Well, here I am in grand old Asheville, North Carolina. My internship has begun, and I am getting excited about my new life here.

Moving here was a process. First, I searched for a place and roomates on Craigslist. I then came to Asheville to search for a place to live. After looking over six houses, apartments, and duplexes, I found the best one for me: a "healthybuilt" house very near to CarePartners in a quiet neighborhood. My two roomates are both guys (much to my mother's horror) and employed in the area as DJs (another horror for my mother). Contrary to what one might expect of such roomates, they are both turning out to be very decent guys. One of them gave me a lesson on "spinning" and taught me about scratching, etc. I have yet to be disturbed from my sleep by loud dance music and the house is immaculately clean. What more could I want?

Asheville itself, I love, of course. The weather has been outstanding. I went on some hikes on the parkway yesterday. The yoga scene: VERY big! I have only checked out one studio so far, there are more waiting.

Day one of internship: What you might expect. Overwhelming. In a good way though, I really liked what I saw and heard. I have two supervisors and a fellow intern. My duties as an intern will be "revolutionary" in Lauren's (my supervisor) terms. I will eventually be doing all (or much) of my hours at Solace (the inpatient hospice unit). Most interns see people in home or in facilities in the county. But apparently they think I'm up to the challenge of doing primarily inpatient. Thankfully, I'll have my supervisors and fellow intern to ease me into it. This is exactly what I wanted, without my having to ask for it. I was really not looking forward to spend so much time navigating the county by car. From what I've observed there, it will be a replenishing environment for the work I do. The inpatient facility is built to be home-like, and of course the ideals of hospice, to require comfort and care, are what I want for myself. The nurture I give others will not likely burn me out in such a beautiful place full of caring people. Plenty of room to replenish.

And, finally, I'm back in the mountains. I simply love living in the mountains!