The Transition to Montana..

This was a little update I had written on May 29th soon after arriving in Montana.
I left Prescott on Tuesday, drove for 2 days and arrived in Bozeman on Wednesday evening.
People sometimes ask me if I get nervous or worry or am unsure of myself.  The answer to that is a resounding YES!!  (And I'm shocked that it doesn't show.)

But... You can't have exciting adventures or learn new things if you don't step out of your comfort zone, right?


So...  Tuesday's breakfast was rough.  I am not a fan of saying goodbye to my amazing sister who was the best roommate ever.  I know it's a little weird how we couldn't figure out whose stuff was whose and how we'd say the same things with the same voice inflections at the same time... but, it has been awesome having Katie there for the last four years.  So, Tuesday morning was hard.  

My little car packed up for another road trip!!

I cried on and off all the way through northern Arizona. :-(

Driving through Utah was amazing.  It's such a pretty state.  The scenery, my love of road trips, Hubba Bubba bubbles (thanks to a gift from Cyndi), Radiolab on the radio, and some loud car singing helped me move on from the sadness.  When I crossed into Idaho and then into Montana, I was so happy.  I love the mountains, I love the sky, I was excited for the new adventure.

Yay!!  Into Montana! :-)

Then I got about 45 minutes out of Bozeman, and I stopped the car.  I was "early", I was a little tired, and I was really really really nervous.  What the heck?  I was about to walk into the lab of a scientist I'd never met to start a job I have no idea how to do and to be a student again for two years... Sitting by the river calmed me a bit.  So did a quick chat with Sara...

I got to Bozeman around 5pm and went straight to the Marsh Lab, which will be my home away from home for the next two years.  I wasn't sure it was the right place because it was a sketchy brick building a little ways away from campus that says "Veterinary Sciences" on the front windows.  But, it also said something about the agricultural department... so I figured I was in the right place.  I walked into a dark building with no idea which direction to head into.  I asked the first person that I saw if he could tell me where I'd find Michael Ivie.  He said, "You must be Amy."  That was a good sign.  This was Charles.  He is one of the other grad students under Dr. Ivie (there are only 3 of us).  He walked me to the Ivie lab and introduced me to Mike.  Mike is a loud, confident, joke-making, brilliant entomologist in a wheelchair.  I think I am going to learn a great deal from him.  Charles took me to the "museum" (where the collection is, and which I like more than the "lab" because one whole wall is windows) where I met Frank (another grad student), Hannah (a recent grad who's working in the collection for the summer), Casey (a really nice bee expert that works in another lab in the building), and Tyler (who I will be spending the summer with in Libby).  Everyone was really nice and welcoming.  I was a bit shellshocked and overwhelmed and tired...

I followed Mike to his house where his wife had dinner ready for us.  Donna is sweet and is a talker!  She reminds me of a 60 year old version of my friend Robin from the MCC.  There are two labs here too, Buster and Violet.  They are super-sweet.  Buster was hit by a FedEx truck last weekend and is hobbling around in a doggie cast.  Violet likes to play fetch.  Donna has macular degeneration and can no longer drive.  Mike had a spinal cord injury about 5 years ago and is in a wheelchair (but he does drive!).  I have a bedroom & bathroom in the basement.  This house has bug decorations all over.  I LOVE it!  Hahaha...  Now, some of you may be aware of my lack of sporty spiceness...  well, it came through in an embarrassing way last night.  I was throwing the tennis ball off the 2nd floor, covered porch for Violet.  She would tear down the stairs and bring it back up.  Somehow, when I threw the ball, it went WAY off target and hit the lamp and a chunk of decorative wood fell off...  that's not a great first impression to make.  Oi.

Today was a new day.  Mike drove me around Bozeman first thing this morning, he even stopped by the chamber of commerce so I could get a map.  He named the surrounding mountains (the Bridgers, the Gallatins, the Madisons, the Tobacco Roots, the Spanish Peaks, and the Story Hills) and pointed out every coffee house he could.  When we got to the lab, I wasn't sure what to do with myself (awkward), so I read a bumblebee guide book.

The View from the Montana State University Campus

After lunch, Charles, Tyler and I were going to walk to campus.  James, who is a 26 year old IT worker in the lab came with us.  James is unique because he is pretty severely disabled.  He has muscular dystrophy (I think...), is in a wheelchair, and can really do nothing for himself.  If his hand falls down, he can't move it back.  If he was in a building with an elevator, he couldn't use it because he can't actually push the button.  He's also very shy and softspoken.  So he doesn't like to ask for help, and if he did, people might not hear him anyways.  It was cool getting to know him on this walk though.  He was telling me about music festivals and how he sometimes goes to the brewery with the guys after work.  He went to school at MSU as well, but there were parts of campus that were new to him too.  Some huge things that I am going to learn in this position are to slow down to a pace that is more accomodating to folks in wheelchairs, to not ever underestimate folks in wheelchairs, and to pay more attention to wheelchair accessible routes.  Also, I am not going to be taking my mobility for granted anymore, that's for sure.

On campus I got a student ID (go bobcats!), a MSU credit card, and turned in my application for keys.  We stopped by the post office to mail some specimens from the collection to another university.  The lady at the campus P.O. said, "you got more bugs? I'll take care of them."  Awesome.  :-)

Go Bobcats! :-)

The rest of the afternoon was spent learning about how much I don't know about insects and especially about bees-- do you know that there are five major families of bees in North America?  I'm going to learn to identify them down to species by looking at cells on the wing, grooves on the face, etc.  It is going to be a challenge.  I also got some practice pinning insects... my hands felt huge and clumsy... Lots to learn.  Lots to practice.  

On the drive home, Mike reminded me of my title.  I'm a student.  I'm here to learn.  I am not expected to know everything yet.  It's important to remember that.  

Donna had very important questions for me tonight when we got back:  1.  Do you like margaritas?  2.  Frozen or on the rocks?  3. Salt?  

This is going to be an exciting adventure.  I'm going to come out on the other side of this adventure smarter and WAY nerdier.  Are you ready for that?!  Now sleep.  I'm tired.  But I am doing alright.  :-)  I love you all!

Amy :-)