Ohio... still hot.

I thought by escaping north from what I considered the "south" I might dodge some of the ridiculous heat and humidity have been sweating down in Charlotte: psych. I was a great drive and we even made a detour to Virgina Tech which is a stop I'd never thought I would see.

I VT graduate on our BAM crew lead us around the campus stopping at the temporary memorial and viewing the dorm where the incident occurred as well as their Pi Kapp Chapter house (which is actually owned by their campus and like ours, is adjacent to the Kappa Delta Sorority House). The VT campus is gorgeous. Everything is very academic looking and clean cut, much more than I what I think Harvard or WSU look like. Too bad it's wicked humid like the rest.

Once we arrived in Ohio, we check in at Case Western Reserve University in downtown Cleveland; a school I've never heard of but is about 75% the size of a Division two school and actually pretty nice.

Tomorrow we pickup our team members from the airport and begin their orientation until July 1st. Regardless of being able to build, Day 1 starts when they get off the plane.

Crew Orientation

The last few days have been so busy. Crew meetings, briefings, getting the vans, packing the vans, cpr and first aid training...more meetings, but it's been great. I miss home and all the friends, family and girlfriend but I'm starting to enjoy myself as a lost seattlite in the south.

Our 515 mile drive to Cleveland Ohio begins tomorrow at 9:15am where we'll meet the rest of our team members and put on their orientation. Thus far, everyone on BAM seems to be the real deal of a quality college kid; just like every meal I've had in the south is amazing (there's no way I'm losing weight this trip and I'm moving here just to eat). Wish us luck, our real Day #1 is right around the corner and a 9 hr drive north.

Southern Comfort

I suppose today doesn't really count as my first day of Build America officially, but it was quite a trip. First off, I survived my red-eye flight from Seattle with the only problem being the aircrafts climate control was set to a sweaty 80*F; which I think was a ploy to get me ready for north carolina's ridiculous heat and humidity. I arrived in Charlotte at 6:30am est with the same zombie gaze I developed in Vegas for my 21st birthday. My pick up, old bud Charlie Maier who's interning at the Push Headquarter office, came with a smile to the airport glad that he had to pick me up after a healthy night of drinking he had yesterday. We both decided breakfast was in order so chuck took us to "Bojangle's Chicken House" which is like a glorified KFC and my first bite of southern exposure.

Most of my crew members were still making there way to Charlotte and I didn't have anywhere to go until 4pm. Charlie gave me a quick tour of his summer apartment which was surprisingly plush for what I thought an intern would typically get; lazyboy chair in the bedroom, huge leather ottoman, full kitchen and a "flat" screen tv. We were pretty bored and so we trekked over to the cinema for flick then got lunch at yet another chicken restaurant (they're like starbucks in seattle).

At four charlie dropped me off at my hotel where I met my team's project manager Brian Schenck from Georgia Tech - great guy. Later I met two more of my crew guys: J.T. from UAB and Andy from Virgina Tech. As soon as they were situated we traveled to South Carolina to meet Mike from Georgia Tech for dinner. His parents were sponsoring our first meal and he lives an southern neighborhood with astounding brick homes. I suppose anything down in the Carolina's for me is ultra southern, but this was a kick in the pants - very old school. For the first time I had Sweet Tea with my lasagna dinner and after three glasses I was almost in need of an insulin shot; great stuff though.

After dinner we ventured back to our hotel in Charlotte so we can crash at the suites and start tomorrow at 8:45am....better get used to it I guess; it's only 5:45am pacific time.

Procurement

My departure to the east coast is closing fast and it's bringing all the nervousness and excitement that I should have expected. My bags are far from packed, I probably have only 70% of what I need for the trip, and still attempting to tie up all my projects before I venture to Charlotte. It'll all get done though...or add to the experience.