weeks 3& 4- present, finally!

Week 3

We got invited to an International Student Dinner on Wed. Aug.9. It was fun. I met two spanish speaking girls. One was from Mexico and the other from Puerto Rico. They were fun to talk to. Someone told Shane that he looked European. Haha! The dinner party was nice. There were students there from everywhere! A grad student told me that the town is pretty diverse. I imagine the diversity is among the college students, not necessarily the people that live here permanently. That is probably why the statistics don't show the diversity. As students, they aren't counted in the census.

Saturday, AUg.12th, we were pretty bored and went for a drive to FLoyd. Several people have told us that it is a fun, artsy, and eclectic town. They must've meant that it was fun on Friday nights, because there wasn't much going on there when we went. They say that retired hippies and artsy people live there, which means there is a lot of New Age stuff going on. I spotted some weird crystal looking balls on pedestals out in front of people's houses. Most were blue, but I also saw a white one. (When I looked it up on the internet, I found that yes they are something new agey... it wasn't clear what they meant, though. I just found them for sale on new age and pagan sites.) Before we set out for Floyd, Shane had searched for events going on that night. He found that there was a band playing at some Lutheran church called Zion. The band was called "No Strings Attached." It was an all string band! It was a little too zany for us, so we left after about 10 minutes of listening to them.
The drive to and from Floyd, was very beautiful. As are most drives out here.

Week 4

Shane left for a conference at Princeton. So, I was home alone for two days,Tues-Thurs.

Friday we got on a plane to LA. (Yes, we were in town this past weekend. We were there for what seemed like a split second. Shane was in a friend's wedding on Saturday.) Friday night we got to LA pretty late, after 11 pm. Saturday was the wedding, and then Sunday morning we went to the airport at 10 AM. So, we barely spent any time with family. But the wedding was awesome beautiful! It was a garden wedding by the beach with lots of flowers and beautiful sunshine. It was pretty fancy! We danced all night. We had a good time. Congratulations to John and Allison!

Now I am finally up to date.

Monday morning we heard that there was a convict loose in the area. The whole town was in an uproar. Part of the Vtech campus was closed due to the belief that he was very close to it, or he was on campus. There were police cars everwhere and helicopters, too. Everybody was talking about it. Shane went to work anyway because he had a meeting to attend. It was on the other side of campus, so he was presumably "safe". After his meeting, he was sent home. The guy was finally caught in some bushes. He is in some major trouble now. Before his escape attempt he was in jail for attempted armed robbery and other charges. But now, he will face murder charges. To escape from the hospital he shot and killed a security guard and shot and injured a sheriff. Then while on the run, in the Huckleberry trail, he shot and killed a policeman.

It is just so sad. This was a huge deal here in town. This kind of stuff just doesn't happen here. Shane and I feel a little guilty. When we first arrived, there was a heatwave starting. And now this crazy criminal incident! We feel guilty for bringing the heat and crime with us from LA. Okay, we don't feel guilty. But what a coinkidink! Don't you think?