We're there, man.

So, I know I warned you to batten down the hatches, because it might be a long time before you heard from me... false alarm. After a long day of travel, we made it to our hotel in Targoviste, which is where I'm typing this right now, and this, and this.

We left Philly about 9:30, got to JFK, got through security and got on our flight, which was delayed about two hours due to 1) fog and 2) Air Force One landing. (Pretty sure the president just wanted to see us off.) We were all a little anxious about catching our connecting flight from Munich to Bucharest, because that layover was only about 80 minutes. BUT, thanks to a sweet jet stream that had us going up to 660 mph and the kind Lufthansa staff, we all made the connection and got into Bucharest. A 90-minute bus ride later, and here we are.

It's currently about 5 p.m. on Thursday. We have a meeting at 6, then dinner at 7. We're all running on about 2-3 hours of disjointed sleep, so everyone's looking forward to a restful night after that.

That's all I have to say about that. How about some pictures?

La Revedere, America!

So, this is it: my last blog post from American soil. That is, unless I get bored at JFK later on. Speaking of, we hop a bus from Philly in about 45 minutes to head to JFK. (See that? That's called a transition.) From there, we get on flight to Munich and land tomorrow morning. Then it's a couple more hours to Bucharest, and a couple more hours (by bus) to our training site: Targoviste. We should be there by Thursday afternoon. We'll stay in a hotel Thursday and Friday nights, then meet our host families (gazdas) Saturday.

Yesterday, after everyone met at 12:30 and got registered, we did a bunch of staging activities and training. It's a lot of ice breakers and info, but it goes by quickly and is overall enjoyable. I'm pretty pumped about our group -- lots of good people; I can already see some great friendships starting.

Sounds like during pre-service training (the 10-week period that follows arrival) is going to be pretty busy, and time not spent in the classroom will be spent on language. Therefore, I might be in radio silence for a while. I trust you to find something to occupy yourself without the warming glow of my wit. Until next time.

Last stop... nation's capital

So, on my way to Philly, which is on the way to Romania, I took a detour through Washington, D.C. Not sure whether you've heard of it, but apparently, it's where the president (of the U.S.) lives and lots of other stuff happens. Mostly, it's where Janie Paulson lives now.

We had about four hours to see this place. (Seriously, really cool place. How have I not heard of it before now?) We walked for a solid 3 hours, 58 minutes, but we saw quite a bit of cool stuff that I've wanted to see since I learned of its existence. Didn't catch the Space Needle, though, which was a bummer.

For photographic evidence, check out the album.

Go Time!

Well, not quite yet. It's Wednesday -- I think; when you're unemployed, they all roll together -- and I leave Monday. However, preparation is in full swing, as is my anxiety that I don't have enough time to fully prepare AND sufficiently say goodbye to everyone -- and Jimmy John's -- for two-plus years.

This trepidation is also fueled by the fact that this is my first blog post -- a crossroads: Will my 0 followers stick it out for the next two and half years or abandon ship early? Well, I hope you choose the former or somewhere in between, and if so, I'll do my best to share this incredible experience with you.