And so it begins

The first week here was a little hectic, but not too bad. My last final at school was at noon on Friday, and I left at 3pm for Spokane the next day, so that was kind of crazy. I left Sunday morning at 6am and three planes later I was in Birmingham.

Birmingham is actually Alabama's largest city, but it's pretty spread out--even more so than Spokane.
The dorm we're in is brand new, so new that it's not even done yet. While this is great becuase everything is new (I had to remove the matress from a plastic bag), we didn't get a fridge until Monday (a week later) and still don't have internet access. So right now I'm in the physics computer lab called "Del-Square" (which is a pun you science types may get, but not a very funny one, even by my standards).
I've begun exploring the area a little bit, and found what is to be expected down here:
Yep, the good ol' gop. It took some looking, but I finally found the Democratic offices...Besides that, I've been going to Yoga classes every week day. They have a brand new rec center next door to our dorm, and it's pretty nice--and only $40 for our 10-week stay.