First Day at Outward Bound
Man, timezones are crazy. It takes roughly four hours to drive to Fairhope, AL from Tallahassee, FL, but, due to timezones, you get there in three! What?! I know! (But, man, it's going to suck driving back.) Regardless, I love driving.
So, yeah, I'm in Fairhope, AL. It's a pretty neat town. I went with the office manager (Lindsay? I'm so terrible with names!) into town, and, as she's a local, she gave me a little tour of the town. Think Havana, FL in Gadsden County, but with more fine art shoppes and antique stores. And restaurants and cafes. According to Lindsay(?), the big thing to do in Fairhope is eat, apparently since everything closes at five o'clock. Oh! and Fairhope is right on the Mobile Bay. I'm pretty excited about being able to bike down to the beach and what the sunset over the water.
My first day was pretty busy. I weed whacked around the building for a bit before the electric weed whacker ran out of power. (They're having a bunch of parents come to the facility in the morning, and they want the place to look really good.) Then, I used some hedge clippers to continue cutting down the weeds. (I don't think they weed whacked in, like, four years.)
Oh, right! The building! It's a two story building that used to be an art gallery. There is a bunch of art that was just left in the building then the gallery... uh, closed, I guess. Then, Dr. Yonge purchased the building and allows Outward Bound to use it. Dr. Yonge is also an artist, and some of his pieces are hanging up around the building. The upstairs of the building is one huge room, maybe forty feet by fifty feet (please be aware that I have NO CONCEPT OF SPACE). There are five sets of bunkbeds, a pool table, small refrigerator, microwave, sofa, and TV. And they were using a huge blank canvas and a projector to watch movies.
At around six, I sat in for a parent meeting with two of the instructors and about a dozen of the students' parents. I really enjoyed sitting in as they explained consequences and actions and things of that nature. It was really interesting seeing how the parents react and how they feel about Outward Bound and the course their child is on, both the Outward Bound course as well as the course of their life. These parents are part of a FINS course, so their children chose to participate. For some of the parents I can see exactly how their child is in this situation, while for others I wonder how. I don't know, maybe those parents just put up a good facade.
Maybe I'll talk pictures tomorrow? I feel like I'm forgetting something that I wanted to write, but... c'est la vie.
So, yeah, I'm in Fairhope, AL. It's a pretty neat town. I went with the office manager (Lindsay? I'm so terrible with names!) into town, and, as she's a local, she gave me a little tour of the town. Think Havana, FL in Gadsden County, but with more fine art shoppes and antique stores. And restaurants and cafes. According to Lindsay(?), the big thing to do in Fairhope is eat, apparently since everything closes at five o'clock. Oh! and Fairhope is right on the Mobile Bay. I'm pretty excited about being able to bike down to the beach and what the sunset over the water.
My first day was pretty busy. I weed whacked around the building for a bit before the electric weed whacker ran out of power. (They're having a bunch of parents come to the facility in the morning, and they want the place to look really good.) Then, I used some hedge clippers to continue cutting down the weeds. (I don't think they weed whacked in, like, four years.)
Oh, right! The building! It's a two story building that used to be an art gallery. There is a bunch of art that was just left in the building then the gallery... uh, closed, I guess. Then, Dr. Yonge purchased the building and allows Outward Bound to use it. Dr. Yonge is also an artist, and some of his pieces are hanging up around the building. The upstairs of the building is one huge room, maybe forty feet by fifty feet (please be aware that I have NO CONCEPT OF SPACE). There are five sets of bunkbeds, a pool table, small refrigerator, microwave, sofa, and TV. And they were using a huge blank canvas and a projector to watch movies.
At around six, I sat in for a parent meeting with two of the instructors and about a dozen of the students' parents. I really enjoyed sitting in as they explained consequences and actions and things of that nature. It was really interesting seeing how the parents react and how they feel about Outward Bound and the course their child is on, both the Outward Bound course as well as the course of their life. These parents are part of a FINS course, so their children chose to participate. For some of the parents I can see exactly how their child is in this situation, while for others I wonder how. I don't know, maybe those parents just put up a good facade.
Maybe I'll talk pictures tomorrow? I feel like I'm forgetting something that I wanted to write, but... c'est la vie.