First full weekend here

Well, I'm pretty sure I said I was going to post pictures of the campus sometime, but honestly I haven't taken any yet, but I will, lol. Most likely tomorrow. Famous last words of a procrastinator, but oh well.

This week has been alright. We've already had our second torrential downpour. We're talking five minutes of rain and standing water. It seems to be a Saturday thing, and only when I'm in the Target parking lot. Classes are still decent I guess. We had a power outage in the main campus building where I have chemistry, and for whatever reason the prof decided to go ahead and have class despite the lights being out, the air conditioning not working, and no microphone or screens or projector. So our class of however many hundred students crammed in the first few rows of seats and the rest sat up front on the floor so we could see the little whiteboard she was using. Nevermind that even when yelling her voice probably has the volume of an average person speaking. Situations like that make you really appreciate technology.

Positive events of the week:

Wednesday I went to campus church for the first time. It was pretty interesting I guess. I didn't know any songs that the band played, but whatever I guess it's okay. They have an electric violinist, so that might make up for it. The pastor is preaching a series he came up with about Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so that's pretty sweet. He calls it "Holy Hand Grenades". I'll be honest, I was doing more thinking than listening, so I really don't remember what he was talking about, but I know it was interesting. He's a Muslim convert, and he wore a shirt during church that said Infidel in both English and Arabic. He definitely has an interesting sense of humor. Tomorrow I guess is the second time I will have been there, but I don't know if it's going to be the same thing as Wednesday night church or not.

Today was a pretty eventful day. One of my roommates and i went to a local coffee shop called The Drowsy Poet. When I first heard of this place I thought it would be like one of those places with an open mic and poetry readings by people that write nothing but bland, lifeless, depressing poems, but it's nothing like that. It's owned by a Jamaican guy that goes by Smiley. The signature of theirs is the Milton Milkshake. I have no idea what all is in it since it's a secret recipe, but it's amazing. I know it's got vanilla ice cream, coffee, and cinnamon and a few others things. Apparently you haven't really been to Lynchburg until you've had one, so I guess I've officially been to Lynchburg now, lol. This place also has bands that play on Friday nights so I'll probably be back often.

Today was also the grand opening of what they call Snowflex. It's a year-round ski-slope made of an artificial surface called snowflex, hence the name. Supposedly this is the only Snowflex slope in the western hemisphere. The grand opening involved a stuntman with a snowboard jumping from a helicopter, skydiving to the mountain, and snowboarding down. I didn't go because I figured it would be packed and I probably wouldn't have been close enough to see anyway. If there are any videos on youtube or anything, I will post them if I find them. I'm still not really sure what the purpose for building this was, they say it's just another thing to do so that kids will make smart decisions about how to spend their free time. Who knows. I do know that somebody was rich enough to donate the money to build it. Must be nice to be able to give away that kind of money.

Tonight was the annual Liberty Block Party. I think the inflatables and all were kinda lame, like more than the Culpeper fair. A lot more. But there was free kettlecorn which I love, and there were two bands that were pretty cool I guess. I was right up front and center leaning on the stage. It was pouring rain, but it was okay, it was nicer than the heat. The leader singer of the main band spits a lot when he sang, so he spat on me a little, but I guess it makes me cool. Someone in the crowd had a bag of popcorn that they offered him ,and he took it and dumped it on us, and I didn't have any so I ate whatever fell in my mouth. I guess I'm also cool because he dumped popcorn in my mouth. The bands were I guess what you would call Christian alternative? Not like screamo or anything, I don't know, I honestly don't listen to a lot of Christian music, so I don't know how they classify genres. I know the main band was offered a chance to open for The Fray in NYC tonight but they chose to play at Liberty instead. I don't listen to the Fray either, but that might help you figure out what they sound like if you do listen to them. The first band was called Mike's Chair and the second/main band was called The Afters. Overall, I'd say I had a pretty good time even if the music wasn't really my normal scene.

Anyway, sorry this was so crazy long, I just realized how long it really was. Thanks for reading it all if you actually did, lol. Now I guess I should try to go to sleep since it's almost 3:30am...I really need to learn how to get to sleep before 2 or 3. I don't know why I haven't been able to, but oh well. I've been asked to ask our RA (Resident Assistant or Advisor, don't remember which) to tuck me in when she comes to make sure we're in our rooms as a joke. Maybe that will actually work, lol.

Alright, love and miss you guys! As usual, feel free to leave comments or call/text me if you have my number.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Good night!

~RLF