March 24, 2004

• Hey'all from Nashville, Tennessee! Well, its spring break now and I just got back from Atlanta, Georgia. I got an amazing oppertunity to meet with all the head honchos from CARE International, and to really pick at their brains. They were all very nice and very well versed with everything I needed to know. It was really nice. Adie, the donor relations manager took me out to Thelma's to get some real southern cookin. Their sweet potatos were sooooooo scrumptious...and the fried chicken was amazing. Atlanta is much similar to LA, but their visibility situation surpasses ours by 10-fold.

  
  

  Let's start from the begining. I took the red eye flight out to Georgia and slept all the way until landing. Got off the plane, freshened up, got my luggage and took the railway system called MARTA. It's a very good thing that Atlanta believes in escalators...VERY steep ones, might I add. I was supposed to meet Adie at the station, but we ended up waiting in two different locations. It was quite traumatizing because a nice man came up to me to offer me help, but after not much help, and an attempt to misdirect me, he soon exposed his pan-handling identity. I gave him 2 dollars for his efforts to "help" me, but it was more of my effort to have him leave me alone. Having called the headquarters twice, I decided to hail a cab and pay to get to my destination. The 5 dollar cab ride successfully brought me to the headquarters of CARE and Adie was there to greet me as we ironed out our situation of miscommuncation. I was pleased to find that she had set up a whole cubical for me to work out of for the day, and she had a very eventful agenda planned for me--hopping from meeting to meeting, barely giving me enough time to breathe in between....and on top of that I was still a bit jet-lagged. But nonetheless, she had me meeting with the rights program coordinator, food specialists, vice president, media relations, etc...the whole nine yards. They were all very friendly and hospitable, and I felt extremely important! It was very nice. When 4:00 rolled around the corner, Adie escorted me back to the MARTA, where a random black thuggish guy decided to hit on me. Flattering, but creepy. So I hopped the MARTA successfully and barely ontime to catch my flight to Tennessee.

  
  

  It was such a dramatic change...from a hustling and bustling Atlanta to a calm and chill Nashville. I gathered my belongings and awaited for my cousin's arrival. When she got to the airport, we hopped onto the Grayline which took us to the heart of Nashville. From the bus stop I hiked all the way to her dorm in my business attire and 3 inch boots, which was not pleasant, but I managed. The first evening was nice and mellow we went out for burritos at Qdoba, which, may I mention--are GINORMOUS. The next day I just spent bumming around her dorm/suite watching the first two seasons of Sex and the City. Never watched that show until now...It's quite intrigueing, but Carrie has too big of a drama queen complex...then again I guess it makes for a good element for the series' sake. After the second season, Pam and I made dinner and I ventured onto the gym. My cousin has a horrendous schedule so she left me to roam and explore without real restraints. It's nice.

  
  

  This morning, I hopped from class to class with her and had lunch at their pub. I had a mad craving for fries and ketchup beacuse of my dream the last night, so we had to go and appease that yearning. Now here I am...I just finished a phone interview for the Chinese Daily Newspaper and responding to 3 day-neglected emails. Thinking about diving into another season of Sex and the City after this update, but that would mean I'd be glued to the tellie for a while....maybe the gym again. Eh who knows. Don't miss me too much! I'll be heading for Florida on the 26th then I'll be back in sunny California on the 28th before spring quarter starts. a bientot!

  • 2:05 pm
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