Day One...

I officially started my internship today. For those of you who don't know - I'm in Blackfoot, Idaho for the next two months working for the Bingham Memorial Hospital with their PR team - basically I'm getting hands on experience with the type of things that I hope to be doing after graduation. Not that I want to work at a hospital but any experience is good experience at this point. Blackfoot definitely wasn't where I wanted to go but I needed an internship and they offered so... here I am.

The town is laid out kind of goofily and I can't find anything - but that's mainly because this is only my third day in Blackfoot and I haven't driven around much. Once I orient myself and drive around a bit I'll feel right at home. It is rather odd though - they have a kindergarten, a couple different 1st-5th grades, a sixth grade, a couple 7th-8th grades and a high school - it's kind of weird but I'm sure they have a reason behind their madness.

Where I'm staying is only a couple of minutes from everything - the mortuary, the seminary building, the hospital, the train tracks, the park, the stores, the library (where I'm at right now), downtown Blackfoot, etc, etc. The mortuary is where one of the other single branches in the Blackfoot area meet - there are 4-5 stakes and therefore 4-5 single branches. The one that meets in the mortuary is about 100 people. Whereas the branch that I'm a part of meets in the seminary building by the middle school and consists of 30 people. The train tracks run through the middle of town - basically you're either on this side of the tracks or on that side, my roommate told me that you want to be careful once you get to some of the outlaying neighborhoods - they're a bit dodgy apparently. After work today I went jogging in the park and they have 3-4 mile loop around the lake (it's not really a lake in my opinion but I guess if you're from Blackfoot it is) - I only ran a mile today because I haven't run all winter and I'm really out of shape but I hope to be running that loop soon. Where I'm staying doesn't have internet access so I'll be going to the library at least once a day with my computer to check my email, etc and communicate with the outside world - near as I can tell Blackfoot is pretty back-woodsy, it's smaller than Rexburg but bigger than Elizabeth. I think they're pretty much in a bubble and they don't see anything wrong with it - which is kind of worrisome.

I like a small town as well as the next person but this is kind of weird. It was rather funny though - they had to shut the KFC down because they were growing drugs in the back. And they are totally into their county fair and the world's "largest potato."

As of this moment, I am glad that I'll only be here for two months - your thinking gets a bit warped if you stay here any longer than that. Then again ask me in a week or two and I'll probably have a different opinion. I know there's a reason why I'm doing my internship here and needed to move to Blackfoot for the two months but right now - I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just the tight branch that I need to be a part of and experience or maybe there's someone here I'm suppose to help... who knows at this point, but I'm sure I'll either figure it out or the Lord will let me know.

So Friday I had to leave my apartment in Rexburg, I didn't have housing in Blackfoot set up yet so I stayed with my aunt and uncle in Idaho Falls. I was intending to stay with them the two months and as such had unpacked and had gotten all settled. But the branch president called, I talked to a girl - now my roommate - we compromised on a price for rent and the next morning I packed everything back into my car and drove down to Blackfoot. Why? Because I didn't feel good about staying in Idaho Falls. Not that staying with family, not paying for rent or food for the first part of the summer wouldn't have been nice but... it just wasn't what I was suppose to do. I can't even really explain it but for whatever reason I need to be here and not there - either for myself or for someone else, probably both.

I'm renting a bedroom from a girl who is renting a fourth of a house - they have separate entrances, bed-rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc - the only thing they share is the washer and dryer, it's 50 cents per (I was excited about that because in Rexburg it's a dollar per). So I'm renting a bedroom and the branch president is loaning me a bed, a bed frame and a dresser while I'm here - he owns a furniture store apparently. Where I'm staying is small but I like it and the orange shag carpet in the bedroom has some... potential.

I think it'll be a good experience - I look forward to learning a lot from the hospital and coming away with some real world know-how.