We've been living in North Carolina for almost 2 months now and it's hard to believe how fast time has flown. I guess that's what happens when you're a) having fun, b) super busy, and c) settling in to a new environment.
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| Campus is gorgeous! |
We feel like this place is ideal in many ways. We live in a small town so we enjoy the perks of that lifestyle. For example, I am able to walk 10 minutes to my office from our house and it takes 2 minutes to get to my classroom across the street from my office. Sometimes Al will give me a ride to my office in the morning on the days I teach and then I only have a 1 minute commute, haha. Spoiled, I know! I am very grateful to not have to worry about parking at all, ever.
Al had a doctor's appointment that he walked to recently, too. He has also walked down the block to go running on the track and field on campus. Needless to say, we are saving boatloads on gas money!
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| Office = plant, coffee, supplies, & photographic art. |
Downtown Davidson is cute and has a variety of things, like a
few local restaurants, a CVS, a public library, a coffee shop, some
local shops, 2 grocery stores, and several churches nearby. Other
than that, we have everything we need just a couple of exits north
of where we live. We've got a favorite coffee shop we go to and all of
our favorite stores are close, which is a relief. Within a short
driving distance, we also have access to Gold's Gym that we joined recently, and a small local movie theater. Just a few weeks ago we went to see The Campaign over
a couple of beers. Funny thing is that ridiculously silly movie takes
place in North Carolina and has to do with politics, ha! We enjoy all the perks of living in a nice residential
community, but we have access to all we need within a couple exits
up, and the big city is just 20 mins. away. This really is the best of all worlds combined!
We did enjoy the Democratic National
Convention from a short 20 minutes north of Charlotte. We ultimately
decided against attempting to attend in person. Even though we're not
technically in the thick of Charlotte city limits where the convention
was held, Davidson did have some preparation measures in place for the
massive influx of people that came to the area to attend. My
hairdresser in Charlotte shut her salon down for the entire week of the
DNC because she said it was going to be a huge hassle to get in and out
of the city and she'd likely not have customers coming in then anyway!
We, too, laid low and tuned in to the festivities from the comfort of
our couch. Two of my students were able to go and volunteer, which I
thought was a really neat opportunity.
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| Dr. Martinez = new job, new 'do. |
Speaking of students, my
classes are going well. I'm teaching Public Speaking and Intercultural
Communication (one of my absolutely faaaaavorite classes). The class
sizes are small and capped out as such on purpose at Davidson, which is a big difference from UHD where classes would be cancelled for low enrollment. I have 16 and
10 in my classes respectively, which makes life quite manageable, but
also provides me the opportunity to create challenging
assignments and discussion topics for each class as well as a variety of learning
assessments - exams (which are called "reviews" in Davidson culture),
pop quizzes, journal reflection papers, discussion leader
presentations, research papers, speeches, and even some fieldwork (I'm having students do interviews and interpretive analyses in one of my classes, yay!). I've been having a lot of
fun finding new ways to bridge the theoretical and the pragmatic in the
classroom because the sky is the limit here in terms of academic
freedom. The reality is that upwards of 80% (if not more) of
students come from the top 10% of their high school graduating class
which means that I can and am certainly expected to create a
challenging learning environment. I've been given the
advice by multiple colleagues to treat them like I would Master's
students, which is a very telling testament to the caliber of work
expected and produced here! I'm also pretty excited about my spring schedule that was just
finalized. I'm teaching Public Speaking, Gender & Society, and a
Media Effects seminar (the latter 2 will be cross-listed with
Sociology).
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| One of my favorite things about teaching gender classes is helping male and female students alike realize that they are, in fact, feminists due to their gender equality values and beliefs. Debunking the negativity that often accompanies the very word "feminist" is so much fun and VERY gratifying! |
Though the student body at Davidson is not incredibly
diverse demographically, which is an aspect I knew I'd miss about
teaching in Houston, it is diverse in other ways. For example, this is
the first time I've ever taught Intercultural Comm. to a classroom of
people who have traveled as much as (if not more than) I have and are
from a variety of different states and backgrounds. I am really excited to see that
rigorous academics and practically mandatory study abroad are prevalent
norms at Davidson. I've got a student who has already approached me about being her advisor for her senior thesis research project and she is about to apply to study abroad in Costa Rica! : )
Tenure track life means I've got a lot more
service responsibilities to the College as well. I am on several email
lists and have been invited to numerous events and meetings in my time here
so far... and it's just the first month of school! It's been nice to
quickly build a sense of community and camaraderie with my new
colleagues. What better way than to dive right in and get socialized to
Davidson culture? : ) There are many young junior faculty members who are new, so we have made personal and professional connections. We make efforts to get together periodically. I've started a peer-pressure writing group that meets on Friday afternoons at Starbuck's. Just sitting with each other as we all work on various research projects influences us to keep up being productive! Friday afternoons could so easily turn into naps instead of productivity so this has been a very good thing.
Al goes to school 2 nights per week and 1
Saturday per month. He's enjoying it and comes home with some crazy
stories about emergency medical situations that his paramedic teachers
tell the class about. He has done well on all of his tests thus far and
is anxious to make this career move once the program is officially
complete. He's got a new internship-turned-job gig too with a physical
therapy gym. That has just started so we shall see where the road takes
him, since physical therapy is something he's been interested in for
some time now.
We've been getting acquainted with the region
slowly and sometimes go to Charlotte on the weekends to hang out and
explore. We recently visited the Humane Society of Charlotte...
and adopted a Retriever/Labrador puppy named Opal! She's a very sweet
dog - playful but shy, mostly calm and well-behaved and loooooooves
running around like crazy in our fenced-in backyard. She was quite
nervous when we adopted her and we even had to carry her out of the
shelter at first. We slowly led her to the truck and I sat in the back
seat with her on my lap to ease some of her fear. Poor baby was trembling and her heart was racing!
We went straight to the store to get her some
toys, treats, a comfy doggie bed, and water and food bowls. We didn't
hear her bark until she'd lived with us for 3 days. She has done well so
far with training and has had only a couple of minor accidents in the house.
She is a pup who is just adjusting to our schedules and learning to control her bladder. She respects our
houseplants and has not majorly destroyed anything but her toys and dog bones so
far. There were a few incidents lately - yesterday, she tore up our bath sponges that I had laying on a rug near the bathroom as I cleaned and in a brief time-out for jumping on furniture, she did gnaw on Al's guitar amp in the guest room (her time-out room). These were not huge deals, but notable nevertheless. It's also interesting how when we tell her what not to do, she listens and makes nonverbal gestures and facial expressions that lead us to believe she understands what we've said. For example, Al told her in a low, serious voice that he was disappointed in what she had just done, and she whimpered, put her head low as if in shame, and made herself small in her bed as though she was embarrassed or sorry. It was so sad but so cute! She's a sweet girl. : )
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| Opal cuddling Al's flip flop. |
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| Opal stole my slipper! |
She has the tendency to try to be sneaky and quietly pick up
a shoe in her mouth and run to another room with it, haha. Of course we
bust her doing this every time and take it away before she has the
chance to nibble it up. When we go to sleep, we take her dog bed
and put it next to our bed. I've learned to take my slippers and put
them up high where she can't reach them because otherwise she'll quietly
sneak out of bed and grab one to gnaw on when she thinks no one is
paying attention (like we can't hear her footsteps on the hardwood
floors, haha). Al has been so kind to let her have one of his old flip
flops, which she enjoys cuddling with or just chewing on.
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| Opal is a hoarder like Daddy-O - she puts all her things in her bed! |
Opal
already has many nicknames: Opalicious, Opallachian Mountains, Opal
Essences, Opaltine, Opal Winfrey, Opalstiltskin... and surely many more
to come! You all know how much Al likes to nickname. She already had a
name when we adopted her so we decided to keep it. She's brought such
joy to our household! Even though we do have to watch where we leave our
shoes, haha.
Here are some photographic highlights of life in N.C. so far. Enjoy, dear friends and family! We miss you all but rest assured that we are doing well here. : )
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| Enjoying a Friday afternoon stroll around campus with my two loves. ; ) |
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| I'm a wimp. Al is not. We all know this fact, haha. Even though this was not my first tattoo, I forgot how intense the pain can be and I damn near ripped Al's hand/arm off as he comforted me so I wouldn't squirm. : P Mine's on my left inner ankle and Al's is on his left calve. |
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| I guess we forgot to mention this in our last blog, but we got symbolic tattoos before we left TX. : D |
Happy 2 year wedding anniversary to us! We celebrated with a dinner and dessert date night on 8-21-12.
Here is a beautiful butterfly I spotted at a nearby table while having coffee at the local coffee shop in Davidson with a colleague. The nature here is abundant and beautiful which is definitely a change from the pavement big city life we had in Houston.
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| We tried out a local sushi place in Cornelius, which Al gave a thumbs up rating to. The Japanese plum wine was deeee-licious, too! ; ) |
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| We attended a block party to meet our neighbors. Al made baked potato salad, which was a hit, and we socialized into the evening. We live near a bee-keeper, professors, other people who work in various positions at the College, a couple of retirees, and a few couples with children who are just from the Davidson area. |
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| We went to the Farmer's Market one Saturday morning to grab some fresh produce and baked goods. We felt sorry for this lone Cherokee purple tomato. Al said it looks like Leather Face if he were a tomato, hehe. |
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| We drove a little over an hour to Stony Mountain Vineyards, a family run winery with a beautiful scenic view and delicious local wines. We got a tour, a tasting session, a couple of souvenir glasses, and a bottle of wine to take home. It is just beautiful here in North Carolina! Can't get over it. : ) |
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| I spotted a TX Aggie at the CVS parking lot in town! Whoop! |
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| Opal gettin' some lovin' from Al. |
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| Contemplating her Halloween costume, even though it's not even October yet. I'm just relieved she's such a good sport about clothing because I foresee many new outfits in Opal's future, hehe. : D |
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| Playing with her toys on the living room rug she's designated as her play rug. |
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| Family photo! Amanda, Al, & Opal ~ September 2012 |
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| Al & Opal watching something interesting on TV together. : ) |
