GROP I mean GORP!

So to wrap up our first week in GOT, Greenpeace sent us all on a retreat in Lexington, Virginia. a.k.a. the middle of nowhere in Virginia. We all crammed into a very nice modern cabin in a forestry area. The purpose of this retreat called GORP or Greenpeace Orientation Retreat in Pennsylvania (this year it was in Virginia but the name stuck), was to build team cohesion and basically make sure we're all friends.

The weekend was filled with some expected team building exercises like untying a "human not". That's where we all grab hands in the middle of a circle and try to straight out everyones arms. That night we made our way to a campfire and all had a merry time. (Maybe a little to good of a time!)

The next evening everyone was in a very good mood and really enjoying the trip. Then we all had to make "life maps", we had to draw and map out key events in our lives on a big sheet of paper, basically events that lead us to Greenpeace and on that very trip we were on. Everyone sat quietly for about 30 minutes and made their maps. Then came the evil part. We had to present them to the group. Doing so brought back some unpleasant experiences and events for a few, including myself. The mood went from giddy and happy to unpleasant and depressing. People didn't share as much as they wanted to, myself included, but it was enough to kill the mood.

Other than the life maps the weekend was very cool. It did bring us all closer together, so the mind tricks do work. By weeks end it had felt like we all knew each other for months. Very very odd.

The First Few Days of GOT

After all this time of waiting and saving, the GOT semester started. I finally was able to put a face to the names I've been seeing for several weeks.

I meet the group and they had us play a few name games to break the ice and help remember everyone. Then we went over all the beginning stuff for the program, put us on the Metro, and took us to Greenpeace's head office in downtownish DC. We got a personal tour of this very cool "Green" building and everyone seemed very cool. Apparently we will be spending a lot of time in the office which gives us "Student Activists" a chance to meet all the green peace folks.

Lucky for us, a live protest was going down that night, at the very nice DC Nationals Stadium. Exxon Mobile wants to name one of the greenest Stadiums ever built! So a few of us GOTers got to head out and help protest in front of the stadium while others petitioned for signatures to send management. I enjoyed helping out, and of course I couldn't turn down free tickets to a game! ;-)


Once again I'm very sorry I don't have pictures. I need to get a card reader for my camera. If anyone has one for a Sony Camera, by all means, let me know.




From BlackBerry


Yay an update!

First Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. After all these months of waiting, I finally start the GOT program. Just one thing, they are sending us on a protest after we are done. They said it should be a 12-13 hour day. That's going to suck with my blisters on my feet. Oh well it should be a good start the program and show us just what we're in for.

Not sure if what we are doing is on the dl so I will talk about it after. This is going to be our first real life protest! I'm a bit anxious as I don't know what to expect. Wish me luck!!

Getting Settled

I have been in DC for one week now. I'm getting settled in at my new place. My roommates are very nice and everything is great. Except, the heat! It's hot here, not as hot as Fresno, but really humid! Fresno, Ca is basically a desert in the summer. Very hot and dry, but here, it looks like the mountains but feels like the rain forest. (I've been to a rain forest before)

Today I finally went to the store and got some food. I've been on the starvation diet most of this week. I don't have a car so walking is my new form of transportation, that is, when there is no bus or metro. It was a very long two mile walk. Not too bad on the way there, warm but I was going down hill. The way back however, with 40 pounds of groceries, was NOT fun. There was one very steep hill. I've been wanting to go hiking for years now, never did and this is similar I imagine. Yet, I wanted to go to the nice cool Sierra Mountains, not a damn rain forest. Anyways, I have some food now and I don't want to do that grueling walk again!!

I found a place to live

Ok I still can't upload pictures I have taken. I left the cord to my camera at home. :-/ Sooo I will have to wait tell I get a package from home. However, I got a some good pictures, I promise. Real touristy stuff.

After meeting with several people; I found a place. It's a cool house very close to the place I will need to be everyday. I meet the last roommate today for lunch and she is very cool. I was very much pleased. I guess I'll be living with just two of them for a while. I move in tomorrow. Finally, I got a place.

Oh and going out in DC is way more fun than Fresno. :-)

I am here!

So I am in DC and I FINALLY have a decent internet connection. I've been at this hotel for 2 days now and the internet has barely worked half the time. I finally routed the connection to my person server and bam! Now it works great... Why I don't know. (Way more secure this way)

It has been a hectic few days. I landed in Dulles Airport and made the HUGE mistake of staying in the area. I had to take a rip-off-taxi ride to and from the way far away metro stop. Very bad idea. It would have been cheaper to check into a much nicer and better hotel near a metro and in the city.

Now I am in the city and close enough to the metro but this hotel is costing me a lot of money every night!! I can't afford to stay here any longer. I've meet and talked to a few cool people about moving into a few places, but it looks like I will have to wait a few more days. I should have booked a bed in a hostel. Looks like everything is booked until Thursday. Damn this blows, I feel like I am bleeding out money! Some one get me a damn band-aid.

More to come tomorrow. Stay here or try for a hostel?

It's Time

It's Wednesday September 3^rd and I will moving in just 4 days! The time has really flown by... Here is what I have going on in the next few days. :-)

Friday:

• Last day of work


• Dinner with family


• Night out on the town for drinks

Saturday:

• Finish packing


• Say goodbye to everyone


• Drive to San Fransisco for the night

Sunday:

• Fly out to D.C. in the morning


• Meet potential new roommates


• Sleep