What Teachers Make

This is amazing and almost made me cry. Please watch this.

Friday Explorations (part 2)

To continue describing my awesome audio walking tour of the most historic square mile in the United States....

After leaving the Second National Bank (stop 12), I headed to...

Stop 13: Carpenter's Hall

I actually don't remember much about Carpenter Hall from my tour, except that I loved the setting and look of the building. This was one of the few sites that actually had a small grounds, with gardens and walkways, etc. It was beautiful, and refreshing to sit in the shade for a bit.

While I sat, I also got to listen to a fantastic storyteller recount the days before the Declaration was signed, which might be why I liked this stop so much. Because this weekend contained the Fourth of July, all the historical sites in Philly had something fun for families to do as they wandered through, and any sight with that circular sign (forget what it said) meant that there was someone there to tell you a story. So cool.

Stop 14: New Hall Military Museum

Stop 15: The First Bank of the United States

Not as pretty as the Second Bank of the United States, in my opinion. But on my little walking map below the picture, it said "Sparked the first great Constitutional debate." And while GPS Gina had lots of things to say about it (she mentioned Alexander Hamilton, I believe), I was too busy trying to take creatively-angled pictures to really listen.

Stop 16: Franklin Court and the B. Free Franklin Post Office

The B. Free Franklin Post Office is the only colonial themed post office in the United States and the only one not required to fly the American flag. Very cool.

Franklin Court is the site of Benjamin Franklin's home, which was demolished in the early 1800s (so unfortunate). However, in the 70s a world-famous architect by the name of Robert Venturi designed a "ghost structure" to stand where Franklin's home once stood. It was actually pretty neat.

Also, around the court (and I guess beneath it as well) is a museum dedicated to Franklin's many inventions and such. By this time on the tour, I was pretty tired and hot so I wasn't in the mood to stop in and look around. But if I go on the tour again, this is one place that I'd like to take some time to explore inside (especially his print shop).

Stop 18: Betsy Ross House

One of the last stops on my tour, the Betsy Ross House was wonderfully tucked back in a shaded courtyard (or so I thought), and before wandering around, I took a moment to just sit and relax in the shade. I guess almost two hours on your feet in the sun really is tiring. Weird how that works.

After munching on an apple that I, with remarkable wisdom and foresight (a.k.a. luck), had packed for my trip, I was ready to walk around the Betsy Ross House. As I approached the door, I got sidetracked and stood watching a guy with an awesome mustache carve Betsy Ross' face out of soap for a few seconds. That was fun. But he was just shaping the head and wasn't getting into detail yet, so I got bored rather quickly.

I entered the house. Or what I had thought was the house. It was actually just the gift shop. I got sidetracked yet again and looked for a bit at the postcard options available. I guess I have a short attention span when I get tired. But that was actually to my advantage this time, because while internally debating whether 50 cents was worth it for a postcard or not, I overheard the woman at the counter tell an approaching family that the tour of the Betsy Ross House costs $10 per person. Hawhat?!

I guess the free historic square mile can get rather expensive if you let it. I wasn't really in the market for those kinds of expenditures, so I just set down the postcard quietly (50 cents is too expensive, I decided) and left.

Oddly enough (does ironically work here?), I never actually saw the Betsy Ross House. At all. What I'd thought was the front of the house was really just the gift shop, and I never looked up or went around to the proper side of the building or something, because when I saw the Betsy Ross House in a postcard I bought later, that's not what I saw on my stop. Woops. Put that on the growing list for next time as well.

The gift shop. Not her house.

Stop 20: Christ Church Burial Ground

My map reads: "The final resting place of Benjamin Franklin."

The cemetery was my last official stop of the tour. I'd been here once before, when my family came to Philadelphia for a day way back in 2004 (or so), and it was exactly as I remembered it. This time I took some time to explore the rest of the grounds, instead of just heading straight to Franklin's grave. This was also the first stop on my tour that I paid money for. It was only two dollars to get in, and the funds go towards maintaining the grounds, so it didn't bother me to spend it (being the last stop on my trip might have had something to do with it as well).

It is a really beautiful, interesting place. There are over 1,400 markers on just two acres, shaded by large leafy trees. Most of the markers are so old that all engravings have been completely wiped away by time and weather, though some have newer plaques that have been put in place over the decades by their descendants.

Also, did you know that there are also four other signers of the Declaration of Independence buried here? They are Francis Hopkinson, Joseph Hewes, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and George Ross.

And Franklin's grave...

I remembered the grave so clearly from the last time I visited. So much so that I know this time around, I did exactly the same thing as I did before. I took pictures of the entertaining epitaph that Franklin wrote for himself as a young man. I admired that Franklin was buried with his wife. And I pulled out a penny, made a wish, and flipped it onto his grave (for good luck).

But this time, I think he laughed at me. Maybe he thought, you've had a pretty lucky run for the last five years. Too lucky. Because when I held my penny intently, took that wish veeeery seriously, and flipped it onto the grave... it rolled....... off.

My penny rolled off the grave!!!

I stood there, paralyzed. Then I laughed and shrugged. I'm not superstitious, I tell myself. But I pull out another penny anyway.

Well, maybe I'll toss just one more penny. More money for them to upkeep the park, I reason.

Made a wish. Flipped the penny. And it rolled off. Again.

Damn.

Well, someone is having a joke at my expense. I've run out of pennies.

Franklin and his wife Deborah's grave

Franklin's Epitaph, which was written by himself

as a young man and was not intended to be at his grave.

His gravestone itself was prepared exactly to his

specifications. But then someone had the brilliant

idea of posting this plaque with the epitaph on a nearby

wall, and I am very happy they did.

The epitaph reads:

The Body of

B. Franklin. Printer.

Like the Cover of an old Book,

Its Contents torn out,

And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding,

Lies here, Food for Worms.

But the Work shall not be lost,

For it will as he believ'd,

appear once more

In a new and more elegant Edition

Corrected and improved

By the Author.

Soooooo Hot

To use the words of a fellow OC... Holy heatwave! Today was a sweltering 102 DEGREES, and that's not even counting humidity.

I think that if we had merely laughed at the rising mercury from inside the comfort of our chilly, over-AC'd offices, the heat would have failed to make such an impression on me. But on top of our daily ten minute trek to and from the dining hall, today was the first day of teaching children for corps members.

And because we are such awesome people (we were volunteering, so no $$$ for it), all the OCs surprised the corps members when they came back from teaching with dancing, blowing bubbles, and popsicles. We accosted them as they got off the bus-- at NOON. Only the hottest time of the day up here in Philly.

Not to gross you out or anything, but I literally had beads of sweat rolling down the backs of my legs. Just from clapping and the occasional bounce up and down. Icky. After we were done, I had to shower again. And take a nap. That heat sucks all the energy out of you, no matter how much water you're drinking. It's something else.

But of course, having the heart of a cheerleader (Why didn't I do that in highschool again? Oh that's right. Because my friends and I made fun of them. But it still would have been fun. Another shoulda, coulda, I guess), I actually really enjoyed the mini pep rally as exhausted, over-heated (and slightly defeated) corps members got off the bus. And I loved the appreciative smiles we got from most of them. Those smiles (often no more than sheepish grins fighting to show through the exhaustion) made all the sweaty backs, sunburned foreheads, and subsequent heat headaches completely worth it.

Marquitta and I... LOVE her!

Geales, with that awesome smile, and Alyx... maybe not so happy

about picture time? Oh, and all the corps members got awesome

t-shirts that said 2010 Corps. I have one too, and it's grrrrreat.

The view corps members had walking up to 1300...

IF YOU WERE A CORPS MEMBER TODAY . . .

You'd See: Lots of OCs dancing, waving, clapping, blowing soap bubbles

You'd Hear: Loud pump-up music blaring from huge speakers by the building

.... and....

"Congrats on finishing your first day of teaching!"

.... and....

"Grab a t-shirt. Popsicles are inside. You're awesome!"

You'd Smell: baking concrete, soap bubbles, and B.O. (maybe not so great)

You'd Taste: deliciously cold popsicles, refreshing after a sweltering bus ride

You'd Touch: lots of high fives, the beating sun on your skin, sticky humidity

"We the People..."

Friday was my first day off work in over two weeks, and I was ready to not see anyone I knew for the entire day. I bought an audio walking tour on iTunes, downloaded to my iPod, and grabbed lunch solo at the cafeteria (Hooray for free food!) before catching a subway to the Old City area.

I had dressed very specifically for the occasion... light shirt, shorts, super comfy tennis shoes. I packed sunscreen, a water bottle, snacks, and my camera. I had a map and my electronic tour guide. I was prepared.

Of course, the first thing I do on my excursion is get off at the wrong subway stop. I was watching with great interest a group of rambunctious preteen boys trying to out-cool each other (mostly by roughly shoving each other when the other wasn't paying attention), as this is an age group that I know absolutely nothing about, and I looked up just in time to see the subway pull away from 5th Street Station. My stop. Woops.

So I got off at 3rd and walked back. Not that I really minded. Detours and missed stops in big cities are usually pleasant experiences, because you get to see things that you might never get to see otherwise (or you may end up in a bad neighborhood, but that's not my point here).

Anyway, after another quick detour into a shopping mall to purchase a pair of sunglasses (I'd lost my old trusty pair to the deep depths under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and needed to replace them before my adventures in the heat and sun), I walked up to Independence Hall Visitor Center, where my audio tour was set to begin.

However, before hitting play and following my little MP3 around town, I stopped at the tents outside the Visitors Center (a weekend festival to celebrate the Fourth of July) to get myself a free hot dog and do some paint-by-numbers for a giant mural that will be going up somewhere.

Paint-by-numbers mural

Random Tangent: Philadelphia has over 2800 murals all over the city. The project started in 1984 to combat graffiti and is now commissioned by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. One of the most famous murals is over 8 stories high (I think I've seen it before), and a few of the murals were mentioned on my tour, which was fun.

Back to the story:

After painting and loitering for a bit, I started my tour.

Stop 3: Jefferson's Home

After the Visitor's Center and a few other random things came the home in which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was so tucked in with the surrounding buildings (immediately up to the sidewalk without a lawn or anything) that if GPS Gina, one of my "tour guides" for the day, hadn't mentioned the building's significance, I would have passed it without a second glance.

Jefferson's Home

The back garden explains things... wouldn't have seen that

without GPS Gina's help.

Stop 5: the Liberty Bell

There wasn't much to see when the sun's glare prevents you from looking through the glass and the line is at least an hour long and not looking very promising. Oh well. I've seen it before (when the family came to Philly while Evangelina competed in Miss America), so I'm not too worried.

Stop 6: Independence Hall

Again, didn't go in. This time, I think the building was closed because they were setting up for a band or some sort of show that evening. But since I wanted to get the entire tour done in just a little longer than the recommended two hours, I wasn't necessarily dying to stop inside all the buildings.

Stop 8: Old City Hall

The former home to the first U.S. Supreme Court, this was one of the only buildings where I went inside and looked around.

The park ranger who stood by the rail separating tourists from

the room had the most monotone voice I'd ever heard for a tour

guide. As she explained the significance of the room, I had to suppress

a laugh at her complete lack of enthusiasm for being there.

I will always be one of those overly-patriotic

people on the inside, I think. It made me quite

proud to read this quote from de Tocqueville,

a leading French political thinker and historian

(I had to read part of one of his books while in high

school, and while horribly dry, it was interesting to

listen to his thoughts on our government).

Stop 12: The Second Bank of the United States

Modeled after Greek architecture, the Second Bank of the U.S. just might

be one of my favorite stops on the trip. I took a ton of pictures of this place.

I can't believe that these cobblestone streets have

been here for over 200 years. So cool!

As there were twenty-one stops on my trip and I have a bunch more stories to tell, this blog will be continued later tonight!

Two Weeks in a Row-- Literally

Today I just completed my fourteenth straight day of work. That's exactly two weeks of work in a row, with no days off. I am exhausted.

But thankfully, to recoop, I am now looking at a glorious three days of nothing. A beautiful three-day weekend lies ahead of me, during which I hope to explore more of Philly, see some friends I met in Cannes, try one of those legendary Philly cheesesteaks, maybe catch a free Goo Goo Dolls concert, and basically soak up the wonderful awesomeness that is spending the Fourth of July in the Birthplace of Independence.

Can't wait for fireworks and parades and lots of over-the-top patriotism. Holidays are the best.

While in Philadelphia...

... I want to:

1. Eat a cheesesteak

2. Take a guided audio walking tour of the most historic one mile area in the U.S. (or something like that)... I might even purchase a fanny pack for the occasion.

3. Go to as many art museums as possible, including....

- See that Renoir exhibit

- See that Warhol exhibit

4. Do the Rocky Balboa run up the Museum of Art steps

5. Get in good enough shape to do said Rocky run

6. See old friends I met in France

7. Take lots of pictures

8. Feel overly patriotic on the Fourth of July (including waiving a flag while watching a parade)

9. Make new friends here at institute

10. See Temple's medical campus and take notes for a friend back home

11. Go to that great BYO Indian food restaurant that my coworker has been raving about

12. Write about all of it

Waiting for Superman

A good reminder of why we are all here:

Open for Business

The Resource Room opened for the first time last night, and the turn-out was great! We checked out over fifty books and had an average of twenty-five people in the room at all times.

It was fun because a lot of people brought their laptops and things and sat at our tables to work, which was something I didn't expect. Our little slice of peaceful has officially become a study spot/home/homey place for others, and that makes me happy.

PRIMARY ROOM

SECONDARY ROOM

. . .

“It is not easy … to wait. Waiting is what the hunter does, and the poet and the slugger. He waits for the moment of inevitability and fate and then he swings, or shoots, or takes up the pen to put down a line. They don’t teach us to wait in America; they teach us to grab. But waiting is what we do when we are looking for something beautiful, when we are looking for an end to our sorrow. Nothing is infinite in life, not even sorrow. You just have to wait."

- Cary Tennis

From the Dining Hall to 1300

An informal tour of a small portion of Temple's campus (a.k.a. the path I take home from the dining hall every day), courtesy of me.

That building on the right is very multipurpose.

The first level is full of a bunch of random stores,

including an optometrist, nail salon, movie rental

place, a coffee shop called Saxby's, and a bar that

apparently has the best wings ever.

A beautiful church mixed in with all the modern

architecture. There are quite a few buildings like

this around here, and I want to explore them all

before I leave. I also really wish I had a good

camera with me so that I could take awesome pictures

of them. Ah well, such is life.

Temple's cool school of business. I have zero idea

of the rigor of their program, but I think that those

giant letters are A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

Almost home! When I was getting directions to the cafeteria for

the first time, I was told to leave the dorm, hang a left, and then

follow the red brick road once I come to it. Can't say that the

directions were very good, but the road was definitely easy to find.