Settling Into a Routine

Since my last blog post, I've worked a little more and begun to settle into a routine.  Friday was definitely an adventure - I had to get to Karga Seven all by myself!  Nobody else in the UTLA program interns there on Fridays, so I don't have a ride one day a week.  I thought I gave myself plenty of time to get there, but I didn't anticipate getting horribly lost on the way from the subway station to the building.  I doubted myself early in my walk there, and I ended up turning back when I shouldn't have.  That, combined with other mistakes, made me half an hour late.  However, nobody really noticed - the internship program at Karga Seven seems to be a bit disorganized.  Right after I arrived, they took me up to the postproduction area and I helped out there.  I didn't really sign up for postproduction, but I got to do some cool stuff!  I just worked there for about 4 hours, and then it was time for me to go - I only work until 2:00 on Fridays!  Unfortunately, my journey home ended up being much more grueling than my journey there!  I got horribly lost on my way back to the subway station - much worse than my trip the other way!  It took forever, but I did manage to get back to the subway station.  When I boarded the subway, I thought everything was perfect.  That's when the automated voice said, "Welcome to the Metro Purple Line!"  D'oh!  I needed the Red Line!  I got off at the next stop and found the Red Line subway that was going in the right direction.  THEN, and only then, was I good to go.  I didn't have any problems with buses, so I got on the right bus and headed home once I got off the subway at Hollywood and Vine.  It took me longer than I would have liked to get home, but I survived!  Woo hoo!  After I got home, I made myself some dinner and cooled off for a while.  I think my roommates went to some karaoke bar with some other UTLA students - it's hard to remember what happened when, but I think that was Friday night.  While they were gone, I relaxed in the hot tub for a while.  I came back around 10:00, and when I got back, my roommates and some of their friends were in the apartment.  They were all holding wine glasses, and they seemed to be having a good time!  They knew they wanted to go back out and do something, so they decided to walk to a bar close by.  Again, I just stayed back and did my own thing.  Just before 1:00 in the morning, I was about to get ready for bed.  I was about a minute away from getting in the shower when my roommates and their friends got back from the bar.  All of them (except the one girl in the group) seemed to be a little "buzzed" at the very least.  They were even crazier than they were earlier in the night!  They said that they wanted me to host a "game show" for them, and one of them set up a camera, so I "hosted" a very improvised "episode" of Match Game.  Although there were quite a few distractions, we managed to get through the whole episode.  They seemed to enjoy it!  After that, we somehow got to talking about Nickelodeon game shows.  I mentioned that my favorite Nick game show was Legends of the Hidden Temple, so we pulled up an episode on YouTube and watched it.  Thankfully, the team that made it to the bonus round (the Orange Iguanas) won!  Soon after the episode ended, all the guests left.  I went to bed pretty quickly after that.  On Saturday we slept in and just lazed around for a while.  Since it was such a nice day (low 80s - ha ha, Illinois people!), we all went out to the pool in the afternoon.  It was a good day for a swim!  In the evening, my roommates and I went to check out a gym close to the apartments, and then we did a big shopping trip at Target.  We put some money towards a cheap Crock Pot - now, we can make some nice meals!  On Sunday morning, I woke up and caught a bus that took me to a spot close to Victory Baptist Church.  My mom found the church online and suggested it.  I wasn't a huge fan of it - the worship was good, but the pastor was one of those "screamy" pastors that really beats a point to death.  The sermon lasted almost 2 hours altogether!  Next week I'll check out a church that a Facebook friend recommended.  After the service let out, I went over to a nearby restaurant called The Dog Haus.  I ordered "The Pig Lebowski", which was a Polish kielbasa topped with slaw, fries, and BBQ sauce.  It was delicious!  I've heard they have good corn dogs, so I'm definitely going back!  Once I got home, I watched some GSN and did my reading homework for one of my classes.  Other than writing assignments, most of our homework for that class is watching movies!  By next week, we have to watch "The Godfather".  I'm excited - everyone says that's a great movie!  Today was another day of classes, so it was pretty standard.  Tonight we ordered some tasty pizza and watched a movie.  Also, we went on another grocery store trip.  I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find "Groundhog Day" in the discount DVD section!  I just had to buy it!  I've heard it's great, and Groundhog Day is my birthday!  My 20th birthday shall be my first viewing of that movie!  Tomorrow I'm going back to Karga Seven.  I'm grateful for the rides I have there on Tuesdays and Thursdays!  This should be my first "regular" week here!