Pioneer

Sunday morning I rose with the sun and prepared to chase it to Denver. As I left Illinois, I saw the Mississippi for the first time - not as wide as I had imagined. I rolled through the flat hills of Iowa and rode through Nebraska on the Pony Express (I-80), stopping periodically to fill my car with gas and my body with caffeine. I pioneered my way through hundreds of miles of flat, cow-dotted fields that nearly lulled me to sleep as the sun burned my left arm that sat out of the open window - the same window that was supposed to offer reprieve from the heat.

Finally I slipped through the corner of Colorado hoping to see -again for the first time - the snow-peaked Rockies, but, alas, more fields. Finally, out of nowhere, Denver and the Rockies. Where was the steep, laborious climb up the Rockies? I didn't care, and I'm sure my car appreciated it. 1,000 miles later I had finally reached my destination.

Everything has been great so far. Colorado is pretty cool, although flatter than I had expected - except for the Rockies of course. Josh and I didn't have any luck finding housing together; everything was pretty lousy. But I am now neighbors with Josh (Apartment #25 to his #24). This place is a million times better than any place we saw.

Looks like the lease for our office will be signed in the next few days. Until then, we are working in Colorado Springs. Now that I am a bit more settled, I should be able to update more! Look for one coming at my Pacific Blog.

Suddenly...a job

All of a sudden I have a job. A real job. And I do mean "all of a sudden": I interviewed over the phone Sunday, whimsically drove to Ann Arbor Monday for a personal interview, and I am leaving Friday morning to start training. That hardly gives me time to pack and say my goodbyes! But I want to get my training in Ann Arbor over as fast as possible so I can get out to Colorado!

About the job...I will be working on a minority-voter registration project. The goal for each office is to register x amount of voters (not sure yet what the goal is) by October. I will be the Assistant Director of the office and my brother Josh is the Director. 60% of what I will do is managing, training, hiring, etc and the other 40% is hitting the streets to register voters.

I think this job is a perfect fit for me right now. It gives me a chance to do meaningful work - I was just going to work at 50's restaurant I've been at for years now. I will get a chance to see another part of the country, and I'm only committed through October. From there I can do what I want (Peace Corps). It is a lot of work for a little money, but, like I said, it is meaningful work and work that could possible make history (given a certain candidate - although this project has no ties with any political party).

I'm excited to live in Pueblo with my brother, but I am also sad that I have to leave so quickly!