Chronicles of the Wayward Moot

WELCOME TO THE MOOT, oh world-wanderers and word-whisperers. After two years of Peace Corps. After 2,200 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. What. Comes. Next?

6 Feb 2006

IT HAS BEGUN

I've arrived safely in Miami, FL for the two day staging event.  Plane left at 6am from New Orleans this morning.  Not a good way to start a day, getting up at 4 ...  especially after gorging myself last night on Popeye's fried chicken,  biscuits, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, cajun rice, and a bowl of my uncle's magic chili!  I had to get that greaseball stuff into my mouth and out of my system.  I'll be craving it again soon enough,  I suspect.
 
Miami, from what I've seen,  is EXACTLY like Grand Theft Auto, Vice City.  Instead of taking the free hotel shuttle,  I carjacked a blue Lamborghini, ran over some pedestrians on South Beach, then threatened the owner of a burger joint with a baseball bat until he gave me the curly fries I demanded.  No, life here is not like in the video games, except for the sunny weather and the snazzy clothes.
 
My fellow trainees are a motley crew, but there doesn't seem to be a bad bottle in the cellar.  Plenty of them bring a lot of really interesting international experience, and those who've only worked in the U.S. have resumes chock full of cool internships and fascinating work experiences on organic farms or National Parks or zoos, etc.  I feel a bit like that fat bee girl from the old Blind Melon music video for "No Rain."  Not that it should really surprise any of you who know me, but the Peace Corps crowd is pretty much my clique.  A bunch of us, starving from a day of sitting in a sweltering conference room, flooded across the highway to a Cuban Cafe for dinner, where I had some Cuban coffee and fried sweetened plantains to go with my chicken caesar.  Que buen comida!
The schedule for the first few days/weeks in Ecuador sounds ridiculously hectic, so I hope I can get some pictures up on the site for you before TOO long.  Keep on rocking in the "free" world.
-MJ

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