Texas and more

Flying into El Paso on Sunday afternoon was an interesting experience. I spent most of the plane ride reading a book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- highly recommend) and didn't look out the window too much. When the pilot announced that we were starting our descent, I opened my window covering and took a look. I froze. Quite possibly due to the amount of LOST I had been watching the day before (and that my flight had been abnormally bumpy and loud), I started to have crazy crazy science fiction inspired thoughts, caused by the fact that it literally looked like we were flying over Mars. We were over what in actuality must be the west Texas desert and then started to see mountains and I had never ever seen anything like it before. Here is a picture of what I saw (this was not taken by me, but I found it on Google Images :)



Needless to say I faced a bit of culture shock when I got here, but in a good way I think. Part of the reason why I was so excited about this job was because I have not seen too much of our great nation and I wanted to broaden my horizons. Remember what I said about everything looking like Maryland? I'm eating my words right now. That being said, I have really enjoyed my time in El Paso and have a lot more of an interest in what is going on in Mexico because you can see it right across the street. Literally it is right there. Juarez, currently Mexico's most dangerous city, borders El Paso and a lot of El Paso's citizens and UTEP students have family there. It is very sad that they no longer feel safe visiting their relatives that live only a few minutes away.

In other news, as I approach the two month mark of being on the road, I have noticed something starting to happen. Though I don't feel homesick in the traditional sense of the word, I have started to dramatically cling to anything that connects me to home. For example, the first night I was here the Cowboys played the Redskins. I have never ever been a NFL fan and though my Dad has always like the Skins I never really took interest. However, the family that I am staying with had the game on (they were cheering on the Redskins too, by the way) and I suddenly felt a very vested interest in the outcome of the game. My passion for sports is typically reserved for Terps Men's basketball and any American team in the Olympics (I love when they chant U-S-A!) but I big time felt it Sunday, only because it gave me some sense of familiarity. It was interesting to me how much I suddenly cared about the game and the team and it made me realize how much I am looking forward to being home for a week next month.

Hope all is well with everyone!

PS- Looking back on this post, it makes me seem a little like someone who is slowly becoming delusional. Let's cross our fingers that its not a side effect of the job. Fellow TLCs, ya with me?

Quick update

I have a lot to say about my time so far in El Paso, TX but officer meetings and recruitment parties aren't allowing me much time. Here is a picture to tide you over- this is the backyard of the house I am staying at (the home of the Secretary and her Mom and Dad) Expect a longer post soon!





Those mountains are part of the southernmost tip of the Rocky Mountains!

More Iowa

My time in Iowa is (unfortunately) about to come to an end. On Sunday morning I will leave these lovely ladies and head to my next stop at UTEP. Recruitment here ended yesterday with Bid Day, where we celebrated all of Alpha Omicron's newest members. Here are some pictures from the event-


The bus they dropped the new members back to their dorms in


The inflatable obstacle course they rented for the day! So fun!


Huge ZTA letters and a strawberry- one of our symbols.

One of my favorite parts of this visit was handing out pink ribbons for Breast Cancer Awareness and Education at the first football game on Saturday. It was really fun to be in the college football atmosphere again, though it made me sad that I won't be in College Park for any Terps games this season. So many of the fans were super receptive- some even shared with us that they are survivors- and even donated money for the cause. We raised over $600 in just an hour and a half and handed out 5,000+ pink ribbons! One if my favorite things about ZTA is how members all over the country are so dedicated to our philanthropy. Here is a picture from that day-



Though it will be sad to leave Iowa, I am very excited to go to UTEP. This will be my third trip to the state of Texas and I loved both Austin and South Padre when I went there on trips. This recruitment will be a lot different than the other two chapter visits I have done so far, as there are only three sororities on the campus with pretty small membership totals. Also, the ZTA at UTEP does not have a chapter house so I will be staying with a member of the Executive Council in her apartment. Definitely will be a different experience but I am excited to see another new part of the country, as I have never been to El Paso.