Staging in D.C.

It's 10:30 pm here in our nation's capital. I got a solid 3 hours of sleep last night, and I have to leave for the airport at 2:00 am; I'm going to keep this short.

I got to the hotel around 7:30 am today (after being held up for $100 by US Airways for heavy bags). There were no rooms ready, so I had some breakfast and completed all my paperwork in the hotel restaurant. Still no rooms ready at 9:30 so I tied up some loose ends online in the computer lab. Still no rooms available at 10:30 so I headed out, in the rain, to soak up some of the culture in Washington D.C. (which has apparently been renamed Obamaland).

I was able to check out the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial, I breezed through the entire Smithsonian Museum of American History (it was pretty awe striking to read the Gettysburg address in Lincolns actual handwriting), and I had a nice Chinese couple take my picture in front of Barrack's house. I'm serious when I tell you that Obamamania is in full force here, they're already shutting down streets for the inauguration.

Staging started at 2. We were inundated with info, and played cheesy ice breaker games for 5 hrs. It was actually a lot more enjoyable then I anticipated, and we seem to have a friendly and interesting group of trainees. More on that when I have more time...

Then me and a few other volunteers grabbed our last meal in America at a place called Jack Daniels. I took out a bowl of chicken noodle soup, a fillet mignon, and some apple pie al a mode.

So despite being exhausted, the crooks at US Air, the slow housekeeping at the hotel, the non-stop rain, and being stuck in class for hours and hours, I had an amazing day. I am more excited then ever. And I can't wait to get to Guatemala tomorrow.

Anthony Out.