Meeting, Greeting, and Acclimating

It's official, I'm Rafter. Good choice, because there are bundles of Kates, Katies, Katherines, Kaitlins, Kathys . . . mostly Kates, really. People remember mine the first time, and they're all happy to comply, no small feat. However, I'm told I'm a memorable person even without the unusual moniker.
I met Sammi and her family yesterday. I really like Sammi, she's cool. She likes watching hockey, playing volleyball, equestrian, and classic literature. I also met my adopted family: Matt, Erica, and 2.5-year-old Jackson. Matt grew up in Southern California and went to high school at Catlin Gabel. They have two other adopted freshmen, but I forgot their names, even though I sat with one of the guys at tonight's epic accapella concert.

The room looks good. On Sammi's side there's Los Angeles Kings paraphernalia, tasteful bedsheets, and lots of books; on my side there's Monet prints and the banner of France (my RA said it looks like a Boy Scouts flag), a mess, and lots of books.
I enlisted the team's help for a little extra decorating. Dialogue:
Me: Here's $10 for you guys while you visit the awesome dinosaur museum while us freshmen have to go back to campus for orientation activities. I figure the least you guys can do is get me a dinosaur poster for my room.
Justin and the XC team: We're getting you a picture of a raptor, Raptor. Nope, you don't have a say in the matter.
Me: OK.

So do I go pick my things up from Bed, Bath, and Beyond ? I'm getting tired of fashioning random objects into pillows.

Running is going fine. Chelsea and Molly and I found the trail behind the neighborhood across the highway. Molly's home is at an even higher elevation so she is used to hills and heights, and the heat is getting to Chelsea, so I usually find myself spaced out between the two. I can now go for pretty much a whole (slow) hour. Thank you Steens!

Here's what I know about my Priddy trip: It's in New Mexico. Five-hour drive. We will interact with the horses a little bit. We won't have to shovel much manure. No showers, but one swimming pool. We will paint a lot. Wear old clothes. Bring mess kit. It's okay to go on runs, so I've made plans to go on a few with this guy Colin - Basketball/Tennis Colin, not the XC Colin I already know. Brad, who is on XC, is going on my Priddy trip. He is also in my "The Search for Islamic Order" FYE class. The professor is Robert (Bob) Lee, and he talked to the 2011 class today about academics. From what I hear, we're going to get our butts kicked, but I have the right attitude about learning here. Note to self: check mailbox.

I need to get to bed because we're running at 7am tomorrow morning. Last night we -- kids from Slocum Hall -- played volleyball past 11:30 (and then watched Planet Earth) and we played from 7:30 to 9 again today. My arms might be covered in bruises tomorrow; yet I expect to master pretty much all sports by the end of this year, including hockey, basketball, swimming, Frisbee, soccer, foosball, and pool.