Who needs sleep?

So much has happened in the last two days, and being sleep deprived has given the whole experience a dream like quality. We spent all day today going doing cleverly desguised ice breaker exercises, I think i've met almost all of the 44 volunteers and remembered the names of maybe twenty which is pretty good for me.

I really lucked out, my room mate at the hotel is a mathy guy who also brought his guitar, is going to try to make it work with his girlfriend stateside and has a quick sense of humor, took zero effort to make friends. I havent met anyone yet i dont like and everyone is pleasently nerdy. The things different people are anxious about is pretty intereting. Forget worrying about fitting in, making a difference, or health, a surprising number of us are more worried about the size of insects we're going to encounter. Meh, i'll take on a frisbee sized spider, it might be the only animal protein i get for a while.

Last night a group of us went to dinner and ended up at a karoke bar. I never thought i'd be singing Billy Joel with three other guys but when you're leaving for Uganda for 2 years its pretty easy to say fuck it why not. Which i think is the attitude the Peace Corps is really looking for in volunteers.

I won't be updating this for perhaps 10 weeks and will only be available by email if that, so farewell for now!

Pig Penny

I was told to take a van to the hotel, but I saw a line of shuttles and thought maybe I could save a few bucks, they looked to be free. Hilton shuttles do indeed take people to Hilton hotels just not mine, so I found my way to the taxi/van area, exhausted and ready to sit in anything that would get me to a bed.

Arrg!! why didnt I listen to maddy and try typing on this POS before i bought it? The sensor pad is so touchy if i brush it at all suddenly I'm typing in a completely different part of the page. Good thinking ASUS, put the touch pad literally right up against the most used key on the keyboard, brilliant.

Across the street a guy in nice sedan looked at me, held up a white piece of paper with TAXI scribbled on it and pointed to me then the sign. Sold. He asks where I'm going and while I'm putting my bags in the trunk i realize that this is a really nice car, there are porno mags all over the floor of the trunk, and a sticker that says limo service on the bumper. Uh... how much do you charge? Same as the rest man. Ok, you seem trustworthy. Get in and smell some sort of perfume makes me wonder what smell hes trying to cover, my first guess was hooker. First time in philly? how long you here for? 3 nights huh, gotta get a cheesteak samich while you're here, which is long enough for you to get laid. Uh, wait, what?

He introduced himself as Big Penny: Living Legend, told me to google him. I did. He does indeed exist. If you do be sure to use his proper business title: Big Penny, Limo Tycoon. He tells me to check out 1123 Arch (my hotel is at 1100 arch) check it out man they'll take good care of you. Seems legit, he took nicolas cage there once. I knew he'd have to pay for sex. really? the sorcerers apprentice not getting you the ladies? Despite his detailed description of the impeccable prep work the ladies there do, in the end Big Penny failed to persuade me, really... maddy why are you looking at me like that? He seemed genuinely concerned for my sex life and could not believe that I was by choice going to be celibate for 2 years, in uganda, for no money. He does have a point.

Ended up charging me $35, usually $95 and he only takes calls, he just picked me up because he was sick of sitting around. Maybe not quite as cheap as the other guys but do the other guys tell you where to get go get a half and half (look at me using the lingo, I'm already learning so much!) for $160, 2 blocks from your hotel, with celebrity endorsement? I think not.