Drug Free and Baby Free...

...and also TB free, blindness free, deafness free, and I guess unhealthyness free, according to the physicals we had yesterday. There were stations set up and we had checklists to go around and check our vision, hearing, and vitals, give tetanus shots and TB tests, do a drug test, then have a final evaluation by a doctor. It was actually really efficient given how much there was to do and how many people were there.

After that, the Sun Unit went to Washington Park to have unit time. There were a few ice breaker games, and it felt like I was back at Elmhurst during orientation. Then we just had a couple hours of free time in the park. I took a walk around the gigantic lake then played my first game of Ultimate Frisbee. How I made it through Elmhurst College without ever playing a game of Ultimate Frisbee, I don't know, but it was fun.

After dinner, a group of 8 of us decided to go see what downtown Denver was like. The plan: Hop on the #27 bus that stops right in front of campus and takes us to the light rail station, then use the free transfer from our bus tickets to take the light rail downtown. Easy, right? What actually happened: While waiting for the bus, we saw it stop about 100 feet down the street from us, then sit there for 10 minutes. When it finally started moving, it went right past us without stopping, and we could see inside it was packed with AmeriCorps people. They had gotten on at the stop right before us. So, we started walking to the train station. One of the team leaders had told us it was only like a 30 minute walk, so that's not too bad. Well, apparently we got lost, and it became an epic journey. After walking about an hour, we came across a Super Target and movie theater. There are shuttles that go there from campus, because it's too far to walk. When we saw the theater, we tried to call a cab to pick us up there and take us to the station, but the cab company didn't know where it was. (By the way, if you're ever in Denver and need a cab, call 303-111-1111 or 303-777-7777.) So we got directions to the station in the theater, and it was still really far. Turns out we had walked so far, we were closer to the next train stop over from the one closest to campus. We had walked to the next town, basically. We walked almost an hour and a half.

Half the group, finally on the train. From left, Susanna, Erin, and Nick.

When we got downtown, we found a few cool places, including a European cafe/bar place with live music and interesting people-watching opportunities. The #27 bus between campus and the station stops running at like 8pm, so when we got back to our station, we had to call a cab. Then stand huddled in the cold for an hour waiting for it. The gods of transportation were not our friends last night.

Today was our first day off and the high was like 78 degrees. I went downtown again with a different group. We successfully managed to take the bus to the train this time. We pretty much just walked around all day. It was pretty uneventful, except for this that I saw at Barnes and Noble, which I think I find disturbing:

There was a display table of Twilight books and related paraphernalia, and at the end, I saw this. Pride & Prejudice, Romeo & Juliet, and Wuthering Heights, all with covers to look like Twilight covers. Why? Why must they make me think of those classic books and Twilight in the same thought? That just makes my brain hurt. I guess if it makes teenagers read those books then it's a good thing, but I think I find it slightly disturbing.

So today was pretty much just walking around. I really like Denver so far. I think I'll end this longest post ever with a few pictures.

This is an interesting stair formation thing. It had a sign that said No Wading, so apparently it's sometimes a fountain. Someone else has a picture of our whole group here, so I'll post it if I ever get access to it.

I don't know what this tower thing is, but I think it was supposed to be lit up pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Sorry for the bad lighting, but we saw these metal buffalo things on our way to a train to take us back to campus.