Michigan Weather

Okay, Michigan is hot! It was almost 90 degrees here today and the dorms and many of the venues are un-airconditioned. Our Texas teams are used to the heat, but not used to the lack of a/c. We all got a little hot and cranky by the end of the day.

When we crossed the state line, Silas wanted to know why it was just as hot way up north as it was in Texas. I did tell him that it could have been cold and rainy and overall we'll take fair and sunny, even if we get a little hot. I still stand by that, even after sitting in an unairconditioned gym for several hours this afternoon.

We had a full day with pin trading (more on that later) and performance-watching. We traded pins with a team from Russia today and met kids from Arkansas, Kentucky, California, Vermont, Wisconsin, Virginia and Delaware -- just to name a few states! We watched performances of teams from Michigan, Connecticut, Texas and New Jersey. One of the best parts is running into other teams where ever you go on campus, and then hanging out with other kids from all over.

So the dorms are fairly normal issue (a little run-down and well-used). One of the team members remarked that he wasn't too sure he wanted to go to college if this is how you have to live! Apparently, it's not up to his cleanliness standards! And to be honest, the food leaves more than a little to be desired. That said, I predict this student (Grant) will end up going away to college, but he'll be living off-campus by Sophomore year. And that at some point, his standards will come down.

We had a little bit of drama this evening in that the kids were carrying Rachel in the chair position when they fell and she hurt her arm. Her parents had to take her to the hospital to be evaluated (the on-campus medical center was closed), but we're hoping it's just a sprain or a hyper-extended elbow and not a break. Fingers crossed! And I'll update on that in the morning.

Tomorrow, we have spontaneous competition in the morning and our buddy team performs in the afternoon. We also hope to take in the NASA e-presentation. I'll have more to say in the morning, but I too got fairly hot today and definitely over-tired! It's a lot to take in, whether you're 11 or somewhat older than that.