In the Land of Many Horses...

I am now at Eastern Kentucky University. The flight in was beautiful. We flew over what felt like hundreds of horse farms and riding centers. The grass was so pretty with the white fences everywhere. It is warm here, but definitely not as warm as the deeper parts of the South... it almost feels cold being 70 degrees! Before I came here I spent some time in New Orleans, so I will recap that first.

Jennica (another ELC) and I arrived in New Orleans on the 23rd after we were done at LSU. The picture to the left is a picture of us putting a kite (our logo as Thetas) around Mike VI. Mike IV is LSU's live mascot. He lives in a multi-million dollar home next to the football stadium. He was sleeping when we got there and the chapter member we were with yelled his name and he came out so we got to take a picture with him!

We were also fortunate to find a ride through a chapter member who was heading that way anyway. The drive was around an hour but since she grew up in New Orleans we learned a lot about the area on the way down and also about the devestating effects of Katrina. It was interesting to learn all about hurricanes. Children here begin learning about them at a very early age in school and how to track them/what to do if one hits. I was surprised it was taught as early as it is in school there, but it makes sense. I also learned that tornados are a common element to hurricanes, who knew!

We pulled into the French Quarter, where our hotel was and it was just beautiful. It looked like Paris, you almost had to stop and remind yourself that you were still in the US! Our hotel was wonderful (Place d'Armes) and it had a great location. We put our stuff down and explored the area a little while we waited for Jenny and Justine (another ELC) to arrive.

When they arrived we all went to dinner and met up with a FIJI (Fraternity) consultant who was visiting Tulane. We met him at a conference this summer and all became friends. We also went to Burbon Street. It felt like the Amsterdam of the US, I didn't know there was a place like that here!

The next day we walked around and got acquainted with the area. We went to Cafe du Mond and had Beignes (spelling?) which were just fried dough with a fancy name. We listened to some jazz and went back to the hotel to relax. Later that night we went to a quieter part of the city that mostly locals know about and went to a jazz bar. It was nice and less touristy.

However, while we were at the hotel I started feeling sick with a head cold and soon enough it was a full blown fever. The entire next day I could hardly do anything and my fever kept going up. I was afraid it was the Swine Flu because of how bad it was at LSU. I went to a Walk in Clinic and had a bacterial and viral infection that was causing "flu-like symptoms". I took the antibiotics and by the afternoon of the next day I began to feel a little bit better.

On the last day we went to a place called, The Court of Two Sisters, where they served a huge brunch and had jazz music playing. It was nice with a lot of Creole/Cajun foods. That night we went to a bar that had only candles for light and music. It was nice to say goodbye to the city that way, even though I couldn't stay for too long.

Soon enough it was Thursday and time to head to Lexington, Kentucky. I was still feeling a little sick but was able to make it here. When I arrived the chapter members picking me up from the airport had a sign for me, which was really nice, and were very welcoming. The school just put all Greeks in two towers for rooming. On the first floor of the sorority tower are a bunch of guest rooms, so I am in one of those for a couple days. It's nice to have space to spread out, even if I am living in dorm life again.

It is recruitment here (again!) and has been fun. It is a much smaller recruitment (200 people going through instead of 2,000!) which is a nice break. It actually reminds me of OWU and how recruitment was there. It is much more relaxed than the previous recruitments I have done so far. Recruitment will last until Monday and then on Tuesday I head back home to NH!

That's all for now, more updates later!

Geaux Tigers!

Today we start our second round of recruitment at LSU. It is philanthropy day (we talk about CASA, which is the philanthropy we support). There is a great buzz in the house since they did well yesterday with Round 1. I am very excited for these women and it's been fun so far.

We do have some members who are getting more sick each day. I have a weird feeling in my throat but I'm feeling alright so far - hopefully Jennica and I can stay healthy so we can enjoy our "vacation" in New Orleans after this!

I did a five minute walk the other evening to a mailbox to mail a letter to headquarters. Within the five minute walk the envelope was soaked due to the humidity. I have never seen a place so humid. The windows steam up with the AC on in the house!

I have also had jumbalaya which is awesome and PoBoys (a sandwich with fried oysters etc.) it is also really good but not very healthy! I have also managed to mess up everyone's last names because they are Cajun, like: LeDoux or Herbert. Apparently a common name here is Waugelhaus or something. It is very different and the biggest culture shock so far. Some houses have their members wear full length gowns during recruitment which I have never seen before! It is fun and very eye-opening. Off to another day of recruitment!

Geaux Theta!

Off to Louisiana...

So today I left Auburn and arrived at Louisiana State University. We found out last night that our Auburn Theta's did a great job during recruitment! Quota was 53 (the maximum amount of women a sorority can take through recruitment) and our Theta chapter there got 68!! They had 15 extra women added due to quota additions. That means they did great and probably got the biggest amount of women during recruitment out of all the sororities. I am so proud of them and it is great to see success after all the hard work everyone put in.

Louisiana is beautiful. It is humid here but not too bad so far. The chapter house is beautiful and is right on a lake. All of the sororities are in a row surrounding a lake on the campus so it just adds to the beauty of all of the mansions.

As we arrived we were told that the Swine Flu is currently spreading around campus. Not only is it around campus but it is on the sorority row. One of the sororities currently has 20 members out of recruitment due to the possibility of them having Swine Flu. Jennica (another ELC I am on the visit with) and I are worried since it is recruitment and there will be around 860 women traveling between all the houses the coming week, starting tomorrow. We are going to be very conscious with our health and make sure we keep washing our hands etc. They have currently sanitized the house and will continue to do so through out recruitment.

We are tired from traveling but also ready to start our visit. We have dinner with the Vice-President of membership soon, which kicks off our week. I hope to keep you all updated this week!

Recruitment Season... Having a Blast

I am currently at Auburn University in Alabama and I am having so much fun. It's recruitment here, which has consisted of 1200 potential new members coming through their new suite/chapter room. The ladies of the Gamma Omega chapter here are wonderful with an eager attitude to learn more about Theta and recruitment. They were just re-colonized on Auburn's campus this past Spring semester and were initiated in April. However, you would never know this because they are as competitive as the other 17 sororities on campus and are doing a wonderful job here at recruitment. Today is skit day and they have a Grease skit all about Theta which has been a lot of fun.

This has been my first visit since training and I am having so much fun. I definitely know this is what I should be doing and it has been such a great learning experience. I will be sad to leave on Saturday but I know that I will be at another school (LSU) doing this all over again and enjoying every minute of it.

I will update you all later on the various traveling mishaps that have occurred on our way here because it is quite the story. But for now it is back to recruitment...

About to go

We leave on Friday morning for Auburn! I am very excited but I can't believe training is almost all over. I feel prepared but also nervous for the first visit. I will be helping at Auburn instead of being the only ELC so that will be a good way to ease into things. I then will be heading to LSU for a couple of days and then New Orleans for five days. I am so excited!

We have had another whirlwind of a week. We have been training but also had two days off. We went shopping, saw Indianapolis and went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Seeing Indianapolis was really nice because it is a very cute and clean city and we finally got around to seeing the middle of the downtown. It was a relaxing evening full of lots of pictures. In front of the Civil War monument (in the center of town) there were a bunch of police on their motorcycles just hanging out and they let us get on the motorcycles and take a picture it was really fun.

The next day we went to the Indianapolis Speedway. The Speedway is where the Indy 500 is. There were a bunch of cars in the museum we saw and then there was a tour that took you around the speedway and into the Press buildings etc. It was really fun and we got to "Kiss the Brick" which is where the Indy 500 race starts. The speedway used to be made of bricks but then they paved over it and saved only three feet of the brick (where the race starts and ends). So we got out of the bus and took a big picture of us all kissing it... kind of gross.

We have two days left and are going to hang out and start packing and getting ready for our life one the road! Most of the other ELCs are going home since not everyone needs to go to Auburn but the rest of us are packing for the year straight from here.

I still miss you all!

A Little Break...

Well it has been a whirlwind of a week!

We started out at Risk Management on the Road. It is a conference that we (Kappa Alpha Theta) put on for other women consultants. There were around 100 or so consultants that went and it was very interesting. It was even more interesting when I was asked to teach the MJ Thriller dance to everyone!

I was standing in the corner with two of my roommates/other consultants and we were doing the dance (I taught it to them a couple of nights before). Ginny, the woman in charge of the conference, came up to us asked if we would teach it to everyone. I agreed and soon enough we were on stage teaching everyone. I had a microphone put on me and taught the dance. It was so much fun!

We have spent the past couple of days at the office finalizing schedules/continuing training. We had our first day off today which was so exciting. We went out to breakfast and planned on going to the speedway (where the Indy 500 is, they do tours) but by the time we were done with eating it was too late. So five of us headed downtown and went shopping/site seeing in the city. It was a great time. It was nice to be with everyone and just relax while seeing what Indianapolis is really all about. Everyone was so nice and it is such a clean city with an interesting history.

We were supposed to go into work tomorrow at 9 a.m. but our speaker's flight got messed up so she is coming on Sunday now. We were supposed to have Sunday off instead of tomorrow but the days just reversed so we have two days off in a row! It is crazy to think that we have one week left of training and then the job really begins on Friday. I am very excited but also really nervous!

I am so tired now but I am sure I will write more later!

New Blog!

Hi!

I felt like making a blog was the perfect way to include everyone in the adventures I will be having this coming year!

So far I have had a great time at training in Indianapolis, IN. It has been non-stop but I have enjoyed it! There are 9 of us consultants and we are all training together for the coming year. Eight of us are new and the 9th is a second year consultant so the majority of us don't know a thing about what is going on - which is nice to not feel alone in being confused.

We are heading in to our second week of training. A usual day consists of waking up at 7:15 (there are five girls in one apartment with one bathroom ... we must all wake up early to shower!), leaving the apartment by 8:30 and arriving at Headquarters (HQ) at 9:00 a.m. We then sit around a boardroom table until 12 when we go get lunch. Then we return and continue until 4:30/5:00 p.m. During this time we usually have speakers come and train us on their area of expertise. They are training us so we can better understand how all areas of the Fraternity (yes, we're called a fraternity even though we're technically a "sorority" because when we were founded the word sorority was not used) work. These areas can consist of: administration, finance, development, recruitment, disciplinary procedures, housing etc. It is all very interesting but I must say that it can become hard to pay attention after awhile.

We eat at restaurants for all of our meals. This may sound great, and it is at times, but it also gets really old after awhile of sitting in restaurants for every lunch and dinner. Two times so far I have made dinner for all 9 of us so we don't have to go out - it's been fun.

Last week we went to a conference (FEA) and met other consultants from other fraternities/sororities. It was fun and great to network with other people doing the same thing. I hear that it can get very lonely on the road and so it's nice to know that there are other people doing the same thing that may be in the same area so we can all meet up at various places in the country.

I got my visit schedule which was very exciting. I am going to: Purdue, Butler, Penn State, Columbia, UC-San Diego, San Diego State, Occidental (Los Angeles), Cal Poly, Eastern Kentucky, Drake (Iowa), Loyola Maramount (Los Angeles), Colorado College, Auburn (Alabama) and Louisiana State University.

I have a list of these schools and I get to sit down and figure out where to go when. This consists of playing a giant puzzle of putting things together and moving them etc. It also consists of a lot of emails and logistics. Unfortunately, we spend so much tim training in the board room that it has been hard to take the time to figure all of this out - but it will come with time.

I do currently know that I am going to Auburn from August 7 - 15 and then LSU the 15-22nd. I think I will take a couple days and go to New Orleans and then head home and then to Eastern Kentucky. We will see how this all plays out.

Well, I hope to keep you updated on everything that happens!

Miss you all!