Welcome to Wisconsin!

So I've made it to Madison. I actually arrived on Wednesday afternoon, but just got my Internet connection hooked up this morning. My apartment is nice, although a bit narrow and in need of some TLC. My mother said that they used to call these "railroad" apartments, or something like that. It's just one long, narrow rectangle broken into rooms: a bedroom and a living room (although it's not clear which is which), a kitchen, and a bathroom. Entrances at both ends. The street I'm living on is fairly quiet, although it could just be that most people haven't arrived yet. But I have a very noisy upstairs neighbor who seems to think that 2.00 a.m. is the ideal time to move her collection of cinder blocks. At 2.45, I finally asked her to do whatever it is she was doing at a more reasonable hour. Things quieted down after that. I must look pretty scary at 2.45 in the morning.

I've only unpacked a few boxes so far, because I don't have anything to unpack into! My only furniture at the moment are two folding lawn chairs. My bed is supposed to arrive today. Fingers crossed. Guess I'll be hitting Target and Goodwill this weekend.

What my apartment lacks in charm is made up for by the location. I'm two blocks from one of the lakes, about six blocks from the capital, a short walk to State Street (a pedestrian-only street with loads of stores and restaurants), and a mile or so from campus. This is the first place within the United States where I've been able to walk just about anywhere I need to go. This weekend, I may get brave enough to try out the buses.

Rowen and I have been doing lots of exploring the past two days---long walks along the lake, down E. Johnson Street (another cute area for shopping and eating), along fraternity row (and it is so unfair that a bunch of drunk college boys get such beautiful houses right along the lake!), and around the capital. I've found a couple of deli/markets within a block of the house, a pizzeria I won't be going back to after getting sick last night, a well-stocked video store, and a used-book store. The essentials. I still haven't found a grocery store, though!

Today, I'm mostly being lazy. Waiting around for my bed to be delivered and having some downtime after a very stressful week. And I have lots to do next week: registering my car, getting my new license, getting Rowen registered, finding my way around campus, etc. I hope to take some pictures in the next couple days, as well.

And maybe catch my breath a little before classes start!