first day

Yesterday was my first day of work. My hotel is about a half hour to 45 min walk from my office so I was offered a ride by my coworkers for the week until I get settled in.
I stayed up late the night before thinking-what do I wear, what should I bring, when would I eat.
I kept going back to my experiences from DC. Everyone in suites with briefcases, highheels and blackberries. I really would not be prepared for what would be next.
Gulping down milk, quick brushing my teeth and turning out the lights-I ran out the door. In the lobby my coworker was waiting for me. She was all smiles and welcome, it was 8am. All the way to work she asked about my trip here. She thought I had adventure in my blood, "...everyone dreams about coming here-just the adventurous actually make it." Yeah, something like that I replied. Driving through the streets it looks normal. Homeless people, shops, buildings, stop lights-normal. We drove by the U of Alaska, its huge. Across the street is a really nice, new youth center. Next to that is a private college-which is really nice. Next to everything is a huge hospital owned by the natives. Its big, and I'm told its really top notch.
We arrived at this building with a red roof. It looks like one of those rest stops you see on the highway. A big green sign on the front labels it Department of Transporation. My office, the Civil Rights Office-is all women, except for the director, but he was out of office. They are all sweet. My office space had a sign posted : Welcome to Anchorage, AK Amira! Everyone wants to help. Do you need a coffee mug for coffee? How do youlike your pens? Can I get yousome lunch? Its great. They really treat me like their responsiblity. Everyone bombarded me with hellos and theirs names. I cant remember but a few.
The first day is always boring. Paperwork up the wall, this is the government. I had a long conferance call in the morning with TWC it was well put together. I really apprecitate the work Danielle does, its amazing. There are interns like me all over the US.
My office is nothing like that in DC. For example I have a mouse trap under my desk. Yeah scary. And in the bathroom we have fake flowers everywhere and little signs hung up saying things like; "your a rainbow," I cant remember-but they are totally random. I remember in DC at the EPA, a lady put lotion and flowers in the womens bathroom-we were all happy. Then a few days later the whole floor got an email sternly saying we are not to put things in the bathroom-so remove the stuff. Life and people are really differant here. Everything is sooo slow. Its painful. Their are too many hours in the day. And the sun is annoying. Its always out. Always. It makes the day feel longer.
The neatest thing ever happened at the end of the day. I walked in my mentors office. All the computers, fax machine, microwace, fans etc where covered in a plastic bag. I thought they were going to paint the walls or something. I asked the adm assitant (shes the best by the way) what was going on she said-your not going to believe it. "We cover the electronics because their is a warning issued by the state about the volcanoe. The ash could come throught the ventilation system and ruin the machines, so we cover them until the warning is pulled." WHAT. We have a volcanoe warning, how awesome. Not awesome in that we could all get rained with ash, but wow I live by a volcanoe. So I covered my computer before I left.