You thought I was dead.

Admit it.
Obviously I am quite alive, but I have also been wildly busy for the past two and a half months. So unfortunately for me there is much to update.

At the start of November I went to Philadelphia with a group of staff from my school. We attended a conference on career academies for 2 of our 6 day trip. We left early the morning of Halloween. The day saw much in terms of layovers, including multiple additions of hours in Chicago due to weather problems in Philadelphia. Every time we thought we were getting ready to board they would hit us with another hour or two, and after we finally boarded we were hit with an additional hour and a half sitting at the gate. When we finally rolled into Philadelphia it was after 11. Once we saddled up with our rental cars we proceeded to get lost in the Philadelphia ghetto on what should have been a 20 minute drive to the hotel. After over an hour of, "no wait, turn here!! no that was our turn back there... wait..." we FINALLY found our hotel, well after midnight, and found too, that our nice, non-smoking rooms were given away (though we had called the hotel from Chicago to let them know about our layovers and late arrival). Our very polluted smoking room seemed a poor substitute but I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a decent night of sleep. The next day we hauled all of our luggage back down to the lobby to be held until the staff could secure us proper non-smoking rooms for the remainder of our stay. But unfortunately the damage had been done and all of my clothes smelled of smoke for the rest of the trip.
That first day of the trip was Sunday and we ventured out to the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Within five minutes in the car it became glaringly obvious how rude their drivers are. Last second lane changes, cutting one another off, hit and runs, illegal parking, horn blowing and finger waving had me thankful that I was not the one behind the wheel. It's really a wonder we made it through the trip unscathed. The museum, as you may recall, was made famous in the film Rocky, where Rocky makes his triumphant run up the steps to shout "Yo Adrian!! I did it!!" At the risk of looking like a tourist, I was the lone loser of our group to actually re-enact this scene. I felt it fitting, considering I married an Adrian. No film was taken of this, so do not ask. Suffice it to say, I looked about as foolish as all the other morons doing the same thing, much like those featured in this film clip. Philadelphians must hate that. I would.
The museum was without a doubt the highlight of the entire trip for me. I had no idea so many famous and WONDERFUL paintings, ones that I have studied for years, were housed here in America. As I wandered from room to room my jaw literally dropped with each new surprise. They even allow you to take photographs, as long as you don't use a flash. I took photos of all of my favorites and could feel my heart racing as I got up close and personal with Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne, Rothko and Duchamp. You could see hairs from their brushes stuck in the paint. It was almost like looking at their very fingerprints. I could not fathom, and still can't, that I was looking so closely at utter genius.

Monet- Bend in the Epte River near Giverny

Van Gogh- Sunflowers
Picasso- Man with a Violin



Dali- Soft Construction with Boiled Beans

Duchamp- Nude Descending a StaircaseMy group had given a time frame of about 2 hours to look at everything and as my time raced down I realized with great dismay that there was no way I was going to see it all. In the last 20 minutes I nearly ran from room to room, trying to see as much as I could. When time ran out and I skulked back to the car I hoped I hadn't missed anything I would regret. I was thrilled with all the pictures I took (so thrilled that I frequently looked back through them once or twice every day of the rest of the trip.) As it turned out I did miss a piece by Frida Kahlo that I truly wish I had seen, though I was able to see one of Diego Rivera's.One of the best parts about the city of Philadelphia is their commitment to the arts. Despite how rude many of the people were, I've got to give them credit for their art. There is public art everywhere. Though I didn't see a fraction of them, I was told that there are somewhere upwards of 3000 murals in the city, and sculptures on almost every corner. Even their architecture has an artistic quality that I admire.


This particular mural consisted of millions of 1-inch tiles. The detail was incredible. and it spanned an entire block. What is seen here is a very small portion.Aside from all of the art, I haven't even touched on Philadelphia's rich history. We experienced a re-enactment of the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence through a dinner with Thomas Jefferson at the City Tavern.
Dinner consisted of authentic 1700s cuisine by candlelight with a side of drama. We traveled from there to Independence Hall for an after hours dramatic performance between Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Being inside of that historical building was humbling. We stood in a room in which great visionaries stood hundreds of years ago as they drafted documents that would change this country forever. We were given the inside scoop on what original artifacts remain there from Washington's time, one being the chair that Washington himself sat in at the head of this room (the thought of which floored me). The other being the painting hanging on the wall over this gentleman's shoulder
Later in the trip I made it back to get photos of the building in daylight and to see the Liberty Bell.


The Comcast building was one that I had seen in the skyline throughout the trip. One afternoon brought us to its lobby and I was baffled by the technology we found there. The entire wall of the lobby is one giant screen. In the fifteen minutes or so that we stood there like a bunch of idiots watching with our mouths open, we saw the earth turning, people dancing, water flowing, slow motion puddle dropping and larger than life basketball players flying across the wall. It was simply bizarre.


We also spent an afternoon at the supposedly haunted Eastern State Penitentiary. I didn't see any ghosts but did experience some chills.

Following out trip out to the Penitentiary, my roommate and I decided to hit up the Body Worlds exhibit at the Franklin Institute. I'm so glad that we did. It was completely horrifying and fascinating. If given the opportunity to go again I would in a second and highly recommend it to you as well. When I returned and shared my experiences with my students, this was the part they were most interested in hearing about, though unfortunately they do not allow any photography to be taken. On our last day, we took a trip out to the Pennsylvania countryside to see Hershey. We were fortunate enough to get a VIP tour of the Milton Hershey School. I was very impressed by the school, its facilities, staff, and opportunities it offers for students who come from difficult circumstances. They truly have a beautiful little world there that I must admit was difficult for me to leave. If you know of a student between the ages of 5 and 15 that needs to get out of a very bad situation I would encourage you to look into the Milton Hershey School. Nothing is asked of the students financially and the world will be opened to them in ways that they never would have dreamed.
Following the school we hit up Chocolate World, of course, which was less impressive to me than I had hoped it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was magical, but I was hoping more to see the factory and the inner workings of how the chocolate is made. But as it was, I spent a small fortune in the gift shop buying chocolate and other goodies about as fresh as it comes.

By the time Thursday rolled around I was more than ready to be rid of the rudeness of Philadelphia's people and come back to the sticks where people are polite (or at least don't take offense at your very existence) and sanity reigns on the roads. Most of all I missed my husband. It was the first time in our short two and a half years of marriage that we had spent a night (let alone 5) apart from one another. Ultimately I'm so grateful for the opportunity to go but don't think I'll need to return for a very long time. Philly was a great place for a short visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!

More to come on life since I dropped off the face of the planet soon.