Caitlin: Uncensored: Hello, Washington

It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this blog, and I’m very sorry. I’ve been swamped with tons upon tons of science projects and homework. I eat, breathe, and sleep science. As one of my professors had said, those who are majoring in the sciences do not have time to spend with others, but only our classmates due to the outpour of work and research that needs to be done. And they were certainly right. Even on my days where I don’t have class I am meeting up with a study group from mid-morning to late afternoon. All of this work does pose to be a bit stressful because sometimes all I want to do is sit around and read a book or do something that I KNOW I’m good at and comes easy for me, such as English. However, I have to say that the program that I am taking is great...even if it constantly keeps me on my feet…and involves more mathematics than I had anticipated. Will I be taking similar classes in the upcoming Semesters? Most likely not. It’s not that I’m not doing well, I’m actually doing extremely well (much to my amazement) according to my professors, but I am majoring in Global Studies and would much rather be on the communication side of things rather than the analytical side.

I may not understand all of the engineering behind what we learn, but it’s still all pretty amazing. On our first week, my class traveled to Eastern Washington for a week-long field trip. Rather than Evergreen trees all around, there were canyons and…SUNSHINE! The only downside was the chilling wind. I got placed in a group with five others and we drove up together with one of our professors in a big white van. The six of us also bunked together in a cabin, cooked meals for the entire class on our required cooking days (there were five or six groups and we each had to cook one of the five days during camp), and we also ate together. There were three guys: Evan, Matt, and Andrew. Then there were three girls: Emily (Emmy), Susie, and myself. We all got along and easily opened up to one another. They became my first friends in Washington.

During our time in Eastern Washington, we ventured to three different facilities. The first place we went to was the Hanford Nuclear Site where there was work done for the first atomic bomb. the site is no longer in use, but there is now a clean up act to fix all of the damage that it created for the surrounding environment. That is not to say that radioactive material is necessarily bad for you; there are slight traces of radioactivity in many things such as smoke detectors and even bananas. Yes, bananas. Like many things, you can become overexposed to different types of matter, and that’s when it becomes harmful. In addition, we also went to the Grand Coulee Dam and The Wild Horse Wind and Solar Energy Farm. My favorite by far was the wind facility because it appeared to be the most environmentally friendly, and I didn’t feel like I was trapped in a bomb shelter since the wind machines were in an open area unlike the other energy centers.

Class in front of the Nuclear Reactor

Grand Coulee Dam

Evan, myself, Susie, and Tn'aa

Solar Panels at the energy farm

Windmill

That was my first real week of school, and now I’m on a normal schedule where I have Seminars and Lectures twice a week, and then lab/field work all day on Thursdays. So far I’ve been taking water samples and measuring different things in the water such as conductivity, salinity, nitrate measurements, etc. I live in a campus apartment with five other people. I've found that as a person who loves her own space, it can get stressful living with people in such close quarters. Luckily I get along with four out of five of my roommates. Bob (who’s room is right next to mine) is from California and really nice and easy to talk to. We have our differences, but we respect each other and have great conversations about it. He and I actually had a very deep conversation about Harry Potter the other night, which was super nice and fun. He doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do in life, but he’s leaning towards herbal medicine. Maggie is from Washington and though I don’t talk to her as much, we still hang out and have gone out to the store together a few times. She’s taking psychology. Andrew is graduating after this Semester and is a very articulate and intelligent fellow. He’s studying film. We’ve all sat down to play card games together and watch movies. Then there’s Ryan, who I’ve known for almost six years. We all coexist in harmony and respect each other’s boundaries, clean up our rubbish, help each other out, and have a healthy relationship.

Then there’s this other guy. We'll call him "Alex". He moved into the apartment the same week I was on my fieldtrip. To put it point-blank, we don't get along. We butt heads a LOT. There have been several occasions where I just sat in my room and cried out of frustration. He’s not the cleanest person alive, and he makes no effort to change that. I now know how my parents felt when I was a teenager who was horrible at cleaning up (I literally would hide bowls in dresser...I was super lazy...please don't do that). I constantly am cleaning up messes in the kitchen and picking food up off the floor. Perhaps it's karma.

The other night I was at a sexual assault awareness meeting and came home early for a phone interview. The apartment was completely empty, which at first was nice. Sounds peaceful, right? Wrong. I walked into the living area and saw that the tv was on; the windows were wide open (we live on ground level and the windows are wall-to-ceiling height with no screen...so we ourselves climb through them almost like a door); the fan above the oven was on; there was food spewed all over the floor, couch, and table; and there was some sort of liquid all over the stove that had seeped into the burners. First, my problem was that no one was home and someone could have easily broken into the apartment. They wouldn’t even have to break in because they could simply walk right on in through the window! My second issue was that the liquid in the electric burners was a safety hazard. My third issue was the food left all over the place. I was absolutely enraged. Once Ryan got home and I told him what had happened, he talked to our roommate about it since I was having my interview. Alas, it did no good and he didn’t even clean up his mess, so I got stuck doing it.

This is not the only issue I’ve come across. He has also left the shower room drenched in water-the rug, the floor, the walls, and the door. Once again it was my job to clean it up. He clogs the toilet and won’t fix it. Not only that, but every time he’s in the bathroom, he is in there for at least twenty minutes. Every. Single. Day. There have been three times this week that I had to leave the apartment in my pajamas to use the housing community center restrooms instead. He blasts his music and when his friends are over they are obnoxiously loud. I have not been a happy camper. On top of all this, he smokes pot in the apartment. I don't care if people do it, but I don’t want it in my living space. No matter how many times any of us talk to him about these issues, they never get fixed. I decided to take this up with the Residential Director and explained everything that was going on. I also called the on-campus police after the hallway started reeking of marijuana and they came over when he was out with his friends. I don't know what to do, and I'm tired of cleaning up someone else's mess.

On a brighter note, I have made friends with a few people in my class. The one I talk to most is named Dawn and she's a 29 year-old mother of one. And to my parents: I am truly sorry for all the messes I’d make and would not clean up. It’s annoying. Kids, don't be like me.