I've got the magic in me!

On Friday my buddy Joraskie invited me to come visit him on his stomping grounds of Bucknell University. The main attraction during my visit was the special appearance of Ke$ha and B.o.b. whom gave us one stellar show. Along with this, we met up with a couple more friends and just raved the night away. I've been to a lot of concerts in my days and this is definitely among the better shows I've seen. Ke$ha and B.o.b. are both awesome performers with great stage presence and you could tell they were enjoying themselves. I'm almost positive there wasn't a single person who could resist dancing. By the end of the night, there was glitter on the floor and we were pretending that airplanes in the night sky were like shooting stars, this is only because we've got the magic in us (notice the many song references?! =p)
The following day, Adam and I spent the morning lounging around and enjoying more homecoming festivities on Bucknell's gorgeous campus! We managed to catch part of the football game, however the outcome of the game was not what we wanted to see. Despite that, we had a sick time together.

Leia Mais…

Ship Happens

My friends and I spent last weekend in 'Raider Nation'. It was Shippensburg's homecoming and it was great to reunite with old friends. Unfortunately I missed out on the football game but we played Cheyney University and pulverized with a score of 50-0. Meanwhile, we got to enjoy the annual parade and then spent the rest of the night visiting friends and causing shenanigans from dancing to playing games and sharing lots of laughter. It was a great weekend, in which this case I do say, Ship happens =)

part of the old crew, jess and lauren

Old Main

My best friend Jordan tagged along

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Phanatics...

Earlier this month, I had an overwhelming weekend full of sports action. My Dad, Arielle and I took on Philadelphia and succeeded in catching a majority of the sporting events held. We began our tour by cheering on the Temple Owls for their homecoming game against Bowling Green. My sis, Arielle, goes to Temple and is a new member of sorority. So prior to the game we joined the ladies for some tailgating and good food. The Owls ended up winning their game and I even got to see an old camp friend who is in the marching band and gave an awesome performance. Immediately after the game, we walked from Lincoln Financial Field over to the newly named Wells Fargo Center to watch the Flyers hockey game. They played their rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins and suffered and embarrassing loss. I’d say that the Pens got their revenge from the last game played with them. For the remainder of the night we watched the ole Phillies play San Fransico, and sadly lost. So besides Temple winning and me getting some good traditional Philly food such as a cheesesteak and crabby fries, it wasn’t a successful day for Philly sports.

Sunday was a bit of a sleep in day for my Dad and I before we ventured back over to the stadiums. While my sister was back at school celebrating her birthday with friends, the old man and I met up with some friends for more tailgating. A few beers and pork bbq sandwiches later, we were ready to watch some football and cheer on the Eagles as they pumbled the Atlanta Falcons. It was a great game, even though a lot of the calls were bad. After the game, we managed to watch the second Phillies game (can’t get enough of them =). Following the game, we met up again with Arielle and took her out for a birthday dinner to a real quaint Italian restaurant on Fairmont Ave (right by Eastern State Penitentiary). There are quite a few nice places to hangout at in this area, and the neighborhood has been shaping up really well the past couple of years.

This was a great weekend full or fried food, beer, sports and crazy Philadelphia phans. As much as I would have like to stay and do some touring, I was drained from all of the other excitement I encountered. I can’t wait to do it again!

 

Cheers guys!

Leia Mais…

Time to get scared

Fall is here and Halloween is right around the corner! So with this, my friends and I decided to take a trip to Spring City, Pa to visit Pennhurst Asylum. This former institution was once a state school/hospital for people with mental illnesses and special needs. It opened in 1908 and ended its session in 1986 leaving this place abandoned for 24 years.  Nestled away from the rest of society, this place ran as its own, separate community, from having its own theatre, agriculture system, barber shop to even a firehouse. It closed due to a long history of complaints of Pennhurst being unsanitary, inhumane and unsafe for the patients and it's even said that a majority of the patients conditions worsened during their stay here and many deaths have occurred. Just recently, a group decided to turn this place into a true haunted attraction! With all of the props being actual furnishings and equipment used when the institution was in session, gave the atmosphere a very creepy vibe let alone the actors being involved with it. If you ask me, actors weren’t even necessary because being in these buildings was scary enough. I don’t want to spoil any of it, but the scariest part for me was walking in the underground tunnel system. Filled with fog and completely dark, gave all of us the heeby jeebies because we could not see anything that was coming for us. I recommend you check this out, if you dare…

http://www.pennhurstasylum.com/

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Raise the curtains

So, since school has begun I haven't been feeling much excitement towards my classes or work what so ever, until now. I have recently landed an internship with the Hershey Theatre and M.S. Hershey Foundation under the community relations department.
I absolutely love this theatre and I even did my graduation project here back in high school. This place isn't just a theatre, though, it serves as a community center as well. It's just one location in which M. Hershey has provided for central Pa.
I admire all that Milton has done for this community from providing jobs, education, homes and culture, and it has only grown from there. This is why I am looking forward to learning more about non-profit management.
My first project is helping work with the Apollo Awards. This program was created recently to recognize outstanding achievement by local high school students in their musical and play productions (somewhat like the tony awards). It got its name from the Greek god (Apollo) and was the patron God of music, poetry, and the arts.  In the past two years, this scholarship program gave away over $25,000 to students. I am really looking forward to working here and seeing what all it has in store for me.

 

Leia Mais…

Gettysburg Get-away

This past weekend I had an awesome little get away to ole Gettysburg, Pa. I've always loved coming here to visit because I learn/experience something new every time, plus I look at myself as a bit of a history nerd so it gets me excited.
Friday night my good friends Patrick and Tori joined me in part of this excursion. We gathered up our courage and joined the Gettysburg Paranormal Association(http://gettysburgparanormalinvestigations.com/) in hunting for some ghosts! This was by far one of the most daunting things I have done. Being outside in the dark is scary enough, but visiting places where we know are haunted just sends shivers down my spine. Earlier in the night we did a small haunted walking tour which got our adrenaline pumping. I could talk for a long time on the history I learned just from this, but this is something you'll have to come and enjoy. Later in the night, the 3 of us were introduced to some of the ghost hunting instruments that are often used in the show 'Ghost Hunters' such as the shadow detecting laser, EMF meter, K2 meter, laser thermometer and dosing rods. Our first stop was to one of the most haunted locations in Gettysburg, Sachs covered bridge. I was told a little bit about the bridge, such as it was used by both the confederates and union soldiers and also as Robert E. Lee's troops were withdrawing from the field, three Rebel soldiers were found to be spies. A speedy trial on the spot found them guilty and they were hanged from beams in the covered bridge. Their bodies were discovered by Union soldiers patrolling the area. We had a little experience with the spirits that our tools detected and it was very eerie. Our real exhilarating experience was later when we went into one of the old houses by ourselves and met General G. Reynolds who was the first general to die in the Gettysburg battle and was left in this house dead for 3 days. Tori was actually using the dosing rods in communicating with him and the rods would cross and uncross during their conversing (they were talking about drinking whiskey =] It was quite an exciting night and I only peed myself once =p...

The next day, my parents and I returned for another day in the 'burg. We started our afternoon by eating at the Farnsworth House (http://www.farnsworthhouseinn.com/) (supposedly the 2nd most haunted bed and breakfast in the world!!) which also has a lot of interesting history behind it. We sat outside surrounded by a quaint garden and water fall and enjoyed an awesome meal with ale. Afterwards, we traveled to some winerys and had our way with them =p one in specific is the Adams County Winery. I absolutely loved being out in the country side enjoying the amazing weather and delicious local wines. We all had a great time and plan on coming back fairly soon for the apple/halloween festivities.

worlds largest grapevine wreath

the white spots on the side of the house are bullet marks!

Tori with the dosing rods

Leia Mais…

Back in the states

So it has been about a week since I have returned home from New Zealand and it has been quite difficult getting back into my regular routine of life. The flight back was a bit more strenuous than it was flying down. Sleeping was more challenging due to time change (and yes I struggled a lot with jet lag).
It was sad to say goodbye to everybody because we had developed such strong relationships but thank God for facebook because we are from all over the U.S. and visiting will be hard.
I will NEVER forget my time in Aetearoa (meaning 'land of the long white cloud'). I gained so much from this experience whether it be learning more about conservation and sustainable development to becoming a more well rounded person and appreciating everyones culture not to mention doing crazy adventurous things that I don't have the opportunity to do here at home. I strongly recommend becoming a part of the International Student Volunteers program, because not only do you get a life changing experience out of it, but it looks great on resumes as well =p. I posted below just a few pics for you to enjoy but there are many more where that came from....Aetearoa, you will be missed! cheers everyone!

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