Just before the madness starts!

Hello from the east coast! I have made it to Philadelphia and have been here since Friday. I am really loving it despite having a brief bout of homesickness. Friday night Madeline and Scott picked me up from the airport and we came back to their house in Chestnut Hill (about 5 minutes outside the city) and had a delicious dinner, caught up, and played Scategories; it was truly a warm welcome that made the big trip much more comfortable! Philadelphia has so much to offer and I am definitely falling hard for this city. We went out for a nice dinner and drinks night out on Saturday (my favorite was a place called Tria which had really amazing beers and wines--one of which was from Oregon!), but I was definitely awoken to the realization that city life can be spendy! 

The weekend has come and gone and I am frantically (although, not too frantically since I have time to update the blog!) working on finishing up TFA's Pre-Institute coursework. Many readings, DVD watchings, and reflections are coming along, and with each one I complete, I get more and more excited to get started with the real thing. Tomorrow we start with Induction for Greater Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, meaning it will just be our corps members for the week. We will be doing orientation-esque activities and we've already received an incredibly friendly email from one of our group leaders. We will be moving in to and staying in UPenn housing until the weekend when we move to Temple University housing.  So tonight, I am going to try and get some good sleep, as I know tomorrow the madness begins and won't end until the beginning of August! I am full of anticipation and will write more as soon as I can! 

Love and hugs to all of you!!