Orienting and Training

So it is the morning of Day 2 of training and I have a fleeting window of stolen, unsecured internet!
* if you've sent me email, I have gotten it, but can't yet reply. I'll reply as soon as I have regular internet through the dorms here (Wednesday?)

Sunday, we went to the beach, by bus which took about an hour and a half to go 5 miles, but it was great. Key Biscayne is beautiful and calm, and the white beach is laced with palm trees, singing ice cream trucks, and Spanish-speaking hot dog vendors. Sun burn ensued. There is a lake behind my dorm that is connected to a canal; there's a sign that says "No Swimming Crocodiles in the area", and yesterday several of my dormer friends (there are 17 of us in the UM Dorms) saw a croc chillin' on the grass next to the lake. Yipes!

Monday = day 1 of orientation. Campus tour of the school, meeting new people, introductions to the history of the program and learning camp cheers. The founder of Breakthrough spoke to us - she started the program in SF 30 years ago, so her words were very interesting. Last night I spent making my rough draft 6-weeks plan for brain science. Anatomy, mental illness, language learning and vision are my main topics, but it's way harder than I thought to put it together in a creative, engaging, and appropriate way!
I'm off to meet my carpool for my 3-min drive to the school for Day 2 of Orientation; we meet with our Mentor Teachers (ie people who are real teachers) to evaluate and give suggestions on lessons plans.

We're all tired from the mental workout of a 7:30 to 5:30 job + a few hours of assignments and prep each night, but this week and next should be most hectic. then it'll calm down after next week. Adieu!