Week One

Lots happened this week! I spent some time exploring downtown Augusta, the Riverwalk as well as First Friday, and I started my new job.

First, here are some pictures of the Augusta Riverwalk. I went on Wednesday with my neighbor to celebrate the 4th of July. The trail runs along the Savannah river, which divides Georgia and South Carolina. I look forward to running here when it cools off a little bit. It is such a beautiful place, and it sort of reminds me of the Austin Hike and Bike trail.

Fountain in front of the Riverwalk

South Carolina across the Savannah

That bird on the shore was huge!

At the end of the week, I went downtown with several co-workers and friends to check out First Friday. This is an outdoor event downtown that features lots of street vendors and flame throwers (we saw two different troupes). Without a doubt there were some strange characters out, but no big deal. After a GREAT dinner downtown, our crew walked the streets and eventually ended up at an 80's dance party. 

Heavy metal flame throwers

She was playing Proud Mary, Tina Turner style!

Turns out some of those strange characters on the street were up to no good: a shooting around 11:30 injured six people. City officials aren't thrilled about this, and lots of people are calling for an end to First Friday. I was walking to my car about the time when this happened, I was only a few blocks away!

Yikes!

The most exciting news of the week is that I started my job at the hospital. I spent most of my first week in orientation, which was boring but important. It totally wore me out; I crashed after every day. After the three days of orientation, I finally had my first real day of work on Friday. It was such a thrill to actually meet the people who I had e-mailed with for months. Even on my first day, I got to do some real work rather than just observe. In the afternoon I had to do a four-hour computerized tab-by-tab training, but hey! It’s done. Overall, a great first week here in Georgia.