Orient yourselves, please.

Today was orientation day. I woke up nervous & early & to the sound of pouring rain. I was glad to hear that it was only raining outside the apartment, which means that the patch job the landlord did on the roof might be working. Adam very sweetly got up out of bed (on a morning when anyone would want to stay in it), made me breakfast, wrote out driving directions (I have no sense of direction, none; I only know one person who might be worse than I am & she knows who she is, we have gotten lost together), & saw me off in the rain. By the time I left, I wasn't really feeling all that nervous. That's partly due to Adam, who has that effect on me, he makes me feel calmer. He's also the one who somehow made me feel like this entire endeavor was possible so that now I'm actually doing it after so many years of just dithering about it. I'm lucky just to know him & so very incredibly lucky to have him as my fella. I could go on & on, but then he'd blush.
So, orientation day. We were only there a few hours. There are about 20 of us in the class, with only two men (one of whom just got out of the Marine Corps, a stranger trajectory than mine from scholarly publishing). I had feared/suspected that I would be the oldest person in class, but there's one woman who looks to be at least several years older than I am & a few others around my age. There's a woman named Sunshine (she says it's her real name) & another named Mercedes & then a Jasmine & a Crystal & at least one Ashley. There's a very pretty girl named Lucinda who drives a big pick-up; I kinda like her already. The girl sitting beside me said she loves reptiles & mentioned that she had a bearded dragon at home. There were a few people with good hair & a few more with super-bleached out or over-processed hair. Only one girl raised her hand when we were asked if we'd been convicted of any felonies. We were told that because of the class that had come just before us, fighting on the premises was strictly forbidden. This led me to wonder what the hell they had done & also, had it not been forbidden before that? I also tried to imagine myself getting into a fight with any of my classmates, perhaps by dissing reptiles or making fun of the Marines or saying that I didn't believe that her name really was Sunshine.
We got our uniforms & they are...well, they're uniform, I'll say that for them. I guess in the whole scheme of things, they're ok. I'm sure I'll be thoroughly tired of wearing it before the year is up. I wore a really bright-colored skirt & red sandals today because for the rest of my time there, I'll be in all black (it's like 1990 all over again!): shirt, pants, & closed-in shoes.
I went into today knowing that I might be the odd girl in class, an experience I have certainly had before, but not in a long time. Not in a long time because for some time now, I have been working in places made up almost entirely of just the odd girls. Pretty wonderful, really, & I think you know that I miss you all. Adam said I'd be fine & that I'd find at least one good friend; look for the guy with the eyeshadow on & the Nina Simone button pinned to his shirt, he said. No luck so far, but it's hard to tell yet. I know that having at least one person I felt really friendly with, somebody I can roll my eyes at, would really help. Ashley? Jasmine? Lucinda? Well, we'll see.
Now I have the rest of the week off & start for real next Tuesday! Squee!