First real weekend in COMO

Well, after Friday's intense day of work, I decided I needed to get out and see/meet more normal people in this city. Friday's work day consisted of dealing with rapists, murderers, and mental retarded rapists and murderers. Most traumatizing experience of the day, I was stared at by a patient (he pretty much stared through my soul) and forcefully pelvic thrusted continuously for about 5 min.. I really don't know how I didn't scream or vomit, but I just acted like I didn't see him. What the hell are you suppose to do in that situation? The best part of Friday's work day was karaoke. Yep, it was awesome. I was they're backup dancer for Nsync's "Bye, bye, bye." It was very entertaining. Ok.. let the work day hurry up and end! ... That afternoon, I met up with a family friend of the Pigott's, and we went bouldering. It was tough, but a lot of fun. Something different for sure. After that we went to meet some of his friends at a bar (Room 38), then to his favorite sushi restaurant downtown, Sake. It was nice to actually hang out with someone normal, or more around my personality than what I live or work with.

Saturday, I slept in and took Boomer to the dog park on the south side of town (aka Fancy side of Columbia). We met a girl and her dog for a doggie date at Twin Lakes, which is an awesome dog park with two lakes (get it? twin lakes), and a lot of land to run around. Dogs were everywhere!! That afternoon, I went to Cooper's Landing. Cooper's Landing is a rivershack-like place on the MO river. I met some people, ate some awesome authentic Thai food at Cooper's, went on a boat ride, built a fire on an island, and watched the sunset on the river. It was getting late, so we started to head back to Columbia. On our way, we stopped at the Hitching Post at Hartsburg. This is where I ran into the people I met the Tuesday night before... Umm.. Let's just say I got to drive a 1984 Ford Bronco on back roads and through the creeks. The back of the Bronco read "Maximize the Moment," which I obviously did. How did I maximize that moment? Well, of course, by driving with a skinned coyote around my neck!

Sunday.. Oh Sunday.. was phenomenal. I went to church, then headed back to Cooper's. I met a guy from there from Saturday, and we rode bikes to Katfish KT's. Katfish KT's is a campground on the MO river that has a stage over the river, and free blues and "Naked Hippie BBQ" every Sunday. Everyone from Saturday was there, and we all just drank and danced to some blues, baby! The bike ride to Katfish KT's was about an hour, and we stopped at the largest oak tree west of the MS river on our ride there.. HUGE tree. On the way back, I'm pretty sure we stopped at a meth lab. Not going into details, because I don't want to freak y'all out.. but I'm glad I had someone with me. Ok, the day wasn't over just yet.. We got back to Cooper's and the band was terrible. So, we loaded up and went to Broadway Brewrey for one last beer and food. I ordered the buffalo burger with muenster cheese, roasted root veggies, and a blonde ale. Good day, good night. Boom!

Monday... Monday was started a new week in a new building. Minimum security versus maximum security. Don't let this fool you.. I was still working with extreme murderers, rapists, and intense messed up people. I will give some examples of minimum security patients, just so you can imagine what the maximum security patients are... 1. A raped several men in his life, killed a prison staff member, raped cell mates multiple times. Some incidents included sitting on cell mate's face while giving him a bj; while cell mate was acting like he was asleep, A strangled him and told him to turn over. You know what happens next.. B made a 6yr old suck him manhood, while he fondled the little boy. B also raped others.. C killed his mom with a ceiling fan blade, cut her chest open with the blade, and ate some of her heart... D raped a 2, 3, and 5yr old... these are just a few examples of the types of people I work with daily.. in the minimum security. I like this unit moreso than max because today I played basketball, lead an exercise group, and played other random games to incorporate social interaction. So, after just a glimpse of the the population I work with, you can now see why I have to enjoy my time here... So, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays I do CrossFit. Do I like it? It's fun meeting and working out with people.. however, they don't cut up as much as my running group does back in MS (aka Running Bitches, aka WP). PS- I miss y'all!

First Week in Columbia, MO (aka COMO)

Thanks for checking out my blog!! I'm sorry this is a long first post, they will get shorter (I promise). I just haven't had time to sit and write everything over the past week.. Please comment, or add suggestions. I've never blogged before.

Yo,
Moving to 10 hours away from family and friends is a huge adjustment for me.. Even though it is only for 3 months, 10 hours away from my social network and support is somewhat scary. The first night in my new room was accompanied by a bottle of wine and my ever so loving Boomer dog.

Sunday (4/28) was my first full day in Columbia. After searching on google for churches to attend, or at least try, I decided to check out The Crossing. Umm.. The Crossing was like attending an indie concert. Just picture a skinny girl with dreads in a beanie, a big girl in a denim dress with a floral vest, and three guys who played keyboard, bass, and drums. I'm just going to say that I really didn't meet anyone that day at church. I know that meeting people isn't the primary reason for attending church, but in my case, it somewhat is. How else do you meet sober people that actually remember your name and conversation? Sunday also consisted of checking out local parks.. there are parks pretty much on every corner here. I LOVE it!

Monday, I checked out another park (Stephen's Lake), which was pretty cool. It reminds me of Audubon Park, but in the mid-west. The trees are different, there is a large lake in the middle for swimming and fishing, a 1.7mi walking/running path, and an amphitheater. I wanted to get out and about for the night, so I checked out local venues, and I'll be.. Gov't Mule and Revivalists were playing at The Blue Note. Tickets were only $25, and I definitely was going to attend. It was AWESOME!! Being in a new city and having seen Gov't Mule and Revivalists perform before, I wanted to venture out during intermission and see what other venues had going on downtown. It was then that I found one of my new soon to be hangout spots, The Bridge. The Bridge is a project that teaches underprivileged kids music, and at night is a music venue. It is such a cool bar. Mondays are blue Mondays, and pretty much a jam session. It was pretty awesome. Needless to say, I did not return to The Blue Note for the Gov't Mule show. I was beginning to have a feeling of peace.. like this is about to be a fun summer.

Tuesday, I had to go to the facility that I will be working at in Fulton, MO. Fulton State Hospital in Fulton, MO, is a state psychiatric facility. It has various buildings on campus pertaining to level of mental illness. I will be working in the maximum security, high risk, forensic unit. The occupational therapist there works with "clients" on activities of daily living.. I will know more about what I am doing when I actually meet the "clients" and observe their interventions. Right now, I really don't know what I'll be doing. Due to working in a state facility for the summer, I had to do extensive paper work. I was told I had to go to Jefferson City (the state capitol) for signatures and fingerprints. Why the hell not experience Jefferson City? I'll probably never get the opportunity to go again, so here I go exploring new territory. The governor's mansion and garden were gorgeous! I thought I was in a national park. That is the first day that I sat somewhere new, in a new city, somewhere that I have never been, all alone, and ate lunch. I really had a lunch date with the "park." It was so nice to really think about what I'll be doing over the next three months, and being out of my comfort zone. I'm really going to be just fine. My plans for the night were to go to dinner with one of my new roommates.. plans changed around 4pm when I was asked to go to the St. Louis Cardinals game. Whoop! Whoop! I've never been to St. Louis, or even care watch the Cardinals, but believe me I didn't think twice about going. The game was fun! The stadium was beautiful! I will definitely have to go back to experience St. Louis.. It was a good night.

Wednesday was my first day of orientation at Fulton. Umm.. that's all I have to say about that.

Thursday, after orientation, I met a friend at a bar downtown called Shiloh. It's somewhat like sports bar, with good beer on tap. We sat for a while and watched the Cardinals game.. It was nice to sit and talk, and actually just talk. We don't really have anything in common besides Mississippi State University (Go Dawgs!), but talking about life and opportunities, and not saying "no." It was then that I decided that I'm probably not going to say "no" a lot on this three month venture. I promise, I'm not going to sleep around; I'm talking about not saying "no" to new things and going places.

FRIDAY! Yay! The weekend!! After orientation, I took Boomer for a long walk in the freezing cold rain.. Umm.. more like SNOW flurries. Yep, snow in May. I did not pack for this weather. I left all my winter/fall clothes at home. Yea, I really only brought open toed shoes/scandals, 3 pairs of jeans, tank tops, work clothes (not attractive what-so-ever), and a couple of shorts. That night, I attended a retirement party for one of the professors at MU vet school. Random, I know. I met some girls there, and we went to Addison's downtown for a glass of wine and appetizers. Addison's is a fancy place downtown that has awesome food, and big screen tvs at the bar. It was good to get out and meet/talk to girls my age over drinks and good food. I didn't want to stay out too late, because Saturday morning was the free beginner's class at CrossFit United! I'm about to get fit.. No more "fatty Maddy".

CrossFit kicked my ass! It was awesome, and I met a lot of people that morning. I signed up and said that I would be there Monday night to start their beginner's class. I took my time that morning getting ready and deciding what I wanted/needed to do before the next week. I went to the mall, and other random stores to figure out if I really wanted/needed to buy more clothes. I ended up not buying anything and going downtown to a local brewery, Broadway Brewery. I went straight for the bar, and picked a seat on the side where I could people watch while I eat and drink. The bartender was awesome. Everything at this place was made local, from the food to the building. Nobody was contracted out while constructing the brewery. The wood is even local. The owners helped build and work there now. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with roasted root vegetables, a blonde ale, and an American pale ale. YUM! The bartender's girlfriend ended up sitting next to me, and we all talked about what I needed to do while in Columbia. I was suppose to meet up with them later that night, but after eating all that food and drinking beer around 5pm, I really didn't feel like going out after coming back to the house.. I watched Juno, took three Tums, and spooned with my Boom-boom.

Sunday I tried out a different church, Karis Church. It is located in an old church downtown. Well, I was definitely over dressed for this church, which allowed people to see that I was for sure a newbie. I met more people in three minutes than sorority recruitment. I felt very much at home.. It was awesome. Girls asked for my number, and we talked about music, wine, and cooking out. I'll definitely be attending Karis Church while I'm in Columbia. My mom and dad actually think they helped me find this church, because they talked to someone that knows someone that knows someone that is pregnant with twins that attends a church that they (mom and dad) think starts with a "C". Is that confusing? Columbia isn't the size of Enterprise, MS. It actually has three colleges and in the middle of two large cities, St. Louis and Kansas City. I told mom and dad that "church starts with a 'c'." Anyway, its was Cinco de Mayo and I really didn't want to sit at a the Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood, so I decided to go to to a art show at a bar downtown (Mojo's). It was a benefit for local artists and musicians. It was a lot of fun!! I met some awesome people, and found another gem that I could definitely be a regular at.. Bartenders were great, music was good, and people were super friendly. Mojo's has a patio and park in the back, and a gourmet pizza kitchen in the front (basically an ordering window). From here, one of my roommate's picked me up and we went to a sports bar on the south side of Columbia (Deuce's Pub and Pit). Deuce's is where graduate students and professors go to hang out away from the college students. I've heard Deuce's is a lot of fun in the summer, because of the volleyball pit out back. This is the night that I met the wrestling coaches for MU... Umm.. Jersey Shore, GTL guys for sure. I don't understand.. I'm beginning to realize not to stray too far away from downtown breweries, The Bridge, and Mojo's for nightlife.

Monday, oh Monday.. Today I was asked for my number. A dad wanted to hook me up with his son. This was extremely awkward.. I ended up giving him my number, and the son called me that night. I missed his call due to CrossFit, so I had called him. I felt like if he had the balls to call, I might as well just call him back. Umm.. this couldn't have gotten more twisted. I'm not going to explain all the details that will follow this scenario, but let's just say this family are "clingers" (thanks Hailey for putting the word to the craziness of the backwoods people).

Tuesday was my last day for orientation/restraint training... I really don't know if I will ever be able to put someone in restraints. It was intense... So intense, that I decided to go booze cruising with one of my roommates and guy friends (who are the wrestling coaches I met earlier in the week). We ended up in a town called Hartsburg, MO. Its a small town on the Missouri River, that was settled by Germans. It was so freaking cute! I met some locals, who asked me to come back for her birthday bash, and a cyclist, who is traveling from Mammoth Lakes, CA to Cape Cod, MA. He was pretty hot.. old, but hot. He's cycling to raise money and awareness for Macular Degeneration. After meeting him, I realized that I am probably going to be cycling the KT trail soon. All the towns along the trail are pretty cool and consists of wineries and breweries.

Wednesday was my day off. I found a coffee shop downtown, which was a hidden gem. It's called Coffee Zone, and it's a Mediterranean cafe/pastry/coffee house. The background music consisted of some pretty awesome ambient beats.. Yes, I will be going back again. Coffee was amazing. Atmosphere was amazing. The barista was sexy.

Thursday!! My first day of actual work! I was super nervous, so I got up early and ran BoomerG-dog. Today was fun, but the looks I received were blank affect. I was cursed at because one girl was hearing voices while I was talking to her.. One lady rolled her eyes at everything I said... One man ignored man.. My favorite guys today were "Kermit the Frog" and "S", who was obsessed with the Spice Girls. Kermit has intense tourettes and wears a Kermit the Frog cap. "S" has an imaginary girlfriend named, Baby Spice, who he talks to and she calms him down. He keeps her picture in his wallet and shows everyone "his imaginary girlfriend". Yes, he says "my imaginary girlfriend." "I need to talk to my imaginary girlfriend." To end the afternoon, we held a cooking class for four ladies who had the privileges to attend the class, and kept their behavior at par. After work, I needed an intense workout and socialization. After CrossFit, I went to Mojo's for a cd release party.. met a couple of lesbians and a random dude, who asked if I would help protest. He also asked me if I could describe Mississippi and Missouri as colors, and describe the meaning behind it.. Other than the abstract conversation, my day/night was a success.