The Travel Day

First, sorry that this is out of order, seeing as the training day got posted before the travel day; but it has been decently busy so far.

2-27-12
Today was the day.  The day that a new adventure begins in my life.  It started out decently.  Five a.m. was kinda early in the morning to be heading out into the cold weather to try to catch an airplane to Mississippi.  We (Mama and I) purposely got to the airport super early because we knew that there was an issue with my ticket.  I had tried to check in online, but the first leg of my journey (from Binghamton to Philadelphia) was with a different airline than the rest of my flights.  Somehow the ticket for leaving Binghamton was showing that it was not paid for.  After an hour of trying to figure out what was wrong with my ticket, we finally figured it out and were able to resolve the issue without me paying anything more than the baggage fees. 

So then I go through security--no problem other than scanning my bag twice--and board the plane.  The pilot announces that the breaks didn't pass the pre-flight inspection and we needed to wait for a mechanic.  Because Binghamton is such a small airport, only 6 gates, we needed to wait.  Ended up unloading the plane, waiting for an hour, then re-boarding the plane.  Come to find out, the breaks weren't working because of the cold weather.  By the time the mechanic showed up, the breaks were working fine.  Anyway, that delay caused all my connections to be messed up.  Therefore on each of the other two flights, I needed to ask where I was supposed to go and if they had a ticket for me.  Somehow I got from Philadelphia to Atlanta before I was supposed to and somehow my flight to Jackson wasn't leaving until around 7:30 p.m.  Thankfully I was put on standby and made the 2:55 p.m. flight instead.  Finally got to Vicksburg and signed in.  Met my two room-mates and two of the three girls in the room next to ours (that we also share the bathroom with).  It should be interesting rooming here.  Most of the other 5 girls seem to be noisier and more girlie than I am.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

2-28-12
Last night was a long night.  Some of the girls in the suite were traipsing in and out of the room for most of the night.  The bad part was that they thought that I was dead asleep, so they didn't seem to care how loud they were.  I was too tired to try to tell them to quiet down.  Thankfully, I was able to talk with my two room-mates and I think that we may have come up with a solution.  I guess we will find out in the next couple of nights.  Today was a good day, long but not as stressful as yesterday.  We spent most of the day with our temporary teams doing paperwork, sizing and picking up different parts of the uniforms and having our ID pictures taken.  All in all, I think today was a good day.  A lot of people are forming groups of friends, whereas I am doing my usual watching and interacting with lots of different people.

Day One of Training

So after a crazy day of flying and delays, layovers, standby and other fun stuff like that, I finally made it safely to Vicksburg Mississippi.  (I left my notebook in my room, so I will tell that story later.)  Today was a long day of "in-processing", which is basically the beginning of orientation, as well as being issued our uniforms.  For the most part it has been a "relaxing" day, in the sense that even though all the orientation stuff is going on, I know that everything is working out and not much has happened so far that has thrown me for a loop (yet).  Today reminded me in a way of working at Lowe's--on my feet on concrete for most of the day, lots and lots of walking, carrying stuff, helping people figure out what was happening next.

On an interesting note, last night I tried fryed catfish.  Not really a big fan, but then again, I am not really a big fan of seafood in general.

4 days and counting

It is really hard to believe that in four days I will be in Vicksburg Mississippi!!  I finally received my travel information.  Monday, February 27th is going to be a very long day.  I am flying out of Binghamton around 7 am Monday morning to arrive in Jackson Mississippi around 1 pm Central Time, then I will be picked up by AmeriCorp and travel to Vicksburg Mississippi.

Mud in a cup--one of my favorite desserts!

This past week has been a busy one, and will continue to be busy until I leave.  Even though I have been very busy, I have also had a chance to enjoy time with friends and family.  Every day I have had the opportunity to spend time with either friends or family or both.  Last night I had a very relaxing evening with some close friends, an evening of good food and fellowship.

As the days go by, I am trying not to think about how much I will miss everyone, instead I am trying to focus on how exciting it will be to be heading on a new adventure and making new friends.

I am very thankful for all the friends that I have in the Binghamton area.  Without all of you, I'm not sure how I would be able to start this new adventure.  You all are an awesome support group behind me. :D

The waiting game...

It is hard to believe that in two weeks I will be down in Vicksburg Mississippi!!  It seems that the last couple of months have flown by.  This past week is one that I will remember for a long time.  Some of my co-workers threw me a party.  They took me out bowling, I had a GREAT time even though I am probably the worst bowler ever.

Then came my last day of work...that was a emotional but peaceful day.  I am sad to be heading so far away from the friends that I have a work, but there was a definite sense of peace that heading to AmeriCorp is the right direction for me to be taking right now.  As much as I hate saying "goodbye", sometimes it needs to be said.  But in this case, it is not "goodbye" but instead it is "see you later"!

Yesterday I was able to take a day trip out to Alfred and see most of the teachers that I had at college.  They were excited to hear what I am up to.  I was also able to see a couple of close friends from college and had the chance to relax with them for a little while.

In the meantime, I am still waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the travel details to arrive.  So today is the figuring out what I need to pack up and leave at home and what I need to take with me.

Step one . . .

So, step one is complete...the blog is set up.  Now begins the adventure of trying to keep this "journal" updated.  In a few weeks, I will be embarking on a new chapter in my life.  I will be heading to Vicksburg, Mississippi to work with AmeriCorp for the next ten months.

It is with much excitement, nervousness and some sadness that I am looking forward to the day that I  leave.  I am excited to be a step closer to doing what I really enjoy doing, nervous because I feel that I am going into this blind, and sad because I am leaving a great family and great group of friends.