hello hello hello
Hey everyone!
I've been really bad at writing anything for a while. So I figured I should update.
This summer has been great so far. I've been working a historical interpreter at Roanoke Island Festival Park in NC. So yeah, I live on an island, which is wicked pretty. I'm a 15 min drive to a beautiful beach, which is great when I can persuade someone to give me a ride. (I'm often tempted to take up hitch hiking). I only have about 10 days left, so I'll give you an overview of the summer thus far:
May 20th: First day of work.
the rest of May: reading historical documents, creating a character, working on a period 16th Century English accent, getting period costumes...
So, I've been living in a town called Manteo, in a 28 room dormitory guesthouse. The facility itself is awesome. We've got all the best amenities: A/C, ice machine, dishwasher, laundry room, TV with basic cable,etc. A huge step up from the crappy apartment that I was nearly getting heatstroke in last year. So, I started off sharing a room. But, my roommate and I had clashing sleep schedules and personalities. So I broke into the room next door, and ninja'd myself a key in secret. So, only myself and four of my coworkers were staying in the house, and it was paradise.
Until: The North Carolina School of the Arts moved in. So, all summer I've been hearing horror stories about what jerks these people are and how people from my work always have terrible issues with the people from the school. I just assumed this was the usual normal people vs. arts people issue, as most people at my work the types with history degrees (and they call us theatre people nerds! lol). But no, these students from NCSA are really as bad as my coworkers tell me, for the most part. Every two weeks, a new group of performers come in, take over the living area, steal our food, and piss us off in general. For two months. This isn't every single person, but the majority in the groups. These people just have absolutely no respect for anyone at all and it drives the rest of us insane. They have upset everyone I work with. Personally, I have had food/beverages taken, half-eaten and put back, been told what I can wear, been blamed for messes that they have created. So, I normally walk around in a bathrobe in the morning (normal, right?) and the lady in charge yells at me for being inappropriate and threatens to complain to my housing manager. Of course, when her performers scamper around in their boxers or in teeny tiny skirts and shorts, no one mentions anything. Then someone breaks one of the washing machines, and myself and my coworkers get blamed for it. And some idiot recently broke the oven, and I'm sure it will be my peers and I to answer for it, even tho it was probably not one of us. And it sucks, that I pay $50/wk in rent, and now I can't bake a cake or cookies as I had planned, and these assfaces make more than me and don't pay rent, and then have the nerve to eat my food and take over my living space. Argh!!!
I love it here, and was considering returning next summer, but I don't think I could stand the housing arrangement again.
However, other than the housing, I have absolutely enjoyed living in the Outer Banks, as these islands are called. The beaches are beautiful, the ocean is warm, and it is fascinating to watch ocean life. One night I stayed up till sunrise at the beach and there were dolphins in the water! incredible. I've also enjoyed the fresh seafood and the local cooking. One of the ladies I work with is the signature southern woman and has cooked for us and it is the best food ever. Real fried chicken and homemade pies, that's the best part of NC. And I'm totally coming home with recipes!
My job is pretty fun too. The park is a historical site made up a few different attractions. It is designed to educate people about the first English settlement in America. Until I came here, I had never heard of Roanoke Island, and had thought the Pilgrims in Plymouth, MA were the first to arrive. nope! So I'll give ya'll (as I've grown accustomed to saying) a brief description of the history here. In 1585, Queen Elizabeth sent 6 ships full of soldiers, builders, and merchants to create a settlement in the new world, since Spain had already claimed most of the land. So, these men spent over 3 months at sea, and landed on Roanoke Island. Here, 110 men built a settlement of 20 buildings, and Fort Raleigh, and stayed for almost a year, trading with the Native Americans and gathering reports to return to England with on how liveable the land was. Then the men sailed back, and a year later families were sent over to actually colonize the area (aka The infamous Lost Colony). So, I portray one of the soldiers, and get to carry around a sword and period matchlock rifle called an arcabus. I had to choose a name from the list we have of the actual names of the settlers. My character's name is Rowland Griffyn, so yes I am a boy. So all day, I am either aboard our replica ship, or in the settlement answering tourists' questions about life back then. I guess it's performance art. Sometimes, I get to dress up as a girl, and teach people the games they played too. And every Wed is Pirate Day! and today I got to give a presentation on female pirates and I dressed up as the infamous Mary Reed. I also got to climb the riggings for the first time, which was very exciting (and interesting climbing about 60ft while watching water below). The best parts of my job have been: firing a period cannon, learning how to start a fire with glass, using blacksmith tools, playing on stilts, and climbing on the ship.
I have much more random talents now. Hooray for 16th century skills.
Anyways, I hope I didn't write too much, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the exciting things, but that's been an overview of my summer thus far. In my next 10 days I hope to go to the beach again, party some, and meet some more cool people at work (we get tourists from everywhere).
I've been really bad at writing anything for a while. So I figured I should update.
This summer has been great so far. I've been working a historical interpreter at Roanoke Island Festival Park in NC. So yeah, I live on an island, which is wicked pretty. I'm a 15 min drive to a beautiful beach, which is great when I can persuade someone to give me a ride. (I'm often tempted to take up hitch hiking). I only have about 10 days left, so I'll give you an overview of the summer thus far:
May 20th: First day of work.
the rest of May: reading historical documents, creating a character, working on a period 16th Century English accent, getting period costumes...
So, I've been living in a town called Manteo, in a 28 room dormitory guesthouse. The facility itself is awesome. We've got all the best amenities: A/C, ice machine, dishwasher, laundry room, TV with basic cable,etc. A huge step up from the crappy apartment that I was nearly getting heatstroke in last year. So, I started off sharing a room. But, my roommate and I had clashing sleep schedules and personalities. So I broke into the room next door, and ninja'd myself a key in secret. So, only myself and four of my coworkers were staying in the house, and it was paradise.
Until: The North Carolina School of the Arts moved in. So, all summer I've been hearing horror stories about what jerks these people are and how people from my work always have terrible issues with the people from the school. I just assumed this was the usual normal people vs. arts people issue, as most people at my work the types with history degrees (and they call us theatre people nerds! lol). But no, these students from NCSA are really as bad as my coworkers tell me, for the most part. Every two weeks, a new group of performers come in, take over the living area, steal our food, and piss us off in general. For two months. This isn't every single person, but the majority in the groups. These people just have absolutely no respect for anyone at all and it drives the rest of us insane. They have upset everyone I work with. Personally, I have had food/beverages taken, half-eaten and put back, been told what I can wear, been blamed for messes that they have created. So, I normally walk around in a bathrobe in the morning (normal, right?) and the lady in charge yells at me for being inappropriate and threatens to complain to my housing manager. Of course, when her performers scamper around in their boxers or in teeny tiny skirts and shorts, no one mentions anything. Then someone breaks one of the washing machines, and myself and my coworkers get blamed for it. And some idiot recently broke the oven, and I'm sure it will be my peers and I to answer for it, even tho it was probably not one of us. And it sucks, that I pay $50/wk in rent, and now I can't bake a cake or cookies as I had planned, and these assfaces make more than me and don't pay rent, and then have the nerve to eat my food and take over my living space. Argh!!!
I love it here, and was considering returning next summer, but I don't think I could stand the housing arrangement again.
However, other than the housing, I have absolutely enjoyed living in the Outer Banks, as these islands are called. The beaches are beautiful, the ocean is warm, and it is fascinating to watch ocean life. One night I stayed up till sunrise at the beach and there were dolphins in the water! incredible. I've also enjoyed the fresh seafood and the local cooking. One of the ladies I work with is the signature southern woman and has cooked for us and it is the best food ever. Real fried chicken and homemade pies, that's the best part of NC. And I'm totally coming home with recipes!
My job is pretty fun too. The park is a historical site made up a few different attractions. It is designed to educate people about the first English settlement in America. Until I came here, I had never heard of Roanoke Island, and had thought the Pilgrims in Plymouth, MA were the first to arrive. nope! So I'll give ya'll (as I've grown accustomed to saying) a brief description of the history here. In 1585, Queen Elizabeth sent 6 ships full of soldiers, builders, and merchants to create a settlement in the new world, since Spain had already claimed most of the land. So, these men spent over 3 months at sea, and landed on Roanoke Island. Here, 110 men built a settlement of 20 buildings, and Fort Raleigh, and stayed for almost a year, trading with the Native Americans and gathering reports to return to England with on how liveable the land was. Then the men sailed back, and a year later families were sent over to actually colonize the area (aka The infamous Lost Colony). So, I portray one of the soldiers, and get to carry around a sword and period matchlock rifle called an arcabus. I had to choose a name from the list we have of the actual names of the settlers. My character's name is Rowland Griffyn, so yes I am a boy. So all day, I am either aboard our replica ship, or in the settlement answering tourists' questions about life back then. I guess it's performance art. Sometimes, I get to dress up as a girl, and teach people the games they played too. And every Wed is Pirate Day! and today I got to give a presentation on female pirates and I dressed up as the infamous Mary Reed. I also got to climb the riggings for the first time, which was very exciting (and interesting climbing about 60ft while watching water below). The best parts of my job have been: firing a period cannon, learning how to start a fire with glass, using blacksmith tools, playing on stilts, and climbing on the ship.
I have much more random talents now. Hooray for 16th century skills.
Anyways, I hope I didn't write too much, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the exciting things, but that's been an overview of my summer thus far. In my next 10 days I hope to go to the beach again, party some, and meet some more cool people at work (we get tourists from everywhere).