Lisa update

For any who are wondering about how Lisa is doing....... She sent an e-mail a few days ago to some people (she had limited computer time). Her flight was delayed for three hours out of JFK airport in New York so she missed her connecting flight to Uganda in Brussles. Since flights to Uganda only fly out every three days or so from Brussles she was stuck for several days. Not all bad though she spent several days eating choclate and drinknig beer in Belgium. She should have arrived in Uganda friday afternoon. It may take a while though for her to find her bearings and find a phone or internet.

Goodbye Lisa!

The day has finally arrived, Lisa is going to Africa!! She departs from Brussles after her three day delay and will land in Entebee airport some time this evening. It will be sad to see her go but she has wanted to do volunteer work abroad for as long as I have known her and now she is finally going! I am so happy for her. She has a blog set up (paxlisa.blogspot.com) to document her experiences and keep people updated easily. It might take a while for her to update it since she will have to become oriented in Uganda and find her way around while training and becoming acustomed to a different lifestyle. Good luck Lisa! I love you and am so happy for you.
Things here are good. I just returned from Philadelphia to visit Lisa. I saw independence hall, Philadelphia old town, and Chinese New Years celebrations in Chinatown. Most importantly though I got to see Lisa one more time before her departure. It was sad to say goodbye but well worth the trip! I finally found out what my new assignment is. We are going to Biloxi Mississippi to build houses for hablitat for humanity. We've heard rumor that Jimmy Carter might even show up one of the days we're building (how exciting would that be!!!).

Week 2

What a week (even though it is only Wednesday). We have finally received our team placements. I am on Raven (as in the bird) Six. The team is ten people plus the team leader. Everyone is very nice and pretty easy to get along with. This week has been filled with mostly training, including a 5 am physical training secession this morning (blah). Tomorrow, luckily we get to do a service project in a state park near Baltimore removing non-native species of plants. It will be a nice change from just sitting around in lecture halls and classes all day.
The beginning of March is when our team will start our first assignment. I'm hoping we get to go somewhere in the gulf or where the weather is warm and not cold. I shouldn't complain about the cold though. The Chesapeake Bay area is not nearly as cold as Denver. There are lots of cloudy days and fog, but that is to be expected being so close to a large body of water.
Most of our training takes place at the University of Delaware. It is a very pretty school located in the town of Newark, which is a very neat little town with lots of interesting stores. The UD's mascot is the Blue Hen. What is strange though is that the Hen (a female chicken) is made to look very masculine on all the school paraphernalia.

I'm very excited because today I made preparations to go the Philadelphia to visit Lisa as she starts her Peace Corps staging. I am quite happy to be able to see her before she begins her adventure in Uganda. It is going to be sad to see her leave but I'm very excited and happy for her. I'm also excited about the prospect of being able to visit her after I'm done with Americorps.

more

The pictures have worked! There are also some interesting items found in the house left by previous residents.

Maryland!

It is windy, but then again we are on the coast of a bay. Perry Point is a very small town, even smaller to me because I haven't been out more than half a mile. It is very pretty though lots of coast line and some forested areas. The campus has several non-human shy deer that roam around the forested areas.
Americorps training will last about a month (ugh). After that we will head out with our teams to our first assignments. Teams get assigned monday after people have finished trying out for firefighter. To be a firefighter you have to hike 3 miles in 45 minuets with a 45 pound pack. Hopefully being in a lower altitude this will not be too difficult a task.

Here are some pictures of the surrounding area (if I can get them to load that is)

It's Gone!

An odd way to start my new Americorps blog (especially since I haven't left yet), but as I was walking my parent's dogs this evening I saw that my favorite tree in my parents neighborhood has been cut down! This tree was awesome, it was a large old tree that had a face in it that could either be frowning or giving a small grin. It also had an energy about it. Arrrg! I can't believe they cut it down, it wasn't even dead or dying.