daniel bowman simon

Staging.

Yes, thanks for all your emailed concerns. I got my stuff packed, cleaned my room and made it to San Fran. My mom woke up at 5AM (despite having a snow day at school) to help me shovel out the driveway cuz the taxi company cancelled, but then they showed up anyway. I think my mom's the winner on that one. She got some free shoveling. The plane departed 90 min late after being plowed in to the hangar. I never heard of that one before. Plenty of pissed off business people at the gate. I was not as fussed. Somehow, my carefree attitute karmically saved me a whole row of seats so I finally streched out and had a nap on the plane.

Great, very diverse group of new volunteers here in SF. 41 of us. Last night we checked out the Golden Gate Bridge, so here's a shot. Oh, scratch that, apparently the file is too large. Dang 5 megapixel cameras. I should read the manual. I gather you all know what the Golden Gate looks like anyway.

Out to vietnamese food afterwards (cuz the Burmese place was too busy.) Nice to eat out with a crowd unintimidated by a menu full of unknowns.

And after that, Santiago, my Argentinian partner in crime at University of the Pacific, stopped by to remind me to act more normal in the Philippines. Here's the photo I promised him I'd put up. (It's a smaller file than the one of the bridge.)

Today consisted of an early wakeup, CNN headline news (which is pretty awful AND the tickers are addictive), and a whole bunch more important important information. I need a nap. Next time i get on this thing will be from Asia! Bye-bye (the same in every language.)

The Before Photo.

Now my little sister goes back to being an only child, the poor thing. She'll be getting all the attention from mom and dad. They better let her come visit me! Otherwise, i might not see her until she's ready for college.

Asia Bound.

dear EVERYBODY:

It's 3am here on strong island, snowing like blue heck, and I am supposed to be on United Flight 853 to San Francisco at 8:40am. One would think I'd be all packed and asleep, but alas, neither are (is?) the case. I'm headed to San Francisco for Peace Corps "staging," then on to the Philippines, where I will be a Business Advising: Youth Development volunteer.

It's sheer coincidence I'm returning to Asia. (I requested Latin America or a place with access to swimable water.) Over the past couple of months, I've learned more about the Philippines than I thought I'd ever know, and I'm just at the tip of the melted, hot and humid iceberg. I am super excited. I probably couldn't sleep right now anyway.

I've created a weblog to document the experience (with mucho assistance from my computer genius friend Brian.) The address is www.danielbowmansimon.com. It's open 24 hours. (I tried to acquire mandatory.com, but apparently the guy who owns it would rather use it to sell therapeutic gel.) I can't predict how often I'll update it, mainly because I may be assigned to any one (or a handful) of the 7,000+ islands of the Philippines. But check it out, bookmark it, and come back whenever you feel like it. (Alternatively, you can read the weblog using a free, open-source syndicated news aggregator such as AmphetaDesk. But you'll still have to visit the site to see my photos, if I'm able to upload them.)

I could keep going, but I should pack and stretch and pray my flight isn't cancelled.

love,
daniel

P.S. I'll also send out emails periodically, so if you want out, or if you'd prefer I send to a different address, let me know. I'll be happy to oblige.