April 6th, Basketball Evening

Tom Fergunson and Brandyn Campbell were with us fellows at the Philadelphia 76ers basketball game. It was a great experience!!! We were sitting in a suite!! Great view, with a bar and food !! Uau!! This is much better than watch the game in the TV. We supported the 76ers but unfortunately it was not enough. Detroit Pistons won the game :(

It was amazing to see that there are so many entertainments at the intervals of the game. There is a compressed air gun throwing 76ers jerseys to the audience, there are acrobatic demonstrations and music. We noticed that the audience had fun. It is a big show. I enjoyed so much !! GO Sixers !!!!!

April 5th, Glowing evening

I attended, with my dear fellows and EF House staff, to a very pleasant reception at home of John Wolf. This evening had also moments of inspiration when Hae-Eun played her cello. The music softly touched our hearts and souls.

EF House key

EF House (April 5^th, Morning/Afternoon). Today I had a busy day at EF house. First, I met my Program Officer, Leigh Cohen. It was so nice meeting her personally because she was behind of dozens of emails in my mail box and is responsible for my wonderful schedule during my fellowship. During the morning I met Dan Geisler, Mark Carnesi, Diane Shoemaker, John Wolf, Helene Roth and Sarah Kluesner, other than program officers and fellows. I received the orientation, information, papers, welcome messages and the EF House key. My friends, in the very first day of my EF experience John Wolf, the president of EF, asked me two questions: Who are you? Do you know what are you doing here? And then they gave me the key of the front door of the Eisenhower Fellowships House. The message I received from John Wolf was: “We do know who you are and what you are doing here, now it is time to you to discover it. Welcome”. I’ve got the message. From now on, the EF House key will be among the keys of my house and office. The places where I belong and I am welcome.

April 4th, Sunday Afternoon

Meal at Holly and Mike’s (April 4th Afternoon). Went through new experiences today. We had directions to provide to the taxi driver. However, it was almost useless because the taxi driver seemed not to trust in that piece of paper but in the voice coming from his communication radio (in Arab). The only thing I understood was the name of the streets. I was in the front seat and tried to be the navigator. It was amazing notice that I knew the way to Holly and Mike’s better than the “local” taxi driver.

Holly and Mike were so kind and made us feel so comfortable that the whole afternoon passed quickly. It was so nice spend the afternoon with Holly, Mike, Kari, Soo-Hwang, Evgeniya and Onias.

The return journey was smooth. We took an English speaking taxi driver who drove us safely back to the Hotel.

In the evening, I walked with Evgeniya and Onias in the streets of Philadelphia. There were people wearing masks and clothes like zombies. It was a kind of party in the Easter evening.

First impressions

Walking around in a sunny easter sunday, discovering the surroundings of EF House, through the streets that mix modern and historical buildings, enjoying the glowing white flowers in the streets and in the parks, drinking coffee listening to Frank Sinatra and watching the people walking in the charming streets of the south part of the town. My dear friends, these are my first lovely impressions of Philadelphia. Happy Easter !