Cape Cod

Today I unexpectedly found myself in Cape Cod with James on the motorcycle. Let me explain. I have been considering buying a motorcycle (to be discussed in another blog). We traveled to Wymouth about a half hour south of Boston to check out this cute little dual purpose enduro bike. It was nice, but I wasn't completely sure, so since we were already south of home, we thought lets keep going. It was probably a little after 11am, and with no pressing comittments and my freedom of flexibility slowly slipping away (classes start next Wednesday), we thought we should take advantage.

I have been talking about going to Cape Cod since I moved here; excited to see the ocean and this famous area. Finally today was the day, and just in time. It was good getting there on a week day, as I hear this area gets really crowded during the weekends. With a 35 mile stretch of one lane highway, I was glad there were few people out.

The ride out got more and more beautiful the closer we got. Towards the tip of the Cape appeared sand dunes (see photo above). It was unlike any beach terrain I had ever seen. The landscape reminded me of parts of Death Valley, but with vegetation. I really wish I would have brought my camera, but I did manage to find some photos on line, which are the photos above.

A hundred plus miles after leaving the bike we checked out this morning we had hit "P-town", which stands for Provincetown. This is the furthest point on the Cape Cod Bay. This was quite a ride considering we had no plans, no side cases and no lunch. We rode up route 6A looking for a lunch spot that had some fried seafood (we all get our cravings from time to time). We found a great little place called Pepe's Wharf Restaurant‎. It's right on the beach with a great view of the bay.

A few interesting things about Provincetown can be found here:
http://www.pilgrim-monument.org/t3/index.php?id=38
I'll tell you some of the most interesting. There is a monument there called Pilgrim Monument (see photo above). This is because this town is the first place that the pilgrims on the Mayflower landed in 1602. I know, crazy huh? I thought it was Plymouth Rock, which it was, but this is where they spent 5 weeks before heading up to Plymouth Rock. Interesting stuff.

The ride back went pretty fast but it was a little long probably due to the lack of water and too much sun. That can really zap your energy, and being tired on a motorcycle is the worst. A half hour out of Boston we stopped and got coffee to pep us up. This was a good move since we hit some traffic on the way home. We finally made it home by 7pm. Sometimes you never know where the day will take you.

Another successful day trip on the moto.

Internship - Update

So the word on my internship. Well, I applied to two sites, and I got calls from both. The site that I was really interested in is at Tewksbury State hospital in Tewksbury, MA. This is the oldest state hospital in the country, so it has a really good reputation and really interesting programs, so I was really excited when I found out I got it! Below there is a link that you can check out that explains one of the new technologies that is being used at the hospital to create music with individuals with varying disabilities. They also have visiting artists come throughout the year.

I'll be working with 2 different populations: medical rehabilitation and in-patient pysch. The first mentioned is the population that I'm most interested, but I also have the ability to learn even more at this site by having 2 distinctly different populations.

I'll be the 3rd intern that they will have this year. They normally only have 2, but when the supervisor saw my resume she said that she would make an exception in bringing me on too. I guess she liked me. Well, I am really flattered and excited about this opportunity. This will be a great addition to my resume.

I'm suppose to start the week of Sept. 22nd. So I'll keep you updated on how it's going. I will be working there 2 days a week.

Check out this video if you have a minute. It made me cry the first time I saw it because it was just so beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj2QoLhfwew

Orientation

Just as all schools have, I had my orientation for my program of study last week. The only difference about mine is that it was held in New Hampshire at a camp called Sargent Camp, which is a beautiful place full of nature. As a child I never went away for camp, but this is exactly how I imagined it, and it many of the other people confirm that it was. For 4 days the school kept us held up in cabins with other members of our program and we all attended lectures, workshops and community meetings. It was a wonderful experience that really brought everyone together. After sharing bathrooms, eating areas and classes with people you really get to know them, and it was a great experience.

The entire program of Expressive Therapies includes 104 people of 4 different modalities: Art, Music, Dance and Intermodal which is a mix of all of them. I am in the Art section, which is why I will be an Art Therapist (just in case you forgot). There is a total of 5 men in the program, which I guess makes it women dominated. While most of the people are from New England, I met people from all over like India, South American, Korea, and everywhere in the country including Alaska. There are 37 people in my area of specialty and they're all great. We ended up having to chose 3 other people, a total of 4 people that would be our support system for the rest of the program to help each other out. This was a great idea and I made some friends with the people I picked. We four ladies have been emailing each other over the last week no stop and it's so helpful.

Other than the people that I met, and the fun and interesting classes and workshops we also got some free time. I had a chance to go swimming for the first time in a lake and also canoed and hiked some trails. If I haven't mentioned this before, I LOVE my school. They really emphasize community and self care, which are really essential in this field.

I can say so much about this experience, but I'll stop here and include some photos.

Here Comes Fall

Sorry for the delay in posts, but there have just been so many new things going on. The good news is that makes for lots on new posts soon to come.

Currently here in Boston the temperature is starting to drop. Last night it got into the 50's. I keep thinking that Christmas is just around the corner, but James reminds me that its still 4 months away. That reminds me, for those of you that I haven't mentioned this to, I will be home for the holidays. So I guess I'll see you in less than 4 months - yay! I've always wanted to come home for the holidays, but I always lived in my hometown.

Back to the change of the season. Last week I attended orientation (will be blogged about later) and many of the other ladies from New England were telling me that fall was here early. I had no idea. I did see some trees with yellow and red leaves but they have been few and far between, so I imagined that there was something wrong with these trees. Apparently that is fall approaching. They also mentioned some of the wonderful things associated with fall like hot apple cider and apple picking. Again, I had no idea. I've been looking forward to fall for the change in temperature and beautiful leaves, but apparently there's much more.

I think I'm really going to like this season change thing. And once Fall really kicks in there will definitely be pictures. Miss you all, especially the people sweating away down in Florida.