Day One

At 5 AM this morning I was feeling apprehensive about leaving Carthage and almost regretted signing up for this trip. At Noon (Mountain Time)I stepped off of the plane to 60 degree weather and my apprehension was almost immediately dispelled. Our first stop in Tuscon was El Indio, an authentic Mexican restaurant. After eating an enormous burrito I fell into a food induced comatose state and slept for a few hours while my peers went on a hike (I am recovering from a broken leg). Once the group returned a few of us went to a local mall to pick up some essentials we had forgotten to pack. This was an interesting spectacle because of the diversity of the people there and I was certainly struck by the amount of Spanish that was overheard. We had the night off so I watched some playoff football and spent some quality relaxation time in the hot tub at the La Quinta resort. We met Sally and her son Greg by the pool, two interesting Arizona residents. We conversed over many things such as home schooling, our research, (on a sadder note)the shooting that happened in Tuscon today, and other miscellaneous topics. All in all I am already enjoying my stay in Arizona and cannot wait to begin with our scheduled activities and get up to the mountain to do some observing!