving around aimlessly in the dark I finally found the golf course off of Riverside Drive. I parked in volunteer parking and stepped out of the car, wrapping my light jacket tighter around me. I cursed the weather. YEP. This isn't Florida anymore!!! My head screamed as I shivered on cue. I walked over to volunteer check-in only to find, to my dismay, that it was located at the pool side, outside, with no heat whatsoever.
Are you serious? I muttered to myself as I checked in. Muffins, danishes, and warm sausage biscuits were set out on a table. Steaming vats of coffee with cold cream beside them called my name. This morning might, possibly, be salvaged. I got to talking with another girl from Wesleyan volunteering that morning. 1 hour later and 4 cups of coffee down, the two of us were called out to the golf carts to begin volunteering. Our job was to wait in our golf carts at the entrance and shuttle people up to the golf course. It was a simple, enjoyable job, but the cold was killing me. The security guard we were working with was kind enough to turn on the air in the guard house and let us spend our free time warming up in there. It felt like heaven, but we always had to leave the warmth far too soon. At 11AM we had finished up and received Chick fil A sandwiches for our work. Not exactly the pay I was used to, but it had been nice to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. The weather was gorgeous now that we were leaving (figures) and the hills surrounding the golf course made such a pretty landscape. I snapped some pictures and hopped back in my car to get back to school.
Campus was more or less deserted by the time I had returned; everyone had already gone home or to wherever they were going for Fall Break. I went to my last class of the day, Spanish, followed by work study from 3-5PM. While eating dinner in the near-empty dining hall afterwards, I was glad that I had plans to visit Statesboro that Sunday because it would have been very depressing to stay on campus all alone. Saturday morning I was back doing the same volunteering at the golf course. This time we received Nu-Way for our efforts, but I took one look at the near bubblegum-pink hotdog and decided I'd pass. I got back to campus earlier than I had intended and ended up having extra time before work to walk around and check out Wesleyan Market, a conglomeration of local vendors all come out to sell their wares like an extra-classy, mini-fleamarket. I changed out of my volunteer outfit and got ready for my party, then settled down to work on an art project before leaving.
My party went well, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of my Spanish class was paying off - I could actually pick up a couple of words that everyone was saying! :P When I returned at 9:30PM to school, exhaustion couldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. I was ready to sleep better than the dead. I set my alarm for Statesboro early in the morning, checked that my bags were packed for my trip, and blacked out.
My drive to Statesboro was not unpleasant, but I-16 East is not a terribly interesting drive. I munched on a granola bar as I drove eastward, the sun just rising above the horizon. Despite the overcast skies, the light was both brilliant and blinding. I realized my mistake in leaving so early - the sun was rising right in my face, making it difficult to drive. I did my best to avert my eyes and was glad that I was one of the only ones on the road that quiet Sunday morning. Exit 116 was finally in front of me and, glad that the drive was overwith, I drove into town. I was able to stay in Statesboro for three days, spending time with Josh and his apartment roommates. We went to Waffle House, watched lots of movies, rented the entire first season of The Walking Dead on Redbox and watched it all in a day, and made pizza. I had a really great time. And I was now addicted to Zombie shows. It was so nice to take a mini-vacation, see Josh and take a break from school. The break ended far too soon and bright and early Wednesday morning I was up, hesitantly, to drive back to Wesleyan for class. With a final hug goodbye to Josh I climbed into my truck and suffered through the drive on I-16. It had been a good Fall Break. It was over too quickly, but I had many things to look forward to - my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... it will be a good rest of the year.
Campus was more or less deserted by the time I had returned; everyone had already gone home or to wherever they were going for Fall Break. I went to my last class of the day, Spanish, followed by work study from 3-5PM. While eating dinner in the near-empty dining hall afterwards, I was glad that I had plans to visit Statesboro that Sunday because it would have been very depressing to stay on campus all alone. Saturday morning I was back doing the same volunteering at the golf course. This time we received Nu-Way for our efforts, but I took one look at the near bubblegum-pink hotdog and decided I'd pass. I got back to campus earlier than I had intended and ended up having extra time before work to walk around and check out Wesleyan Market, a conglomeration of local vendors all come out to sell their wares like an extra-classy, mini-fleamarket. I changed out of my volunteer outfit and got ready for my party, then settled down to work on an art project before leaving.
My party went well, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of my Spanish class was paying off - I could actually pick up a couple of words that everyone was saying! :P When I returned at 9:30PM to school, exhaustion couldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. I was ready to sleep better than the dead. I set my alarm for Statesboro early in the morning, checked that my bags were packed for my trip, and blacked out.
My drive to Statesboro was not unpleasant, but I-16 East is not a terribly interesting drive. I munched on a granola bar as I drove eastward, the sun just rising above the horizon. Despite the overcast skies, the light was both brilliant and blinding. I realized my mistake in leaving so early - the sun was rising right in my face, making it difficult to drive. I did my best to avert my eyes and was glad that I was one of the only ones on the road that quiet Sunday morning. Exit 116 was finally in front of me and, glad that the drive was overwith, I drove into town. I was able to stay in Statesboro for three days, spending time with Josh and his apartment roommates. We went to Waffle House, watched lots of movies, rented the entire first season of The Walking Dead on Redbox and watched it all in a day, and made pizza. I had a really great time. And I was now addicted to Zombie shows. It was so nice to take a mini-vacation, see Josh and take a break from school. The break ended far too soon and bright and early Wednesday morning I was up, hesitantly, to drive back to Wesleyan for class. With a final hug goodbye to Josh I climbed into my truck and suffered through the drive on I-16. It had been a good Fall Break. It was over too quickly, but I had many things to look forward to - my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... it will be a good rest of the year.
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