Learning Pittsburghese

It’s a new year and a new semester of travels for me! 2011 is going to be a big year in my life! Wedding planning is going well and I think I’m on track to finish everything in good time… hopefully. I was able to accomplish a lot being home Thanksgiving through New Year’s. I’m receiving a great deal of help from family members and friends since I have to be gone for so much of it. Guess who missed out on cake tasting? This girl. But I’m not bitter. But really, it’s all going well and it’s all very exciting. Most of the time I wish I could fast forward to July and have it all done not because I hate this stage, but because I’m really looking forward to the day and starting the new phase of our lives.
The very last visit I had last semester was to Farmville, VA where Alpha Sigma Alpha began. It was like going to the Mecca of AΣA! I had a really good week on a beautiful campus. The chapter put me up in a bed and breakfast right off campus. It was this awesomely old house that quite frankly scared the you know what out of me every night. And besides my run in with a toilet crab spider it was a great place to stay! The first day I was there the president took me on a campus tour and we went to a NPHC step show. It was pretty cool, but nothing like the all Greek step show at UCA, which I will be horribly sad to miss this spring. The Alpha chapter was a fun group to be around and it was absolutely enchanting to walk the same paths our founders did. It was a truly awesome experience for me to see all the old stuff the chapter has.
Another really cool thing about the campus is its secret societies. If you’re curious at all, you should Wikipedia CHI and Princeps. I find the whole concept just fascinating. The campus was so old and had so much history. The rotunda on campus was one of the most beautiful school buildings I’ve ever seen. There is a mural on the inside dome that looks like it belongs in Europe somewhere. The chapter president told me it used to be an all girls dorm and whenever a girl was going to go on a date, all the girls would come out from their rooms, line the banisters, and look down at the poor guy to see if they approved. It all plays out in my head like a scene from Legally Blonde.
I was so anxious that week because I was in the single digits of my countdown to go home. I had one week at HQ in Indy, but that was it. Home was great and I got used to being there and staying in one place for more than a week at a time. I had a really nice Christmas and I hope those reading did too.
The semester began with a week at HQ again and man was it COLD! I will try to never again complain about the winter season in Arkansas. I guess I forgot how bad it can be. All bodies of water I saw in Indy were frozen or mostly frozen. My week ended with some food poisoning or maybe a stomach bug. I’m sure I’ll eat pizza again, but probably never bacon pizza.
My first visit of this semester was Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Exciting because I had never been to PA before, but I feel confident I will not be moving this far north for any extended length of time. The winters are unbearable! Johnstown is about 2 hours from Pittsburgh, higher in elevation, and about 10 degrees colder at all times. The campus was awesome, but I want to know who thought it would be a good idea to place a campus where a ski resort belonged? In fact, the buildings looked like ski lodges with big glass windows on the front, sloped roofs, and inviting fireplaces. The students all say that when you come for your summer campus tour no one tells you that the snow banks climb to 4 feet in the winter. The winds are vicious and blow the snow sideways. It snowed every day that I was there. Most days the wind chill put the temperature at 2 degrees. Okay, I’ll stop griping now. I hear New York is worse.
I actually had a good week there! The few times I ventured outside the lodge and snow was not moving horizontally, the snow covered campus was so pretty. I stayed in the chapter’s lodge, which is provided to them by the university. Every Greek organization has one and even some other organizations (ski club) have them. They are essentially mini dorms, Short-Denney cinderblock style, that house 16 people. They aren’t luxurious, but it’s a lot more than many of our chapters get on their campus. I really enjoyed the chapter. They were fun and easy to work with. Plus, they took care of me the first couple days while the food poisoning was still working its way out.
I never made it off campus since most members didn’t bother digging their vehicles from the snow. Theirs was the first cafeteria I’d experienced that wasn’t Aramark, and I was fine eating on campus every day. I did notice that people tend to walk very quickly from building to building and I’ve decided it is because they’ll likely freeze in place if they walk too slowly. PA survival skills 101. I also noticed the lack of sunlight there. Granted it snowed every day, but I never saw the sun even when the snow did stop for a few minutes. I was told that extreme moisture from the Great Lakes region forms an unusually large amount of clouds for the area. Apparently it is the least sunny area in the US next to Seattle. Rural western Pennsylvania would be a great setting for another book in the Twilight series if Stephenie Meyer would like to continue…
On my drive from Johnstown to Pittsburgh I learned that PA has townships, which are apparently smaller than counties and found within counties. They can have multiple towns or cities within them so they are basically used to describe an area. It narrows down a region more than a county does, but without being city specific. I don’t feel like Arkansas or Nevada has these. The drive was really pretty going through foothills and seeing fields and houses blanketed in snow. Some housing areas reminded me of a Thomas Kinkade painting. I got dropped off in Pittsburgh at the Cathedral of Learning where I was meeting my friend Lucy, who is in grad school at the University of Pittsburgh. I think everyone should also Wikipedia the Cathedral of Learning. It’s this awesomely huge academic building (42 floors to be exact, 43 if you count the ground floor) in the middle of campus. The inside is Gothic style and the architecture could be compared to Westminster Abbey in London. I felt like I was walking into a castle or a building from Harry Potter the first time I laid eyes on it. All I kept saying was “this is so cool!”
Lucy and I met freshman year of college, actually like on the first day of college, and have been friends since. It was so fantastic to get to spend some time with her for the weekend. She met me and took me to meet a couple of her friends. We then went to dinner at a Hofbrauhaus, a type of German restaurant and brewery. It was this huge tavern style restaurant with big wooden tables and giant mugs of beer everywhere. We ate outside on the covered patio that overlooked the river because the wait inside was 2 hours. There was a traditional looking band and everywhere people were standing in their seats. It was a sight to see and would have been an absolute blast during the Steelers game. I had three types of sausage and sauerkraut. The only sausage name I recognized was bratwurst, but all the wursts were tasty. We called it a night after that and started the next day eating again. This time we went to Primanti Brothers for a famous cheesesteak sandwich piled high with coleslaw and French fries. It was huge and absolutely delicious. I could kick myself for not taking a picture of it! No one would believe I ate the whole thing. Then we went to the Cathedral of Learning to see all the Nationality Rooms. The university modeled classrooms after typical classrooms of other countries. They were from different periods and showcased art styles and different features. They all had recorded information to listen to that explained what you were looking at. It was really cool! Perhaps the coolest part is that many of the rooms are functional and they hold class weekly in them. It would be the neatest place to have a language lesson! Lucy got some homework done in the afternoon and we had great Thai food for dinner. After dinner we went to the Duquesne Incline to see downtown Pittsburgh by night. It was breathtaking because it was both beautiful and absolutely freezing! You can see three different rivers from the incline- the Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny- that all come together in the city of bridges. The cable car operator was a regular comedian and taught us some Pittsburghese like yinz, sammich and jagoff (the ultimate insult to call someone).
The Alpha Sigma Alpha district facilitator whose district I’m currently visiting picked me up the next morning and took me on a driving tour of Pittsburgh. She drove me around the stadiums and showed me the original Heinz factory. She knows a lot about the city, so it was great to learn so much! She took me to lunch at Fat Heads, a fun place known for its burgers. She also took me down the street to a chocolate shop and I had to wonder how she already knew me so well.
All in all, it’s been a fantastic start to the semester! Now I’m in good ol’ California, PA and I’ll be ready to write more soon! The pictures are of the Longwood rotunda (Farmville, VA), the AΣA clock on Longwood’s campus, the snow at UPJ in Johnstown, PA, the Chinese and Swedish nationality rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, me on the 36th floor of the Cathedral of Learning, the inside of the Cathedral of Learning and the Pittsburgh skyline at night.

A Love Story

The last month has been absolutely amazing! After Chicago I went to Livingston, Alabama- that tiny town of 3,000 I referred to in my last post. There were only a few restaurants in the whole town, but there was an awesome Mennonite restaurant. They served a specialty item each day for lunch and had fresh breads and baked goods. They didn’t even take credit cards! I was taken there for lunch twice that week and it was delicious. They had fluffy chocolate crinkle cookies that reminded me of holidays at home =)
I stayed in what I swear was an old, haunted plantation… alone. It was this old building with old wood floors. It had three or four bedrooms, a bathroom in each, a formal dining room, an informal dining room, a foyer, a parlor, a study, a kitchen, and several locked doors that I never knew where they led. Apparently a washer and dryer existed somewhere, but I never found them. The floors creaked constantly, even when no one was walking on them. And there was a bell tower on campus that chimed every fifteen minutes. Even at night. Overall I had a good week in Alabama. I enjoyed watching the chapter win an intramural flag football game, but all in all, I couldn’t wait to get home. I was practically counting down the hours until I flew into Little Rock.
I flew home for my week of vacation that Saturday and Jade picked me up from the airport. It was so good to see him! We went to my parents’ house and were just going to have a lazy weekend. Cory and Isabella came over Sunday, but Jade kept wanting to get me out of the house, which I couldn’t understand. I really had no intention of getting out of my pajamas that first day home. He finally convinced me to leave and we left, me not know where we were going. It wasn’t that strange that I didn’t know where we were going. I like surprises and Jade likes to surprise me. When we got on interstate heading west I knew the only thing that direction was Petit Jean Mountain. I started getting suspicious at that point since we didn’t have hiking gear with us, but really didn’t think it was that time. I honestly started looking for signs, but Jade wasn’t sweating or shaky or even talking out of the ordinary. A few turns later I knew we were headed to Petit Jean for sure, but still wasn’t convinced it was actually happening. We went up to Camp Mitchell, where Becca and Brooks married a couple months back, and took in the view while chatting and catching up. A few minutes later Jade asked if I was ready for my surprise and he bent down for his backpack, ending up on one knee. Out came a little box and I did what every girl does in the movies; my hands went over my mouth and I immediately started crying. Jade asked me to marry him and I said yes! It was perfect. My ring is perfect.
We stayed on top of the mountain a little longer to enjoy the moment. As we headed back down, I called Kate to meet up with her. I wanted to share the news and ask her to make my candle for my sorority candle light ceremony. I had planned to attend chapter meeting on Tuesday anyway, but now I could attend and surprise all my sisters with my engagement. Kate was in the UCA library studying so I warned her not to make a big scene before I told her. I got all teary eyed again when I told her. She was so excited for us! From school we went back home, but mom and dad knew what Jade was planning all along. I got to surprise Cory though, which was sweet.
The first three days of vacation were filled with calling or visiting people to share the news because we didn’t want people to find out on facebook. I had dinner with Natalie, Elizabeth, Amber, and Rachel Monday night and it was so neat to surprise them. It was hard to wait until Monday night to tell them, but the screams, hugs, and tears were worth waiting for. I told Uncle Greek and Aunt Polly by pulling out bridal magazines in front of them and loudly flipping through the pages. It took longer than it should have for them to notice what I was reading, but it was priceless to see Aunt Polly’s face when she figured it out. I also really enjoyed telling my Greek family in the chapter ceremony. 85 screams and eager faces wanting to hear the engagement story is pretty hard to beat. Jade and I put it on facebook on Wednesday and it was fun to watch the congratulations roll in. At the end of the week we went to Leslie to see his family and go to Marshall Homecoming. It was a great, but busy week that went by entirely too fast.
After vacation I went to Alva, Oklahoma. I don’t know what was up with my stretch of tiny town visits, but Alva was another tiny place like Livingston. Its size on Google maps will make you laugh. I really enjoyed my week there though! I nearly froze to death in a dorm and I definitely don’t miss dorm showers, but the chapter members were great and there was a Delta Zeta Leadership Consultant there at the same time. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who fully understands the experience. She was super nice and was in her last week of work before vacation. I know how excited she was!
The drive from Oklahoma City to Alva was three hours, and the president and a new member picked me up at the airport. The president is from Wakita, which is where Twister was filmed. Oklahoma is so dang flat! It felt like I could see forever, but it was also really pretty. We went through a thunderstorm at one point and the lightening was absolutely incredible. There are also oil drill/pump thingies of all sizes everywhere. They were in fields, next to houses, by schools… wherever seemed like a good place to drill I guess. The members said you grow up watching videos in school about the danger of playing around them. I guess people will climb on them and ride them like horses, which I thought was hilarious! It was also really windy in Alva. It should have been a duh, but I wasn’t expecting it. It makes sense since there isn’t a lot to block the wind. Everyone referred to Oklahoma City as ‘the city’. “I live in the city” or “we’re going to the city” is what people would say. It took the week to realize the city meant just one place when people talked about it. I was also surprised when the members picked me up that they didn’t have southern accents. They laughed at me when I asked, but I assumed they would. Oklahoma is not part of the south I learned. I assumed because it shared borders with Texas and Arkansas it would have a lot of southern influence. I saw the influence in food, but not much more. On the last night I was there I went to a birthday dinner for the chapter advisor’s sister. It was a family shrimp boil with corn, potatoes, crab legs, sausage, and cake for dessert. That was my first time eating crab legs. They’re tasty, but too much work for me. I’m pretty sure I ended up with crab in my hair at one point. Plus, my fingers were sore the next day.
From Oklahoma I went for my last visit in Natchitoches. I worked Sunday through Thursday and took a long weekend to New Orleans. Jade had the weekend off and drove down Thursday night. We drove to New Orleans Friday midday and didn’t think about rush hour traffic. Not only was there traffic heading into NO but there was an accident. We waited on interstate for nearly two hours, but we had a great view of the Super Dome and an above ground cemetery that was neat to look at. We watched a pretty sunset and played silly games to pass the time and reduce our boredom. By the time we got to the hotel we were starving and were really just wanting to find some food. The most noticeable thing about the hotel was its smell; it had the strongest smell in the lobby! It smelt great- like some terrific Bath and Body Works scent. Our room had an incredible view of the city and huge windows to show it off. We dropped our bags and went to the concierge to get a dinner recommendation. We walked down Decatur Street until we found something suitable for a late dinner. The weather was beautiful so we sat on the balcony and could see the river. At one point a party bus drove by throwing beads everywhere. They were having A LOT of fun. I had shrimp and Jade had a burger (I think). The next morning we went to Jackson Square to get some breakfast at Café du Monde before heading to the Audubon Aquarium. Café du Monde had a crazy line, but I’d heard from several people that it was worth the wait. We actually didn’t wait that long before we found a tiny, dirty, powdered sugar covered table. I didn’t realize that literally the only thing on the menu was beignets. They’re like a different shape of funnel cake, but with way more powdered sugar. This place is like a beignet factory. I bet the kitchen is nothing but deep fryers, mountainous sacks of powdered sugar, and a conveyor belt of beignets that exit from a window. They had more wait staff than I have ever seen. A place that popular doesn’t have to have good customer service we realized. Of course neither one of us carries cash so Jade ran down the street to get cash while the restaurant held me for ransom. Great experience, good pastries, and good coffee. Would I do it again? Probably not, but I’m definitely glad I had the experience.
Jackson square is cool! It is filled with artists and performers. I actually saw some really impressive art. St. Louis Cathedral is also there. I had really wanted to walk around the square and go inside the cathedral, but time never allowed. We spent several hours in the aquarium checking out sea otters, stingrays, frogs, sea horses, sharks, jellyfish, and tons of other creatures. We’re such kids. Jade and I love zoos and aquariums and the like. We had about an hour to grab some lunch and found a close Greek restaurant. I know- Greek in New Orleans? Probably not our wisest choice, but we love Greek food! It was killer food too! We barely make it to our 4:00 tour, which was the Original Cocktail Tour of New Orleans. It was a guided tour of the most historic parts of the French Quarter with some stops at historic bars, drinking optional. We had a great guide who was personable and knew a lot about New Orleans. Did you know the picturesque architecture of New Orleans is not French? It’s Spanish. Who knew!? We even had cool people on our tour, which is more than I can say about the people on our wine tour in Italy! It was a couple hour walking tour the ended at the far end of Bourbon Street. We were free to go from there. We followed the group up the street until we got to an area we knew we could get back to the hotel from. All the sudden there was this marching band coming down the street that I assumed was another party bus or something. A local said the name of the event (I can’t remember it now) and said it is a celebration of life when someone passes away. A famous local who makes potato chips just died and had his funeral. It was a parade that had the fire department in it throwing out free bags of his potato chips. I thought it was kind of cool!
Jade and I got off Bourbon quickly after that. It wasn’t even dark yet and it was already too rowdy for us. We got off our feet for a little while, then headed back out. We went back to some of the bars we’d visited that afternoon to try their signature drinks. After two bars and some friendly conversation (you know how Jade can talk to anybody) we went to a restaurant on Decatur for dinner. We had to leave New Orleans at noon the next day. It was a short trip, but really fun. I wish we could have seen a done more!
Jade drove me back to Alexandria to catch my plane. My plane was delayed leaving Louisiana and so was my plane leaving Memphis, so I never ran into any problems. I got into Nashville a little late and was picked up by the chapter president. I had a good week in Clarksville and the sweet townhouse. It was a much less stressful and sleepless week than the first time. While I was there mom, dad, and Jade went to Hot Springs to meet with seven different potential reception venues. I’m sad to not be a part of that, but thankful they are able to help.
Now I am in West Virginia at my second to last chapter. It’s exciting because I have never been to this area of the country really. I had the craziest flights coming up here though. I was supposed to fly Delta to Atlanta then Charleston, WV. My plane was so delayed leaving Nashville that they put me on an American flight to Washington DC and a US Airways flight to Charleston four hours later. I wonder how the other carriers get their money from Delta? Once again, I’m in a ridiculously tiny town. I was told Athens is the second smallest town in the United States to host a university. The town has 1,500 people, one stoplight, and one pizza joint. The town doubles in size when school gets back in session. There are 3,000 students total, 1,500 of which live on campus. Regardless, this chapter is awesome! They are really great to me. What is funny is some of them have southern accents. Some of them consider West Virginia southern and say there are hicks here. One person said the state gets stereotyped by inbreeding and not wearing shoes. I’ve only ever heard that of the south. See, this is why I love travel! You learn things about places and its people constantly. I love seeing the differences in places.
My week is off to a great start and I’ve got 18 days until I’m home to wedding plan! Pictures are of my candle for my candlelight, the mess I made eating beignets, Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, a crazy eel, a scene from Finding Nemo (which is apparently the only movie I can quote, according to Jade), beautiful Spanish architecture of New Orleans, and the funeral celebration of the chip man.

Infatuation with the Windy City

I’ve had an awesomely busy couple of weeks! Since I last posted I have been to Clarksville, Tennessee, Chicago, Illinois, back to Natchitoches, Louisiana, and currently I’m in Livingston, Alabama counting down the days until I’m in Arkansas for my week of vacation.
I had a good time while I was at Austin Peay (said Pee). One of my favorite things about the school is that their chant is “Let’s go Peay!”… say it how I wrote above and imagine an entire football stadium essentially shouting ‘let’s go pee!’. Good stuff. I had great accommodations at Austin Peay and met some really fabulous women. I meet so many women every visit I make and I love bonding with the ones that I can tell I’d be good friends with if we’d gone to college together. I also meet some challenging personalities. This was the first stop I’d truly realized what they meant when HQ staff told me this one year job was really the experience of working three years. The diverse situations I find myself in and the many different types of people I work with are giving me so much more experience than I’d imagined. I don’t know why in college I thought I’d run into just about every type of personality that existed out there.
I did get to stay a weekend in Nashville with my good friend Beth, whose mom and sister were in town visiting her. The four of us went to lunch together and they drove me around to sightsee. We also took a walk around the Vanderbilt campus and it is really beautiful! My chapter sister Becca drove in late afternoon and we took off to a taco restaurant down the street and washed it down with Ben and Jerry’s. It was really nice to catch up and even nicer to see a familiar face. It was a much needed and comforting weekend to see friends who remind me of home.
I returned to Clarksville to continue working on formal recruitment and worked my butt off that week. It paid off with 16 new members for the chapter and some very renewed and excited old members. I was by that time, however, looking forward to my next visit that did not include helping with formal recruitment. I’m formal recruitment-ed out. In fact, the r-word is kind of a bad word right now.
The night before flying to Chicago I learned that a chapter member would be flying in around the same time I would so she was going to get me to where I was staying. Turns out, she was on the same flight as me so I actually met her in Detroit! It was nice to have someone to ride to the condo with… yes, condo. I stayed the week on the 23rd floor of a downtown condo with waterfront views and a balcony. It was incredible! Driving into the city I passed the Bears stadium, Oprah’s residence, and a great lake so big you’d swear you were looking out over an ocean. I was giddy. And for some reason I absolutely fell in love with Chicago. I knew I loved cities, but I just really enjoyed everything about Chicago. I enjoyed our doorman who greeted me every morning and the city traffic noise. I enjoyed seeing a Starbucks on every corner, because I haven’t had nearly enough Starbucks in my travels. I enjoyed using the metro and public bus system, and I even enjoyed walking and getting lost, with the exception that it poured rain on me in the process. I loved doing it all alone too. There was something peaceful and empowering about taking on the city by myself. I’ll return to Chicago someday- I’m sure of it.
The Chicago chapter was great too. They were similar to my own chapter so that familiar dynamic was nice. So far they have been the most welcoming women- not that the others have not been, but many women in this chapter were excited to hang out with me and wanted to talk and get together. Sometimes I think people worry I’m there to get on to them so they’re not very open or warm at first, but I never got that from the Chicago chapter. I also got to spend some time with their advisor and a member from national council who lives in Chicago. I really enjoy my ‘adult’ time away from collegians when I get to, though it doesn’t happen often.
I ate the best food all week long! I had Mediterranean food, Indian food, Italian food, Thai noodles, a great burger, cheese deep dish pizza, upscale deli sandwiches and soups, butternut squash ravioli with asparagus in a balsamic reduction, Ghirardelli… and a lot more I can’t think of right now. There are so many ethnic neighborhoods of Chicago I would have visited in a heartbeat if I’d had more time! I was told bacon chocolate is a big thing there. Sometimes you can find a strip of bacon in alcoholic beverages is another one I was told. I never would have pegged Chicago for being bacon obsessed.
One afternoon I did some personal sightseeing. I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which was cool. It had some pretty crazy and creative stuff. I enjoyed the mobiles, but I couldn’t take pictures of those. I stayed for about an hour, then went to the farmer’s market and purchased apples and zucchini bread. After that I took off on my big adventure to the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. It had a pretty neat set up inside- there were lots of pictures and videos showing city history and a short film about the building itself. On really windy days the building actually sways! After the tour of city history you get on a large elevator with a TV screen showing your height as compared to something else. For example, it showed when we were at the height of the Great Pyramid (ha- I’ve been there). It showed things all the way up to the top so you always had some other structure to compare it to. My ears actually popped going up. Then the doors open and you’ve got clear views all the way around; you can see four states on a clear day! I spent a while taking pictures and taking it in. I had to ask people to take photos of me since I was alone. I poked around the gift shops and headed back. The other thing I really wanted to do was shop in Chicago. They have amazing shopping and time just didn’t allow.
The one thing I can’t handle about the Windy City is well, the wind… and cold weather. I don’t do cold very well and apparently if you’re in Chicago in the winter you might as well be in the arctic. No one told me they enjoyed winters there, but the city made up for it and most don’t ever want to leave. That says a lot.
I enjoyed getting back to the warmth of Louisiana, but remembered I have to watch out for alligators. It was a good week. One night I was recognized at a restaurant by another sorority’s chapter advisor- I take it that means I’ve been around too long. I’m practically becoming a Natchitochian. I could give city tours.
And now I’m in small town Alabama. I do mean small. The university has about 2,000 students. It began eventful since Delta lost my luggage. My bags actually took two extra plane rides. But they did make it to me, makeup broken and clothes wet from being left in the rain. All I can say is I hope that Southwest merger goes through so they have more of a presence in the areas I’m traveling. I go home Saturday and I could not be more ready! I’m still enjoying my job, but it is very very tiring and I’m looking forward to good friends and family.
The pictures are of the Tennessee chapter after skit night of recruitment, the water and city view from my Chicago condo, views from the Willis Tower and the skydeck, and the color coded Chicago chapter after one night of recruitment.

Lions, Tigers, and Gators?

I hope no one thinks I dropped off the face of the planet! This job has kept me so busy. My first visit was definitely more than a 40hr a week job. The last two and half weeks I was in Natchitoches, LA (said Nak-a-dish). Natchitoches is small-ish but a cute place. It was the first settlement of the Louisiana Purchase, so it has a lot of history. It sits on Cane River Lake (yeah, I don’t get that either) and has several other bodies of water around it. You know what that means- gators! But more on those later… Steel Magnolia was filmed in Natchitoches. I ended up watching the movie while I was there and sure enough, you see historic Front Street with the brick road, the Christmas lights festival, the house, and various other locations in the town. Apparently the writer of the story was from Natchitoches and rumor has it the main character was a sorority girl from NSU. Pretty cool I think!
The trip started out interesting. I went to Natchitoches with another LC, Maureen, but she was only there for a week. We stayed the first night with a woman and her four cats. If you’re looking for a good story ask me about that later. The rest of my time in Natchitoches I stayed with one of the chapter advisors and her family. They made me feel like part of the family, which was nice to come back to after being on campus all day working. I got very comfortable there and luckily I was invited back for the next two scheduled visits I have to Natchitoches.
Side note- did you know Louisiana doesn’t have counties? They’re called parishes. And drive thru liquor stores seemed popular. Didn’t get a chance to try it out, if you’re wondering. And the Sonic had an indoor, sit down restaurant. Weird state…
Jade surprised me with a weekend visit while I was there! And here’s where the alligators come in… we went to an alligator farm. It was CRAZY! I saw everything from baby gators to really big gators to albino gators to mutant gators. They had a whole room of gators that had all hatched deformed in some way and were sent there. Some had extra toes or body parts turned different directions. For some reason the park also had raccoons, goats, peacocks, and other random animals… mmm maybe I don’t want to imagine why they kept them there. Sad. But we did watch them feed the alligators hunks of chicken and it was one of the most stunning things I’ve seen. It’s pretty intense to watch reptiles that big jump from the water with massive jaws. You know Jade and I eat that kind of stuff up- no pun intended. We love zoos! I also learned about spotting alligators in water at night and being able to tell if it is a male or female. Good to know if you ask me. I just assume there are gators in all bodies of water in Louisiana. And Florida too.
The next week I essentially planned a formal recruitment. I know that doesn’t mean much to some people, but it is kind of like planning a major event, or a wedding. It’s something that typically happens over the semester prior to the event, so it was a very busy week for me. I was joined by another staff member, Katie, for the actual days of recruitment. We had a good time together and I was glad to have her. We (mostly I) watched Swamp People one night and if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it. It will open your eyes to a whole new world you probably didn’t know existed in the US.
I’m learning a lot. I didn’t know I had the ability to be an event planner and for it to actually come out well. I can be a playwright too. I wonder what I’ll be next week? One of the most challenging things so far is learning how to balance being a friend and being a boss. Most of the time I need to use both, but in some situations I need to let one take over. I’m getting the hang of it, but it’s strange since I’m not THAT much older than the collegians and I’m definitely younger than their advisors. Every chapter presents something new. Different personalities, new challenges, and various situations keep it interesting though. I know I’ve not been doing it long, but I really am enjoying the job despite the hours I work. I love what I’m doing and who I’m working for.
Now I’m in Tennessee preparing for recruitment this coming weekend. I’ve got a fantastic housing situation- my own townhouse and a member who actually wants to cook for me. I was greeted at the airport with a sign and it totally made my day! I’ve really enjoyed spending time with the women at this chapter the last couple days. Tomorrow I’m going to see my friend Beth, who is at Vanderbilt grad school, and my other friend Becca, who just married and moved to Tennessee. I’m really looking forward to it!
The pictures are of historic Front Street, the Steel Magnolia house, the gator farm (advertisement bus, feeding time, the albino gator, and the raccoons I fed), and a room I decorated for recruitment. Notice the albino raccoon and I also want to point out there was more to that room than what you can see in the photo. It looked a little more impressive than the photo wants you to believe.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

This week has gone by so fast! I really thought it would go slower since I have something to look forward to at the end of the week, but luckily it didn’t work that way this time. This week has been so packed with training and action plans; I’ve hardly had time to miss living with the others. I’ve been working into the evenings to get all caught up. I’m feeling pretty good about things. I’m nervous about my first visit just because it is my first visit, not because I’m not prepared. I’m looking forward to getting out on the road, but I’m REALLY looking forward to coming home this weekend!
One of the women that work here had tickets to a minor league baseball game she wasn’t going to use and offered them up to staff. I got one and went to the game Tuesday night with another staff member, Hilary, and her roommate. It was HOT! We had great seats though and I saw a batter accidentally let go of the bat. It went flying up into the stands! I bet he was so nervous about killing somebody! No one appeared to be injured by it, so that’s good. We stayed for about half the game- enough to eat and watch some good runs. They drove me downtown after we left the stadium and I saw this beautiful war monument. It was so large that I couldn’t get it all into one picture! It was in the middle of this big roundabout across from what I assume was the capitol building. I guess there is an actual museum under the monument. I also heard Indianapolis has the next most war memorials to Washington DC. I don’t know if that’s true, but it would be kind of crazy if so! I really like that downtown area of Indy. It’s got so many shops, restaurants, and bars. When we left there they drove me up Meridian Street, which is known for its huge houses. It was pretty dark, but I could still tell that they were some very impressive homes.
That was the most exciting thing from this week. Tonight I go from work to the airport with all my stuff. I hate that I’ve just now been able to get to know all the staff and I have to go. There are some really fun people here and it’s a nice work environment. It’s just different working with people you automatically share a common experience and bond with. I love it. I guess I’ll see them all in November!

Fried Butter at the IN State Fair

What a busy week it has been! It’s only going to get busier too. This week has been full of training at HQ. Let me tell you, after nine hours of education my brain tends to feel like jello. I am learning a lot though and I should almost be an expert on how to run a chapter by the end of this week. I’ll be the only LC left this week- two left this morning and two leave tomorrow morning. I’ll be heading to the airport about 4:30am. At that time the lights will still be blinking in the city. After a certain time at night most of the stoplights start flashing red or yellow. Yellow means to just continue driving but pay attention at intersections. Red means you treat it as a four way stop. It’s nice because no one waits at a red light for five minutes without ever seeing another car. Also next week- I get to rock the minivan by myself. YES!
This week has had its ups and downs. I have had my fair share of computer problems, including losing all information on my jump drive. I plugged it in Thursday night to discover it was completely empty. Tell me how that happens! About fifteen documents were recoverable, but no more. My identity was stolen so I closed my credit card account. Luckily I am not responsible for any charges that were not mine. On the positive side, we took pictures this week for publication in the Phoenix. Thursday the LCs dressed up for photos and Friday we wore letter shirts. Taking pictures like that is always fun. We went to dinner at a staff member’s apartment Wednesday night. It was great to have a home cooked meal; even better for the girls who have been here six weeks. It was also nice to get out of the hotel. Having only one room to live in makes me stir crazy after a while. Friday afternoon we went to the Indiana State Fair, which is evidently a huge deal here. I have never been to the Arkansas State Fair and I don’t remember one in Nevada, but this has a permanent fair grounds (for use once a year) with separate buildings for cows, chicken/rabbits, horses, llamas/alpacas, pigs, and sheep. Now, I enjoy seeing baby animals of all these, but rows upon rows of hot and smelly cows just don’t hugely entertain me. The llamas on the other hand have the craziest hairdos I have seen in a long time. They’re great for a good laugh. There were rides and food vendors as well. Food I would expect in Arkansas, but not Indiana- deep fried butter. Does that not just make your stomach turn?!
This afternoon I met my friend Caitlin and a couple of her friends to see Step Up 3D. Caitlin and I were in Honors together, studied in Italy together, and were both Greek at school. She is at Purdue for graduate school. It was really nice to see a familiar face, and I saw my first 3D movie (besides the short shows at theme parks). We went to Trader Joe’s after and that was cool too since I haven’t been to one since I left Nevada. It was a really nice afternoon! Caitlin and I talked about how we were surprised that Indiana culture seemed a little like Arkansas. I think I expected it to be a lot different since Arkansas and Nevada are so different.
Well, that is a fast overview of this past week. This week should bring lots of catch up work. I cannot wait to come home for the weekend and see people for Jade’s graduation! After that, I am Louisiana bound!

LC Training

Hello all! My adventures started off a little shaky, but I'm settled in Indianapolis now! I had to repack about 3 times all the way up to arriving in the airport parking lot to get my suitcase below 50lbs. The airport scale determined my bag was 49.3lbs, thank goodness! No $100 bagage fee for me United! Take that!!
I arrived in Indy Tuesday night after an uneventful flight and was greeted by the other four Leadership Consultants in a minivan. Yes, we drive around Indianapolis in a sky blue minivan! It was really nice that they came and got me though; I immediately felt less nervous about the whole move. They are really fun and they already know the area pretty well, which helps a lot! They are Lindsay, Megan B, Megan R, and Maureen. Maureen, Lindsay, and Megan B. are from Virginia and Megan R. is from New York. They've all been in Indy since about July 1 and are pretty far along in their training. I have a lot of catching up to do! We’re staying in two rooms in an extended stay hotel near HQ and it is fairly central to things. I can get to Kroger on my own from here.
My first day at work was Wednesday and I was really excited to meet the staff and see our building. It is beautiful! The staff is all women, except for one man- Gino. It's a funny dynamic, but seems to work well. I jumped right into training with the others so as time goes on and after they leave to begin traveling, I will go back and learn the stuff they have already gone over. Wednesday night Alpha Sigma Alpha hosted a BBQ for all the people that hold my position in other Greek organizations. There are 30 some Greek organizations that have their headquarters in Indianapolis and they all have Leadership Consultants, or some other title for them. I met a lot of men and women who were also in their first or second years of traveling for their organization and we just talked about their experiences. I jokingly told people the BBQ was for me because it was my first day. It was quite hot, but the BBQ went well!
Speaking of the weather, it really has been nice! HQ likes to keep it about igloo temperature (which also reminds me, we do in fact have a chapter in Anchorage, AK) so I literally have purple fingernails everyday.
We work 9 hour days and have a half day on Fridays. Thursday was more training and Friday began with a staff meeting. This is my only weekend with the girls so we went out last night and had a good time. Indianapolis has some pretty cool nightlife and concerts it seems. It makes me wish I'd been here longer to explore more of the city with them. I’ve already learned that Panera Bread is one of the best places to eat EVER. Indy has so many places to eat and shop in general.
Megan B. and I are talking about seeing the Colts stadium this week. Thursday and Friday the five of us are taking pictures for our national magazine, The Phoenix. It should be really fun, but things are going to get really busy really quickly! I’ll keep you updated!