leaving great neck

Looks like it thats time, folks. Today I am off to Washington, DC for staging, a kind of pre-orientation. I leave today and stay with my roomates from last year, and then the staging is the 11th to the 13th. We get a bunch of seminars about how to survive in the Peace Corps. I've gotten a lot of questions about what exactly I'll be doing. I don't really know what I'll be doing until I get to my site, which will be in late November. But I will post here the description given below.

Community Economic Development volunteers will work primarily in rural areas. They will engage in numerous activities that range from business education to strategic planning to technical assistance. They may work with farmers groups, agrarian cooperatives as well as with micro-entrepreneurs receiving loans from micro-credit organizations. They also promote the improvement of business and leadership skills with Dominican youth through capacity building workshops.

I also just finished my tour of duty as an Ambassador at the US Open. Essentially, I wore a straw hat and Ralph Lauren and waved at people when they arrived or left the grounds. I also attempted to do some semblance of crowd control outside Arthur Ashe Stadium in between the daytime and evening sessions. I worked from 9 to 8 or 8:30, and I stood for about 8 of those 11 hours. My heels are very tender and my skin pretty dark. I did meet some fun people and got to see a few matches. I watched a couple Roger matches in the second week, he is truly amazing. I also ran into a few people: Cal Watson, Robbie Arnay, Brian and Jenna, two aunts and an uncle, Taline Pampanini, Amanda Setton, Andy Jeninga, Afua Tay, and Steph Ramirez. I know there were more, but I can't remember them all now. I also had meaningful conversations with Eliot Spitzer, Richard Williams (father of Serena and Venus), and Patrick McEnroe. I got a huge snub from Chris Evert.

This will likely be the last post in America. Cheers.