The First Day and Last Day

Today marked the first day of service with the Peace Corps and thus, the last day of being in the U.S.

After arrival the night before, my roommate, Crystal Leanza, and I headed out to explore a bit of Philadelphia with another trainee. Located in the center of town, the hotel allowed us to easily walk to City Hall and Reading Terminal Market where Crystal picked up seeds for her soon-to-be-planted garden.

In front of City Hall - notice the Peace Corps swag!

I asked him to take a a picture...and instead of grabbing my camera,
he jumped in and smiled!

At what Peace Corps calls "Staging," trainees are welcomed into the PC family, paperwork is finished up, and introductions are made for the first time. Though having any large group where no one knows each other can become quite awkward (ice breakers and drawing on posters!), the 43 of us arrive with a common purpose: to serve in the U.S. Peace Corps! We'll spend the next three months with each other in Cameroon to receive language, cultural, and technical training.

Our aspirations and anxieties...including hippo attacks!

Rise and shine at 6AM tomorrow to get yellow fever vaccinations and then off to JFK to leave for Cameroon!

A Little Layover in Philly

After about a day and a half back from Los Angeles, it was yet again time for me to jump onto another airplane! Leaving at 10PM from LAX, I had an eight-hour layover in Philadelphia. Hence, off I went to explore the city!


It was about 7AM when I got into the city, so I waited for the Visitor's Center to open. Being my overly cautious self, I quickly grabbed all my belongings ready for a mugging; they preceded to ask if I wanted to hear a verse from the Bible. Oops.

I had made a reservation to tour Independence Hall as I missed it on a previous trip. As one of the most important buildings in our nation's history, Independence Halls served as the signing grounds of the Declaration of Independence and the Contitution. It also served as the meeting spot for the Second Continental Congress from 1775-1783 and is now listed as a World Heritage Site.

Independence Hall

It wasn't as exciting as I believed, but well worth to see at least once in a lifetime. I took the $2.00 bus and headed off to U. Penn to visit the campus and Miraya Jun!

September 11th Memorial at the University of Pennsylvania

The Fine Arts Library luckily provided usable internet (unlike everywhere else on this campus for a guest!) and Miraya gave me a campus tour. Go Ivy Leaguers.

The Myth: As a freshman, you can't walk over the compass, but as as senior, game on!

Back at the Philadelphia International Airport, a Sept. 11th memorial was held. It seems unreal that seven years have actually passed since that tragic day. The memories still tug at the heartstrings and although the effects on each person vary, the United States of America became more united as one. We shall never forget.

I woke up to the voice of Julia Wang - my travel buddy had arrived! Onto backpacking Europe and chasing after dreams...

Goodbye, Philly...You've Been Good

Jen and I woke up ridiculously late today after last night's adventure. Oh, well!

We made it to the last leg of the conference in the Lowe's Hotel and then walked ourselves over for some lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. With a variety of choices, one can eat anything and everything from French crepes to Chinese chicken. Since it was actually late in the afternoon, we settled for the only type of food open, one that always seems to be the only one open : Chinese it is!

That night, the recruiting team of GM actually invited me out to dinner with them before they left (Sweet! I'll take that as a good sign). We went to Al Vez, a great Mexican restaurant on 13th Street. The layout was very casual sleek with the bar in the middle of the restaurant and booths all around. The meal was fantastic to say the least with chicken, enchiladas, and a handful of desserts!

Afterwards, Jen and I went to the PRSSA Dance Party held for all the conference attendees. Excitingly, Jenny Tamayo, another Contiki Marketing Intern who went to Europe with me, attended the conference as well! We finally met up and danced the night away!

ROOMIE! Jenny Tamayo and I travelled to Europe together this past summer.

We had a great time to say the least. Pretty impressive, Philadelphia. Thanks for the free trip, USC!

Day 2: Philly Cheesesteak Much?

With Jen now here, we set out on the biggest reason people come to Philadelphia: to eat the notorious Philly Cheesesteak! We walked down to the tourists' favorite stop (debatable) : Pat's. Pat's and Geno's are the two long-time rivals in South Philly (also Jim's is a favorite, but he's located on South Street, unlike the other two on Passyunk). Located across from each other, these two really compete it out to be the King of Steaks. Pat's is the original and Geno's tends to have more variety.

Enjoying our Philly cheesesteaks at Pat's!

Jen ordered while I saved us seats. Unfortunately, she didn't read the sign on how to order and didn't get the whiz! Hence, I definitely had to go back and order some whiz to a very peeved cashier. Oops!

Tip: Be prepared to order your cheesesteak the correct way! Otherwise, you will face some pretty angry locals.

The correct way to order a cheesesteak!

I must also say, these cheesesteaks are not for the weak at heart! If you hate grease, then beware! The cheese will just slip off, so watch your clothes and shoes (Jen definitely didn't).




At the conference, I had my interview with General Motors for a Financial Communications Internship for the summer. Crossing those fingers! No matter the outcome, I won't find out until December. Afterwards, I listened to a talk about globalization and diversity in the workplace, then off to explore the city!

We had dinner at a cute lil' Greek restaurant called South Street Souvlaki. Then we experienced some of South Philly's nightlife and barhopped down the rest of South Street to John's Sports Bar, an Irish Pub, and my favorite, The Miami Cafe! I think some of my favorite phone calls occur when people call to ask what I'm doing and I can say, "I'm having drinks in Philadelphia!" Haha. Nowadays, that's how alot of my phone calls go due to my addiction to travelling.

Best Pina Coladas in the country (in my humble opinion)

Adding to the collection on the "Gum Tree". You can see our new world travelling/homeless friend in the back.

Our adventures ended with meeting a wandering boy that left Florida to travel the world and taking home a new pumpkin (appropriately dubbed Pumpky). Good times, Philly!

Hello, Philadelphia!

The Public Relations Student Society of America holds a National Conference each year where schools across the nation send delegates to engage in the weekend's PR activities. Although I am currently a Finance major, not so long ago I was interested in public relations and marketing. Long story short, I attended the conference in Philly.

Philadelphia is perhaps the only city in the country where one can feel a sense of the nation's true history. One of the biggest reasons I enjoyed Europe was that there was so much culture, so much that made every location so important, so full of life. Flying to Philadelphia by myself really gave me an extra edge to enjoy the city's humbleness and history.

Philadelphia's Town Hall

The architecture is ridiculously classic. Even the hotels are uniquely beautiful! As there are over 2,500 murals in the city, one can always find art on the streets and on the sides of buildings.

Even the Ritz Carlton is beautiful in architecture!

One of over 2,500 murals in Philly

My first stop was of course, the most touristy, but most important part of Philadelphia: the Liberty Bell! The prominent symbol of freedom actually gained its "crack" or "gap" in an attempt to fix a smaller, thin crack. The bell's sound is silenced, but it's symbolism lives on forever.

The Liberty Bell!

The area where the Liberty Bell sits is called "The Historical District" as many historical icons, such as Independence Hall, First Bank of the U.S. and many others reside. I feel lucky to have seen one of the sights off my To-See List: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The flame lit on through the chilly winds and all I could do was sit and listen to the silence.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square

Tip: Ride the Ducks!

One of the best things, and yes, touristy things to do is to Ride the Ducks! It consists of a half-car, half-boat that drives around the city and then hits the water for a cruise (it's my first day in Philly, cut me some slack!). Providing whistles that quack, ones blows quacks through the soundtrack and cheesy duck jokes. Haha. Good times!

Elfreth's Alley: The oldest street in Philadelphia

Afterwards, I met up with Miraya Jun and Blake Wu of U. Penn where they took me to a delicious Italian dinner. We then continued our eating fest (it's what we do best!) at Capogiro Gelato, where we sampled pretty much every flavor between the three of us! Then finally, we hit The Naked Chocolate and enjoyed the sweets.





Capogiro Gelato is the "it" place in Philly for gelato. Each spoon represents a sample of one flavor. Go us!




Jen Haughton from USC's PRSSA flew in later that night. Off to the conference tomorrow!