Off to Massachusettes!

Ok so here I finally am in Lennox Massachusettes at Shakespeare and Company. I arrived last night and today will be my first official day. I am really excited about this, I am pretty positive that its going to be a really great expierience for me and worth every penny of the money I spent on it. So far I have only met a few people since we haven't officially started class yet. My roommate is Irene and she is from Ireland and loves the color pink! She is so adorable I can hardly stand it and her accent is beautiful to listen to. There are also two other people from Ireland besides her and two from Australia! I was surprised to find out that people come from so far for this program. There are forty people here and I have met about 10 all from different states and almost all of which arer older than me. So far I only know of one other person who is younger than I am and I'm hoping that won't hold me back. I haven't been the youngest in a while.

For the program we had to pick a sonnet and a monlogue. My monologue is Ophelia from Hamlet Act II scene i. And my Sonnet is number 90 and I love it more everyday here it is:

Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever, now,
Now while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe,
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come, so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might.
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.

So you can probably tell why I picked that one. Today we have like an orientation and some other stuff but they aren't really telling us what exactly we'll be up to all day. They said they keep the schedule a secret so that people dont stress about it and so that everyone stays more present and doesnt worry about whats coming next. Evidently we are doing something for New Years but they wont tell us what. They simply said it would be "memorable" so thats exciting.

As for the town of Lennox Massachusettes: it is beautiful and FUCKING COLD so far. It looks like a little Christmas toy town with little Victorian houses and yarn shops and Mom and Pop restaurants. The grocery store has like 5 iles. I love it. Last night we ate at Betty's Pizza and this Morning I got a bagel sandwhich at Lennox Bagel. Its just the cutest ever.

So basically I'm really excited and having a good time so far. I like not knowing what to expect and being excited to wake up in the morning. So who knows what the next month will bring. The only thing I know for sure is that its going to be cold, and thats just fine with me. I am also hoping to go skiing at some point and take a trip to Boston on one of our days off.

I also won't really be reachable during the day since we aren't really supposed to carry cell phones around. But if you would like to write me a letter (which I would LOVE you for) here is the address:

Erin Eva Butcher
c/o Shakespeare & Company
70 Kemble Street
Lenox, MA 01240

I love you all! Have a Happy New Year!