Back from Philly

We got back from Philly yesterday evening around 5 pm. Philly was definitely fun! We mostly spent our time in the Historical District around our hotel. Luckily for us, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell were like 3 or 4 blocks from the hotel. I went to Reading Terminal and ate yummy matzo ball soup and spinach knish. So for all of you who aren't exactly sure what I'm talking about, remember when you played Monopoly and there was Reading Railroad along with the other 3 railroads; well this is station where the railroad used to come in to Philly. Now Reading Terminal has become a market place where people sell fresh foods, small restaurants, and crafts. It was a lot of fun! Josh got his cheese steak there, and was very happy with it.

In our actual training we talked about poverty for most of the first full day. It was very interesting, not necessarily all that innovative or informative. Our trainer gave us pipe cleaners, play dough, markers & paper, and chocolate to help keep us interested. We made some interesting art including a basketball goal with matching ball, a bicycle with cart full of veggies, a bug and flower, and all sorts of random stuff. It was interesting to learn the formula to determine whether or not someone is considered below the poverty line. Sad to say this formula hasn't changed, except to reflect inflation, since the early 1960s. The best thing we had was a pseudo realistic relationship and partnering where we were randomly assigned to different volunteer organization with the assignment to get our goals accomplish. That was great because we had to argue our positions about why we should get money or why another group should partner with us.

The social part of the training was really the more important part for me. It was really nice to meet other Americorp people from Providence. We had some time to wander around in Philly and were definitely able to hang out and have a couple drinks. My roommate was in her mid 30s and was doing work with her church. She's nice and very interesting, but she snored like a train. So my lack of attention sometimes was due to the lack of sleep.

When we got back to the house, the final roommate had moved in. His name is Eric and his from New Jersey. He just graduated from a small college in Pennsylvania. He's really nice. He and Josh are getting along really well. I'm glad Josh has a guy to hang out with some, otherwise it would have been Josh and the girls.

I start my real job on Monday morning at 8:30 am. I won't start my volunteer work at the psychology lab until September. I think that will give me some good time (about 2 weeks) to get settled in my job. Hopefully I'll start working for AS 22 as well and be able to get some good time in the photo lab. Well I'm going to finished watching the Olympics and get to bed soon.