adding vagrant and git stuff to readme

README.md

@@ -12,3 +12,35 @@ Your contributions are very welcome! You can contribute in two ways:
 1. Submit an issue. Click on "[Issues](https://github.com/stevetjoa/stanford-mir/issues)" in the right navigation bar, then "New Issue".
 
 2. Submit changes to source code or documentation. [Fork this repo](https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo), make edits, then [submit a pull request](https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests).
+
+
+Getting Started
+---------------
+
+If you don't have Git, [download Git here](http://git-scm.com).
+
+Then, to download this repository:
+
+    macbook:~$ git clone https://github.com/stevetjoa/stanford-mir
+
+
+Create a Virtual Machine
+------------------------
+
+A major difficulty in earlier offerings of this workshop was installing software prequisites and handling dependencies. Everyone has a different computing setup, and we would often run into problems when installed packages conflict, or prerequisites aren't met. This year, we will use [Vagrant](http://vagrantup.com) to create a local, empty, virtual development environment running Ubuntu 12.04. Vagrant will ensure that every person has exactly the same development environment with the same installed packages. It's a breeze to install.
+
+Vagrant is available for all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
+
+1.  Install [VirtualBox](https://www.virtualbox.org) and [Vagrant](http://vagrantup.com).
+
+2.  Create a new virtual machine using our customized Vagrant box built upon [Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit](https://vagrantcloud.com/stevetjoa/stanford-mir).
+
+        macbook:~/stanford-mir$ vagrant up
+
+    If this is your first time running `vagrant up`, this step may take several minutes to download the vagrant box, `stanford-mir-vbox.box`.
+
+3.  Finally, login to the new virtual machine:
+
+        macbook:~/stanford-mir$ vagrant ssh
+
+    This step logs you in to Ubuntu locally as user `vagrant` with default password `vagrant`.