Subject: Walk at 11:15?
Hey everyone!!
Just thought I would update everyone on my and James's brouhaha here in the Sunshine State. Did you like the subject? I like starting friendly emails off with some nostalgia (my other choice would have been a quote from Arrested Development, but I know you all are classy people so I just stuck with my instinct). Anyways...
Things here have been a HUGE change for us. Florida has a lot of interesting characteristics that Michigan doesn't. The obvious ones are that it is "armpit" humid here 22 hours of the day, there are lots of palm trees, foliage, and flowers, the beaches and ocean are awesome, and there's a lot of elderly people here. The ones that we found out throughout our journey here are:
-Lizards and geckos run amok everywhere (even in your house and shoes--which I can verify by first-hand account)
-The standards of driving are quite low despite the immaculate, easy-to-follow roads
-The economic downturn of the country is very visible here, there are empty business spaces everywhere and the downtown is one big "for lease sign"
-Going along with the economic hard times here in Clearwater, it is a food desert is a lot of areas. James and I went to a Wal-mart (because we were unemployed and there's not a lot of choice here) and there was NO FRESH PRODUCE--just a freezer aisle and a couple of shelves of boxed meals. It was one of the most frightening things we've seen.
-99% of all chain stores/restaurants/anything are here and thriving
-Original Floridians are hard to find--everyone is from either Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, or Georgia
There are other things that we've seen that have puzzled us but I'll spare you. The job search started off a little rocky--James and I weren't hearing back from anyone and we were feeling pretty worthless. Luckily in the second week, I got a call from a local print shop that wanted me to do some freelance graphic work for them for cash. That's pretty much what I've been doing for the past three weeks on the side (for two weeks I worked at a sign shop almost full time). Now, James and I have secured jobs at Communicare, Inc., a rehab facility for clients with traumatic brain injury. We are Life Skill Specialists--we teach clients everyday life and social skills so they can re-enter the community and live independently/semi-independently. Our teaching methods are based on behavior analysis and psychological principles--reinforcement through modeling and repetition and no punishment for inappropriate behavior (just ignoring and preventative teaching). It seems like a cool place to work. James is working with clients that have other medical issues outside of their brain injury and I am working with individuals that are getting ready to enter the community and just need to refine some of their life and social skills. It will be intense work, but I think it will be really rewarding. I hope that this gives me a glimpse into what social work might be like. There might even be an opportunity for me to teach sexual health class to residents and potentially teach a couple of classes on healthy romantic relationships (which the owner of the facility feels they are lacking in and thought it would be a great opportunity to use my skills for)! I'll have to make sure and collect some good data--I think it would be an interesting research project: Sexuality and Traumatic Brain Injury. I'm probably getting ahead of myself--I kind of need to work there for a while before I start putting something like this together. Anyway...
So for the most part, things have been good. We adopted a kitty named Neville (yes, he's named after Harry Potter's friend Neville Longbottom :) ). He's been great--he's a friendly, lovable grey tiger. Unfortunately, the past week, he's become really sick and we've had to quarantine him in our bathroom because he can't make it to the litter box :( . We think he's getting better, but it's been really hard to tell (after two trips to the vet and four medications, we're a little dazed). But we're hopeful and we're ready for him to make a full recovery so he can start being a pain-in-the-butt normal kitten again.
Well, that's been what we've been up to (besides going to the beach and dodging horrendous drivers). What have you all been up to? I'd LOVE to hear all about the happenings in each of you lives! Send me the 411, homies!
Hope this email finds you all well!
With much love and humor,
Linsey & James
PS--We REALLY miss Ann Arbor/our internship sites (if you didn't already know) :)
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