VISTA PSO and Chicago.

So.

If you read my last post, it was quite a solemn note to begin with. But the feelings I felt that day were so overwhelming and haunting, I simply had to post.

On Monday I left my home in Ohio to begin a new chapter in my life in Washington state. Vancouver to be exact. Not the Canada one. But that is why you may notice the title of this blog: Travel Tips & Hints from Across the Continent. When I stop to think of it, it simply blows my mind that an individual of my significance is going to be traveling across the entire North American continent over the course of 4 days.

My first branch of the trip includes coming to Chicago for my Pre-Service Orientation (PSO). I arrived yesterday afternoon, and proceeded to complete the night with a standard hotel conference dinner. But along the way I did stop and look at some wind turbines in Northwest Ohio:

After the wind turbines, I kept driving, and came into the suburbs of Gary around 1:00 PM. I figured "Yes! I'm almost there!" Wrong. I had failed to comprehend the large the megalopolis of Chicago Gary metro area. I took the highways without tolls because I know those can rob your quarter stash in about 10 minutes (no offense Tampa, but you showed me that), but I pulled into Illinois, and the Chicago area, and saw the skyline. Then I was promptly stopped by traffic. For a good hour and a half. The battle included three choke points, and then a heavy rain storm to block my vision for the last 5 miles.

I pulled into the hotel just around 3 PM, when I said I would arrive. I checked in, and to my surprise, the next three hours were simply paperwork hours until dinner. So there was really no need to rush and frustrate myself with being late.

Now I sit in this really nice hotel, and I have finished my first full day of sessions. It is really beginning to get to me what exactly the VISTA program is all about. I never knew that the PSO would be like this, and it really puts perspectives on exactly what the mentality is about the program and about poverty. It has been a really intense day with intense topics, but I have faith I can pull through.

It seems like it is the unknowing candidates like myself are the ones who will succeed during their year. Zealous service super-heroes seem to be getting a rude awakening to what the program is about and what our mission in the program is. And the best part is that we ask questions this whole time, to make sure the assignment is right for us.

It really makes you step back and think "Is VISTA for me?"