Preparing for Liftoff: T-minus Two Days

So first of all, I apologize for the lack of updates this week, although I like to think it’s forgivable given the amount of things on my to-do list for the week. Obviously, I’m in the progress of packing. Everything that was on my to-do list in the previous list has been done, and then some. And of course, in addition to all that I’ve been doing my best to enjoy these last few days with family and friends before I take off for four months!

So a quick recap of my week is in order (omitting the boring parts, of course).

My mother has recently started teaching beginning nursing at my former high school (she is a registered nurse, worked home health nursing for the past several years) and this week she wanted me to come speak to her classes about my work with the American Legacy Foundation and the truth campaign. It was interesting. The first thing I asked was, predictably, “How many of you smoke?” I was a little shocked–pleasantly so–to see that there were very few to raise their hands. Of course I figure at least three or four of them were lying, but even then that’s a far better ratio of nonsmokers to smokers than I’d expected. See, Kentucky has the highest rates of smoking in the entire nation, particularly with youth, at 35%.

Also surprisingly, they seemed to be relatively engaged with my little presentation. I showed some of the truth ads (not surprisingly, most of them had seen them), explained my job, how I got there, about the foundation and various statistics and reasons why not to smoke. I’m not sure anything I said made any difference of impact, but I guess you never know. It’s always interesting seeing people in Kentucky after living in the District for so long–it’s like a whole different world. One girl I had known from band when I was in high school came up to me to tell me, smiling, that she was pregnant and due in October. While eating lunch in the break room one teacher was discussing how he was getting a shipment of 82,000 chickens that he was going to raise for Perdue, Inc. He was excited to tell us all about how they would grow to over eight pounds in only 60 days. All I could think about was the movie Food, Inc. and suddenly my lunch (not even chicken) didn’t taste as good.

It’s a whole different world down here.

Outside of the class visits, the week has been full of running errands and spending time with friends and family. Last night my parents and I drove to Louisville to do some quick shopping (new jeans, long-sleeve shirts, sweatshirt, wallet) and grab dinner. After that I met up with my best friends Camron, Megan and Chelsea to see District 9, which was simply brilliant:

Good times. Anyway, more to report as the weekend progresses. I’ll do my best to update from Chicago or London on Saturday (… Sunday?) during my layovers and of course after that I’ll be posting more substantial updates on my adventures in Europe!