Where shall we begin .....
Well, we were fed, introduced, agendized, and ready for 8 am tomorrow. We headed down for dinner at about 6:15 thinking we were early and found a packed house. We sat with Barbara from Middle Country, NY, 3 women from LA county (Library manager from Carson, Regional Youth Services Coordinator, Children's Librarian), 2 from Yolo county, and the lone man from Salinas. We're still working on names - good thing they gave us name badges.
The people from Yolo County were just opening 3 NEW libraries! One of them just this past Saturday. The Salinas library just celebrated it's centennial or 100th birthday with CAKE, big bird costume, and a marching band! They were an enjoyable group of people. It was nice to meet a new group.
Happily, we did not starve. The Family Place crew was very kind and took all of our dietary requests into consideration. I had a GIANT plate (pile) of assorted vegetables - pretty tasty. Renee's was also pretty good - but the carrots were ... tough to start with. There were visions of shooting across the table and hitting someone. They were left on the plate.
Bessie read a message from the newly appointed State Librarian Stacy Aldrich. The gist was we're glad to have you here, this is a great opportunity, etc. and pep speech continues. Bessie says that she will set up a listserv for the future for all of us to communicate on our grant work.
Then we went over the agenda - what we have been most anxious for and discovered we have a couple of 12 hour days ahead of us - including Compton. I'm having flashbacks of my metrolink four hour train ride back from CLA Long Beach through Compton. We're getting site visits at several different sized libraries. I'm most looking forward to the pieces on child development. Renee is most interested in the Parent Child Workshop on Wednesday.
We also received a form for lunch tomorrow at "Back Home in Lahaina" - although it is not really Lahaina - somewhere in Carson. The site actually looks pretty nice. On the menu - the vegetarian option is a tofu salad with ... ogo. What is ogo? No one knew what ogo was. We have since discovered it is a seaweed also used as fish food, which can be found thanks to "The Google." While I do like seaweed - the pictures show an unappetizing looking purple bird nest. I'll let you know how the ogo goes.
We may never write this much again - hopefully someone is reading this. We were quite disappointed to find that no one had enjoyed our previous postings. We are quite humorous (we think) you will enjoy us (you know you will!). Pictures are to follow if we can get everything together - and anything worth shooting ... maybe ogo?
Good night. Sweet dreams. Don't let the bed bugs bite (we checked it should be safe).
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Sounds like you have arrived and will make your presence felt.
ReplyDeleteMore important, you have the blogging down (as far as keeping us all informed with what you are getting to eat!) I am *totally* jealous that you are going to "Back Home in Lahaina" for lunch. I looked at the menu and it is giving me a terrible craving for some Hawaiian BBQ! (There is a Hawaiian BBQ in the Terra Vista center but it is more fast food).
If you are feeling adventurous, try the lau lau. It is fish that is steamed in taro leaf. (Taro is like bitter spinach. High in vitamins though!) Might be a little pork thrown in as well. (And there is nothing wrong with ogonori. A little salty but it really doesn't have much taste. It is best served with whtie rice).
Anyway, keep up the blogging and take good notes. And don't eat too much! :]
Hmmm, let me know how the ogo goes! Ha! I'm glad you two made it to your destination okay and didn't have to deal with plane rides and rental cars. It sounds like you are surrounded by some interesting library folk. Looking forward to hearing about your impressions of the workshop. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteSorry for not posting sooner, but I was in jury duty yesterday (what a nightmare), packing to move out of my house, and now well, at the parental units on my computer... Sounds like you are off to a good start - and most importantly, posting the important facts - lunch and dinner!
ReplyDeleteI read about the Salinas Centennial. Sounds like they had 15,000 people attend. Not bad for a library that was shut down not too long ago. I guess there's no one from Colton at the training...
Sorry for joining in so late. I'm fighting a schizophrenic cold that can't decide if it's going to stay or leave, get worse or better. At any rate, I think you are quite humorous and am enjoying tales of ogo and impending 12 hour days in Compton. I'm also really interested in hearing what they teach you regarding the infant development training. I've heard about this 3-year benchmark for brain development and have some huge guilt over this regarding my son Matthew. I was in library school for his first three years so he didn't get much more than a blanket on the floor in front of the tv. On the other hand, (don't tell the other two) he's really the smartest. I guess my staying out of his way was best.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Wow, 15,000 in Salinas, that's like 1/2 the town.
Interestingly, the professor of my grantwriting class, Patty Wong, works for Yolo County Library and she was talking about the new branches that just opened last month. I met another gal at Eureka who works for Yolo, as well...her name is Crista Cannariato.
ReplyDeleteIt's a small world!
We met Patty Wong. I think she used to work for CoLAPL when I did but I never got a chance to ask her. Too many people and too much going on. And the principal Librarian for Library Experience did not attend.
ReplyDeleteRenee