F-14s and Cemetery Cats

Miles travelled: 500 (in air) + 1,235 (in air) + 143 (driving) = 1,878 miles

Couches/new beds crashed: 2

Current location: Mobile, Alabama

Hello everyone. I thought I'd start each entry with the number of miles I have traveled so far seeing how this is, you know, a travel blog. I'm currently in Panera Bread, my new hub for stealing wireless internet for my work laptop (it's not really stealing since it's free, I'm just not buying anything while I'm here...I don't really got the monies right now).

Life on the road has been great so far. It's definitely challenging though. That relaxed feeling of walking through your door at your house, apartment, dwelling, igloo, etc. is just the best, isn't it? After a long day of work, no matter how great and sunny or awful and cloudy, it just feels good to be home. Away from work. Back in Chuuk, my home WAS my work place; I resided at a boarding school for boys (the girls left the campus every afternoon) and was always ON as a teacher, disciplinarian, random white person on this 3x4 mile island. I do miss the coconuts though...

Anyway, I was saying that having a home at the end of the day is great. I think that will be the thing I miss the most on the road. So far the couch and the bed I have stayed in were great. The people I've been with (the Jesuit Volunteer communities in New Orleans and Mobile) have been more than wonderful. Meeting these energetic youths brings me back to when I was an energetic youth myself (that brings me back approximately 5 days ago, before I started traveling). Seriously though, they are awesome.

Here are some highlights of the trip so far:

First night in New Orleans the JVs hosted a potluck dinner. I probably met over 20 people and remembered like 2 names. I heard stories from nuns about the destruction of Katrina and met some awesome Former JVs who, like me, were figuring life out (not like Plato "I'm going to philosophize about life and come up with the ideal government", more like "what the heck will I be doing come April when this job is finished" figuring life out). Great times.

As I picked up my rental car, gripping the steering wheel, my GPS female voice (her name is "Movie Phone" ... don't ask, it was funny when I spontaneously said it a few weeks ago) telling me to "Turn right", I readied to embark on the beginning of my driving career when out of no where an F-14 landed at the airport right in front of me. It was probably less than 50 yards away from where I was sitting in the car. I'm mentioning this cause it's kind of cool to see a fighter jet gliding down so close to you. Cool stuff.

The number of bugs that splattered on my windshield on the way to Mobile from New Orleans was sickeningly high, however it was too comical for the situation to be gross. I couldn't beleive how many splats would happen per minute. It was gross. And big bugs, too. Like dragon flies. I think there were a few actual dragons in there also. The windshield wiper spray did nothing. You would need lava to scrape off all the dead bugs. You know the scene in Gone With the Wind where the camera pans back to reveal a huge field of dead/suffering soldiers? That scene is currently on the windshield and hood of my car. I looked around and saw that I was not the only car with that problem, so I felt better. What caused me to think that my car would be the only car on the highway to have 100 dead bugs covering the front of my vehicle is beyond me. Fun times.

Spring Hill College is beautiful. 3rd oldest Jesuit University in America. Smallest population. But it has a rocking 18 hole golf course. I actually played a round of golf by myself yesterday on my day off. Now, I know my life will be a bit adventurous and simple, but isn't golfing the high life? What gives, AJ? I thought you were living out of your car over the next couple of months? Well, I golfed for a few reasons: it was a beautiful day and I knew, just knew, that it would be one of the last times to spend a long amount of time outdoors, in the sun, not in the cold. I will be driving a lot, inside a lot and afraid of the cold a LOT. So I took advantage of the sit (short for situation). Also, I have never, ever golfed so many holes by myself before. In fact I have NEVER golfed by myself before. I usually go to the driving range and fool around with friends. But I saw it as a bit of a challenge to myself: I'm going to be doing new things by myself for the next couple of months, I might as well try to do a few old things by myself, too. That's deep, right?

(Spoiler alert! The quick story below gives away part of the title of this blog. Skip down below if you don't want anything given away!!!)

We ate with the Jesuits at Spring Hill (some of them knew one of the Jesuits in Pohnpei, the other Micronesian island I spent some time on. Small world) and it was a great time. Two of them gave us a tour of the campus afterwards (beautiful campus...so far it's winning the Most Beautiful Campus Award on this tour ... and yes, it's the only campus I visited so far). Like all good Jesuit colleges, there was a graveyard. Deceased priests were there. There were also grave sites that were RESERVED for the Jesuits living on campus now! Creepy, but efficient. Anyway, and I don't know why this is still so funny to me, but apparntly there are a bunch of wild cats that live (the tour guide Jesuit said "guard") in the cemetery. And it was true: a bunch of cats were just roaming around the small cemetery grounds, chillin and owning the place.

Ok, maybe you should have been there, but I think it's really funny that a bunch of wild cats 1) exist in a little society all on their own, 2) live and somehow survive on a college campus and 3) are "guarding" the graves.

That's it for now. I wanted to blog before tomorrow, when I drive to New Orleans and actually tour the city and party there and get a feel for what happened two years ago. The next blog will have pictures I take, I'm sure.

Thanks for reading. If you want to submit questions to me, that would help me guide my writing a bit. The questions do not have to necessarily relate to my travels. They can be anything from Micronesian questions, meaning-of-life questions, asking for fashion tips and what have you.

Also, if you are interested in a blog about a more conventional life and job, but by no means uninteresting, AND if you want to check out a blogger who is a legitimate writer and not some random yahoo who happens to know the English language (me), check out my brother's blog:

http://thesaltminer.blogspot.com/

There are no F-14s mentioned in his blog, though, so I currently have the edge.

Also, thanks to my boy Ditty who lent me the first season of "Lost". Apparently this TV show was one of the "things I missed" in the past two years. It's a good quality show, I have to admit. The girls on the show are also kinda hot. Just thought I should throw that out there.

If YOU think there have been some "things I missed" in the past two years, write them into me, and your list can be published in this blog!!! If you turn in the biggest list you can win a prize!!*

Ok everyone. Take care. I'll write to you next week.

* Prizes include either a friendly thank-you email or a brand new car. I'm still working on that email.