The End of the End in Philly...

QUOTE OF THE DAY:  "I just got robbed by a sweet old lady on a motorised cart!"

- Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber"

Well well well...I will leave this one short and sweet once again as I am sitting in the hotel lobby in Philly waitin' to hop on a bus to the airport to head out officially!  I will summarise the past few days for you all:

- Leave PDX and while on plane by chance hear 2 others talking about Peace Corps.  I proceed to pass a note to them like I am in 3rd grade (fortunately Mr. Webber didn't catch us this time) and introduce myself to them.  Layover Phoenix and arrive in Philly.  After catching a taxi and proceeding to the hotel, I get ahold of a few other volunteers I had been in touch with and meet them at this little Irish Pub near the hotel.  After crash-course introductions and a good night's sleep it's time for registration the next day.  Now all the other volunteers have arrived and we sat and enjoyed some pleasant sessions on logistics and such on going to Uganda and joining the Peace Corps.  After some Indian food dinner and a 20 degree trip to the Rocky steps at midnight it's time to sleep and wake up for our last full day in the good ol' U S of A.  This day is a lovely day with more sessions and sad goodbyes to the staff that has helped us over the past few days.  Last night in Philly was filled with a plethora of appetisers, a few drinks, about 20 volunteers and a lot of open-mic bands.  Closing of bar, they let me play a few tunes on the piano as a going away present for me as I fear I will not be able to play for 27 months!  Sleep...wake...eat dry toast...pack...and now I am going to make one last run to the loo and we are off on the bus to the airport!  Now remember I will not have an opportunity to write for a good week or two, so please be patient and realise that no news is good news!

This has by all means been an incredible experience thus far and we are not even in Uganda yet!  It is incredible how face friendships can be made in the matter of a few days when put in to a foreign situation.  It's amazing that I know that I already have dozens of people looking after me and caring about me.  I miss you all, and I wish you all the best these next couple of years!  By all means keep in touch and I look forward to all of you visiting.......