You Have Arrived

So I'm in Indiana! I'm able to say that with an exclamation point now because it's not yesterday or Wednesday night and I'm feeling a little better about it. Sending my dad back to Utah and tromping around Bloomington getting lost and getting blisters was not a cup of tea, and my number one instinct was to turn around and go back home immediately. (You probably think I'm exaggerating. Nope.)
The road trip was good. Stella got fabulous gas mileage (between 38 and 42 miles to the gallon most of the way!) and we read entries from Dave Barry's The Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need as we entered each state.  In Kansas City, my mom found us this motel on Hotwire that was right across from the Royals stadium. I have a picture somewhere, which I will post as soon as I find my camera cord.
The bugs in the midwest are insanely loud. We asked at some rest stop in Indiana, and apparently the loudest ones are cicadas. I've read about them in many books that take place in the midwest, but I've never lived with them before. They are out of control. The best restaurant we visited was called the Blue Springs Cafe, which was somewhere near Pocahontas, IL. They had crab cakes and roast beef and yummy salads (mostly because they weren't made from wilty lettuce, but also because their bleu cheese dressing was AWESOME) and pies with about 7 inches of meringue. Here's a picture from my phone of my dad eating it. It wasn't as good as Mom's, but it was certainly taller.

I'm going to avoid talking about my dad leaving. It wasn't fun. However, it was an adventure trying to find an airport that the GPS didn't know about. They recently opened a new airport, and it wasn't in the GPS's system yet, so we ended up somewhere random, and after we found it, I had to find my way back to the freeway without help. Once I did find it, I was happy to have my Conference podcasts. There is very little that is as comforting as President Eyring's voice.
I spent most of yesterday on campus going to orientations (once I found campus, that is) and reminding myself about why I wanted to come here (something I was severely questioning when I dropped my dad off at the airport). The faculty all seem cool and the classes seem exciting, so I'm latching on to that right now.
After I got home, I started working on my room. We got here in the middle of a construction project on our heating/cooling system (no more radiators, better air conditioning), so I haven't been able to put much away yet. However, before I got very far, my roommate Jill asked if I wanted to go to play Wii with some guys from the branch. At first I said no because I wanted to get organized, but she was still here when I got off the phone with my mom, and I went. That was probably a good idea. The guys were nice, and it was fun seeing how much the same LDS kids' apartments are everywhere (pictures of Jesus and the temple on the wall, plus John Mayer posters and Rock Band). We played MarioKart for a little while (not a good game for me) and then played Rock Band  (better game for me) and they even gave me ice cream.
So now I'm getting ready to do a little more cleaning and then go to a job interview at the Wells Library. Cross your fingers - it's a job I really think I'd like, and I think it would be flexible enough to let me put in some good hours for Overstock Drugstore.
Side note 1: There was a guy in the orientation who looked exactly like Kenneth Branagh - classes, blonde hair in the Kenneth style, longish nose . . . everything.
Side note 2: This video from the SLIS faculty makes me laugh, mostly in its attempt to be cool.