Day #1 cont.

So a small group of us met in the lobby and walked for what seemed to be miles just to find a place to eat breakfast. We ended up eating at McDonalds. That is the longest I have ever walked to eat a sausage egg mcmuffin. From there the group split and Richard, Daisy, me and this guy from the bay area called Hung Chee took the subway to do some sightseeing. We checked out the liberty bell which had more security than the airport, we saw Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's grave, and Betsy Ross's house. It was actually very interesting stuff. We then headed back and Hung Chee and I grabbed a Philly cheesesteak before our meeting at 3pm.
The first hour or so of staging was all icebreaker activities to get to know all 85 of us. It turns out one of the guys in the group graduated from Schaumburg high school (our rival h.s. in Chicago). The best is he asked when I graduated Hoffman and when I said 1993, he responded "Dude, I was in 3rd grade in 1993". I don't think I have ever felt older; what a small world nonetheless. It's a good mix of people; about half men half females and about 15-20 over 50. The meeting ended at 7pm. We maily just touched on our anxieties and expectations as well as some security things. They gave us all $180 to cover cab fare and meals so after the meeting about 15 of us walked to this Indian restaurant for dinner where I was forced into eating goat meat. It was actually kinda good though. After dinner we met up with another group and went to a bar where some stranger bought us all pitchers of guiness and newcastle. I was feeling kinda sick still and needed some rest so this guy Adam from Arkansas and I walked back to the hotel where I am now keeping my roommate awake. I forgot how much it sucks to live in the same room as someone.
GoodNight or Добранiч