A chill wind is blowing through the trees and rain clouds threaten overhead as I reflect on the past week’s adventures, sitting on the back porch of our monastery-apartment overlooking the countryside of Tuscany. Though the weather has not been accommodatinglately, we did not let it dictate our plans for theweek. Four-fifths of the way through our time in Italy we completed projects on Dante’s Inferno, cooked an entire Italian meal from scratch under the guidance of a real chef,explored the Wednesday market of Siena,and took a weekend trip to Venice, the City of Love.

Tuesday afternoon Dr. Parker gave us an introduction to the poet Dante Alighieri. Native to Florence, Dante wrote his masterpiece the Divine Comedy, an epic three-part poem about a journey through Hell to reach Purgatory and finally Paradise. Because our study time in Italy is limited, Dr. Parker chose for us to study only The Inferno, which covers the arguably most interesting portion of the epic –Hell. Each of us were given about three Cantos, or chapters, to study and present on to the class. We spent our afternoon classes on Tuesday and Wednesday recounting Dante’s travels down through the depths of Hell to the very center of the earth. The grotesque but creative imagery of Dante’s Hell held everyone captivated.

I have to say that one of our class’s most favorite activities so far was the cooking class. Tuesday after class we all trouped down to the kitchen of the school where we were met by our Italian professor, Enzo, and a bona fide Italian chef named Nando. Both were dressed in traditional chefs’ uniforms of white. They provided us each with a disposable apron and a list of the dishes we would be making. The dinner for the evening consisted of a crostini (toast) appetizer with sardine toppings, fresh pasta with tomato and pesto sauce –all made from scratch, a dish of turkey rolled with vegetable paste, and rich tiramisu.

Once we had all heard Nando’s explanations of how to make the varying dishes and sauces, we spread out around the kitchen and set to work. Joe and I watched several of the others start mixing and kneading the pasta dough before we found something to do. By carefully separating the eggs, yolk from white, we started the process of making the tiramisu. Later we traded the tiramisu over to someone else and helped to cut the pasta and lay it out on trays. With great guidance and direction from Enzo and Nando, we soon had an amazing meal prepared and we were all hungry and ready to eat.

The meal was beyond superb. We enjoyed each dish immensely, savoring them with white and red wine. The entire meal must have taken close to two hours just to eat because we all took the time to really taste the food. There is no meal so satisfying as one that you have cooked personally, especially when it is new to your tongue and fills your stomach just right.

The next morning we visited the market of Siena as a class, professors included. Some of us had shopped there on previous Wednesdays, but Enzo wanted the chance to show us around, relating things we saw to what we had learned in class. Markets in Italy are much like flea markets at home. Vendors set up their temporary booths and watch them fill with people, ready to haggle for the best price. It can be extremely hard to move through the market because of the crowds, but if you find something you really like, chances are you can get it for a fairly low price.

First Enzo took us through the part of the market where abbigliamenti, or clothing, is sold. All kinds of styles are represented there, from trendy dresses and shirts, to leather jackets, and lacy underwear. The next section contained scarpe, or shoes. The endless types of shoes have a wide range of prices, but vendors are often willing to bargain with shoppers. I was tempted several times by stylish high heels, but in this case I decided I could get similar prices at home. Last we looked at paste, the Italian word for food. You can buy cooked meats like chicken and rabbit, cold prosciutto, fried potatoes, mozzarella balls, fresh fruits, and more. By this time my stomach was growling so, on Enzo’s recommendation, I bought some small chicken legs and mozzarella balls to share with Joe. We also bought a couple juicy nectarines before heading back to the school for our second class.

At 6 a.m. the next morning, everyone stumbled down the long hill to the train station, backpacks loaded for the weekend trip to Venice. We had to walk because the buses do not run so bright and early. When we reached the station, we boarded a bus to Bologna. Everyone slept for the majority of the ride and continued to do so once we caught the train from Bologna to Venice.

Upon arrival in the City of Love, we all gathered around Dr. Parker as she pointed out the vaporetto station. The vaporettos are like a public bus system, only they are boats. We bought our tickets and boarded awaiting boat for the ride to our hostel. The particular hostel we stayed in was not exactly what we were used to –no toilet seats, males and females separated on different floors, shower curtains and bathroom locks hard to come by. But after the long day of traveling I resolved that if I could just get a good night’s sleep it would be alright. The room was fairly quiet in the evening so fortunately I did indeed sleep well.

Friday morning we all met up in front of the bell tower in St. Mark’s Square, famous for beautiful architecture and legions of pigeons flocking to bread crumb-throwing tourists. According to Mike, one of our classmates from the Prescott campus, the pigeons were not nearly so bad this year as they were the year before. Next Dr. Parker led us into St. Mark’s Basilica where we were enthralled by the famous mosaics that cover the majority of wall, ceiling, and floor space of the entire building. What added to the experience and made it different from all the other churches we had seen was the eastern influence of the architecture. Rather than Gothic spires and scenes of the Crucifixion, we saw pointed arches and windows and scenes of a resurrected Christ.

Entrance to the main area was free but certain interesting sections cost an extra couple of euros to visit. I paid three euros to see relics and treasures from the days during which the Basilica was built. Among these were boxes and chalices covered with gold plating, pearls, and beautiful stones. One box was said to even contain a piece of the true cross of Christ. Also present were bones and even skulls that supposedly once belonged to some of the saints. I paid another two euros to go up behind the altar where I saw a great golden scene of Christ and his apostles surrounded by angels and hundreds of emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. Behind this lay a decorative coffin that was claimed to hold the body of St. Mark himself.

After the Basilica we all boarded a vaporetto for another island. One of the great charms of Venice is its handmade glass, attributed to the skillful glass-masters of Murano. When we arrived on the island, a shopkeeper informed us that most of the glass-masters had stopped for lunch. We took the waiting time to find and eat our own lunches. At this point Joe and I decided to split off from the others. One of the hazards of sight-seeing with a large group is the tendency for a few to slow the rest down. It was fortunate that we did separate because it turned out that no one saw the glass-making except us. Several furnaces charged for the viewing, but we wandered on until we found one for free. The show was very brief, less than five minutes, but mainly because the glass-master was so adept and quick with his work. In that short amount of time he used one technique –not actual blowing but sort of waving the glass around on the end of a pole—to make a clear vase, and another technique done with hand tools to create a red-orange horse figure. The crowd was in awe of his speed and agility and I barely had enough time to get a semi-acceptable photo.

After Murano, Joe and I took the vaporetto back to our hostel for a quick rest. We met up with a few of the others there who told us the rest were all planning to eat dinner near the train station in a short while. We joined them for the boat-ride back to the other side of Venice for another delicious Italian meal. I had spaghetti and a thin steak while Joe ate lasagna with his meat. For whatever reason, perhaps just the grandness of the city around me, I was feeling generous and bought a bottle of merlot for my table.

Later that evening, as we wandered back towards St. Mark’s square wondering what else we should do, someone suggested taking a magical gondola ride. Unfortunately our group contained thirteen people and the most that can ride in one gondola is six. Either one person would be left behind or someone else would have to make a sacrifice. We ended up going in two groups of four with the rest staying behind. The evening was calm and quiet, the waterways between buildings absolutely lovely. It would have been a perfect ride if only one of our group had been a little less enthusiastic. He was so excited to be aboard a gondola that he couldn’t help but talk loudly and lean from side to side, rocking the little boat from time to time. Even so it was still magical and fantastic and a ride I will never forget.

While most of our classmates headed back to Siena on Saturday morning, Joe and I stayed around a little longer to do some shopping. Accompanied by our friend Nick, we explored the shops around St. Mark’s square and down a couple side streets, doing our best to stay out of the pouring rain. When we were getting close to time to catch our train, we had each bought quite a few gifts for friends and family at home, and were plenty ready to get away from the rain and rest on the ride home.

One week left to go and I am anxious to get home. I have had an amazing time in Italy but I miss many things from home like cheeseburgers, terry-cloth towels, and queen-sized beds that are not made out of two smaller mattresses. In my final week abroad I plan to take as much advantage as I can of the things that exist here but not in the U.S. Delicious gelato and copious amounts of pasta aside, I look forward to boarding the plane for Florida.

Two weeks ago there was a chief pilot meeting here in Dallas, where all the chief pilots from all of the bases gather to talk about the changes that are going to start taking place here at American. While I was unable to sit in on the meeting; that evening two other interns and I actually got invited to go out to dinner with the chief pilot from Miami and Los Angeles. Getting the chance to sit down in a relaxed environment outside the office with these guys, talk about the industry and how they got where they are now, was a great experience.

The next evening after work, half of the interns, including myself, had the opportunity to travel to Seattle for a tour of the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Washington the following day.Leaving the night before thetour gave us a chance to look around Seattle a little in the morning. After making our way down to the bay and fish market area we found where Star Bucks originated. What better way to start your day on a cold wet Seattle morning that a cup of hot Star Bucks coffee? After walking through the market, we met up with the rest of the interns that flew out that morning and traveled north to Everett and the Boeing facility.

The tour we received is not the regular tour anyone off the street would have. Meeting our tour guide, an employee of Boeing, we took the employee shuttle to the back of the assembly building. It should be mentioned that this building is the largest building by volume in the world. Entering through the doors where the 777 is made we spent the most time looking at how this huge plane is put together. From wing assembly, fuselage assembly, interior “guts” of the aircraft, we got to see it all. For a pilot, getting to stick your head up inside the wing of a 777 is quite a rush. Just to put into perspective how big this plane is, the circumference of the engine of a 777 is the circumference of the fuselage of a 737! The horizontal stabilizer on the 777 is only 6 feet shorter than the wing of the 737! This is a big aircraft! Then after going through the assembly you find yourself standing in an area where there are 4 fully assembled 777’s around you, and you are still inside!

After looking all around the 777-assembly area we made our way over to take a look at the new 787. With one already in static testing there were three more on the assembly line. The first two on the line will be used for other testing and the third will be the first 787 to ever fly. To be able to see the plane, which will be the first ever of its kind to fly, was a pretty cool experience. After looking at the 787 we got to look at the 767 and 747 assembly areas. There we were standing next to a fully assembled 747 inside. It is hard to put into words what walking around this assembly building is like. After getting done at Boeing we made our way back to Seattle and the fish market for dinner. Picking a completely random restaurant, as we waited for a seat I sat down on a stool and looked down to find a plaque that read, “Tom Hanks sat here for Sleepless in Seattle.” No one in the group could remember the scene from the movie but nonetheless it was cool and the restaurant, situated with a view over the bay was a great cap to our Seattle experience.

Taking the redeye back to Dallas that night, I arrived back at my apartment at 7:00am and was at work at 8:00am. This is where things got crazy. During lunch we were looking at where we wanted to go for the weekend and where the loads looked good. Traveling as a D2 standby, if you want to get somewhere you need to make sure there are a few open seats. So where did we want to go after being in Seattle not more than 12 hours ago? San Juan, Puerto Rico of course! So 5 o’clock rolled around and we ran home, packed our bags and headed for the airport. Of course, all direct flights were full, so there we were headed to Boston to connect. Arriving in Boston just after midnight we planned on sleeping in the airport until our 6:15am flight to San Juan. However, at 2:30am we were awaken to security telling us we had to leave outside of security because the airport was closing. A few hours later we were back in the airport and sitting first class on a 757 to San Juan. In 48 hours we went from 40-degree temperatures and rain in Seattle to swimming in the Caribbean in San Juan getting a suntan. San Juan is really cool! I completely recommend old San Juan and the fort there around sunset, it was awesome. Spending Sunday getting back to Dallas ended our five-day travel experience.

Monday morning brought around more flying though, this time in the form of a 737 simulator. For four hours another intern and myself got time in the left seat of a 737. From taxi, takeoff, and approaches we got a chance to do it all. Shooting about five approaches into San Francisco we got a chance to try our best to land the 737. My first landing was anything but smooth, with solid contact with the ground the 737 simulator rocked and rolled. We were then given a chance to land the 737 using the heads up display or HUD. This is an awesome piece of equipment and produced a very smooth landing, even in adverse weather. The coolest part though, was landing in 000/000 conditions, feeling the wheels touch and never seeing the runway was very interesting. The HUD even has rollout runway centerline guidance so after wheels stopped our instructor removed the weather to reveal that we were perfectly centerline on the runway after never even seeing it, that is incredible.

This week we also got the chance to meet with an American Eagle recruiter. While American Eagle isn’t currently hiring, the recruiter gave us a lot of good tips on interviewing with any airline and told us what she expected in the next year for American Eagle. She told us that even through they aren’t officially hiring right now, we still might be able to interview at the end of our internship and that they could hold our file until they start hiring again, which would be at least good interview experience.

This past weekend, another intern from Purdue and I headed out to Salt Lake City on Friday after work. Finding some comfortable chairs we slept in the airport and then rented a car and drove up into the Rockies to a ski resort called Snowbird. Yes, we went snow skiing in the middle of June! While the snow was late spring conditions, there was still plenty of snow on the top of the mountain and on the backside of the mountain for skiing. After a solid morning of skiing the snow started to soften up quite a bit by midday so we went back down to the car. Jumping on the internet, we looked at flights and decided we could ski for another hour and then catch a flight to Chicago and connect to Dallas. Doing just that we skied for a little bit longer and then raced across the country flying on the 777 from ORD to DFW arriving back in Dallas just 24 hours after we left. It was hard to believe that last week we were laying out on a beach in San Juan and here we were this weekend snow skiing, this summer has already been a once in a lifetime experience.

Cheers,

Jacob

Ever had one of those falling dreams where you suddenly jolt and realize you are just in bed. You look around and everything is silent. The experience leaves you quite a bit shaken. Well, this is how I would describe our third and final stop, Qinhuangdao. After traveling through bustling Beijing and antsy Xi An, Qinhuangdao was a sudden jolt of silence and solitude. Though not without its share of familiar noises like excessive car horn usage, yelling vendors and the delicate dips and tones of the Chinese language, it had the luxury of being more rural and located by the ocean. Located a four-hour train ride north of Beijing, this historical seaside port and resort is known for its pearls, seafood and summer residents, such as the late Premier Mao Zedong. The city’s location also supplied sounds of seagulls, beaching waves and giggling residents. Although it may not make sense to discuss the sense of sound in Qinhuangdao, sometimes the absence of sound in one city makes us realize the sounds we heard and might have missed in others.

Beijing Beeping

Upon arrival to Beijing, our group was inundated with noise. Whether it was from the upset passengers on our flight, the busy lost luggage counter clerk, the two money exchange ladies or the fast paced taxi drivers, our ringing ears were overwhelmed. Even our arrival was welcomed by a million car chorus of car horns extraordinaire. Well, actually, our driver just wanted to get to our hotel quickly and since he was the biggest, we honked the loudest. And so we were introduced to the game of car versus pedestrian, a seemingly daily Chinese tradition. To play, you must either be casually walking across the street or be madly gripping the steering wheel of a speeding car. Check. Now, if you are the pedestrian, be sure to ignore all crosswalk signs and don’t look both ways when you cross the road. After all, the pedestrian has the right of way. Right? If you are a taxi driver, be sure to swerve in and out of traffic belligerently, honking your horn at anything and everything within a city-wide radius. Pull up closely to cyclists and blare your horn as you cut them off. Aim directly for the elderly couple or the woman with the toddler. But, be sure to act nonchalant and ignore the pleas from your passengers to slow down. After all, once you drop them off they will become pedestrians and potential targets.

After a while, amongst this near insanity of drivers and braveness of pedestrians, you begin to relax. As a pedestrian, you learn to run. I mean haul your behind so fast you would think you were qualifying last minute for the Olympics. I became so good at jay-walking I even walked in front of the Chinese. Walking is not the time to be timid in China. As a passenger, there were a few times I thought either I or the pedestrian would be killed. Once, the driver didn’t even honk until he had bumped the pedestrian. Unscathed and unphased, the pedestrian looked sourly at the driver and continued walking into traffic. And even if traffic is at a standstill and there is no chance of moving for awhile, the taxi drivers will continue to blow those horns like they have a quota to fill. This chorus continues well into the night, even after taxi service had stopped. I guess patience is no longer a virtue. While sitting in the back, since I nearly refused to ride in the front, I thought, “Whatever happened to turning up the radio in traffic and settling in to figure out what the license plate of the driver in front really means?”

Beijing Building

In addition to the sporadic meeting of car horn quota, the incessant noise of jackhammers, reversing sirens and cranes filled the day and nighttime air. It is no secret, at least not a quiet secret that the country is in the midst of preparation for the Summer Olympics, and no city more so than Beijing. Local Chinese joke that the Chinese national bird has become the construction crane. All over the city, these national birds are constructing buildings including their own “Bird’s Nest,” a steal woven stadium where the Olympic opening and closing events will take place. The National Stadium, the building’s actual name, will also host the track and field events and the soccer finals in its 2.8 million-square-foot, 91,000-seat stadium. In addition to Olympic site construction, China is scrambling to create a cleaner ambiance and smoother infrastructure in downtown Beijing. During our first two weeks in Beijing, construction cluttered our pathways. We watched as new sidewalks were put in, parking lots were constructed and hutongs were torn down. Destruction of these traditionally single-story neighborhoods of homes from China’s dynastic period made way to the construction of high rises, leaving rubble of oven-baked bricks to resemble a war zone. Hutongs, though increasingly disappearing, now house small boutiques and night-life scenes.

Once the dust had settled and we returned two weeks later, we had to learn an entirely new Beijing. In anticipation of heavy public transportation use, the subway grid had changed and we now had to herd like cattle through numerous turnstiles and barricades. The Olympic weightlifting compound located across the street from our Beihang hotel now had newly-bricked sidewalks and white plastic tents covering all the entrances. But what fun would it be if we actually knew what we were doing in China?

Dance Dance REVOLUTION

It was in one of the hutongs that our group stumbled upon Propaganda, a three-story nightclub aimed at foreign tourists. Our group was really just looking for a way to unwind from two weeks worth of classes and immersion and we picked the right place. The top floors housed a restaurant/bar, but most of the patrons crammed into the bottom-level dance floor. The dance floor, which more resembled a basement, had exposed concrete walls covered in the club’s namesake Chinese propaganda and a DJ spinning American tunes from two years ago. Though it was a dance floor, it became more of a mosh pit, with the few Chinese patrons jumping up and down to their favorite songs. When a more recent song came on that actually had choreography, we taught the locals the “Soulja Boy.” But, the locals were few and far between amongst the patrons. Though the staff and DJ were Chinese, it took us just a moment to notice that we were mostly in the company of our fellow countrymen. It was a relief to hear English from people other than those in our group. After a few hours, we had almost forgotten we were in China until we stepped outside into the street filled with Chinese revelers catching 2 a.m. snacks from street vendors and sounds of honking taxis and demolition crews.

Loogie Launches

Not all the sounds of the city were welcomed or humorous. Before I had left, I had been told to wear close-toed shoes because the streets were disgusting. I assumed that meant there would be garbage strewn streets and other discarded rubbish. But early in the trip I cursed being a Floridian and staying true to my flip-flop roots. Before my U.S. departure, I bought a pair of new Rainbows for my trip because I knew they would be comfortable walking shoes and would go with every outfit I packed (Yeah, I know. I am a girl.) But, when the first random Beijing cabbie spit on my freshly manicured toes, I hoped my numerous antibiotics would protect me and that he had good dental insurance for his soon-to-be lost teeth. However, lack of manners can be overlooked in a country filled with people choking down dust and pollution-infused air. No wonder they are congested. Even after only a few days, we also found ourselves following the Chinese custom of spitting and clearing throats. The little mucus deposits multiplied on the busy streets and sidewalks like gum stuck under a high school desk. I can’t begin to tell you how nasty it is to listen to someone clear their throat and only hope he or she hits the targeted ground and not the foot covering the ground.

Street Vendor Surprise

I have had a very love/hate relationship with the Chinese street vendors throughout my trip. Sure their food was cheap and readily available, but despite being grateful for some lost weight, they didn’t quite pass my health inspection or animal rights code to be my main source of nourishment. But, nonetheless, the rest of the group would drag me along to their meals, leaving me to just listen in on the excitement. I have discussed the taste, but there is also a distinct sound of a street vendor. First, you have the preparation sounds. There is of course the chopping of the vegetables, popping of the cooking oil and the occasional talk of what type of meat is available tonight. But, there is also the swift, umm, dispatch of formerly fresh and swimming meat as was the case when I accidentally had a craving for fish. The vendor, seeing my curiosity and video camera, grabbed the fish out of a water-filled cart, smacked it over the head twice with a wooden 2 x 4 and started prepping the meat. Through shocked eyes and a slack jaw, I looked down past the fish only to notice how handy that Tide-to-Go my mother had packed would become when I could finally clean the new red spots off my white polo. Through my grimace, he began removing the fish scales with a tool that looked much like a foot scrapper used for a pedicure. Following the spitting incident I had considered getting a pedicure, but suddenly I didn’t feel it was necessary. As I gathered myself and my lost appetite, I also thought being a vegetarian wasn’t such a ghastly idea.

The next common vendor sound is the bubbling of the oil and sizzle of the meat on the grill. It is always a good sound of cooking meat because all too often I found myself curled up because of this forgotten step. Finally, the last sound is that of crying. I am talking hunched over, sobbing, with snot running out your nose, crying. When I told my friends I was going to China, they all said, “Careful of the meat. They will serve you dog.” Already through most of the trip I had learned that many of my preconceived notions of China, as well as some wild stereotypes of Americans, had been debunked. My favorite Chinese concept of the Americans was we were “all a little crazy and probably should be medicated.” During a conversation with one of my language partners, he blurted out he thought “Americans are dangerous” because “they own guns and shoot the guns every morning.” I sure don’t fit that characteristic, nor does anyone that I know, but then again I thought all Chinese were short (I must have overlooked Shanghai basketball star, Yao Ming). And I thought that eating dog, widely considered a delicacy in China, was also a misconception. That was until I saw a cooked one smiling at me and I cried. I am talking hunched over, sobbing, with snot running out your nose, crying. As the vendor laughed and tried to move Lassie closer to me, I buried my face into my hands and hoped for better. I suddenly craved fish, but we all now how well that craving turned out. Again, I cried. Now, where was that medication?

Flash. Bang.

The day after we climbed Mount Hua in Xi An, the group had settled in for a bit of relaxation. Some of us were doing homework. Some were napping. Some were even sneaking into the Chinese wedding reception five floors below us. I was of the middle group, recovering from yet another bout of food poisoning. Suddenly, the bed shook and there were loud popping noises coming from outside the window. In a daze and struggling to get out my ear plugs, take off my sleep mask and dive to the floor, I thought, “My mother was right. I am going to die in an aftershock.” My mother, though smart enough to pack me Tide-to-Go, couldn’t prepare me for the wedding’s celebratory firecrackers. And, in all respect to my language partner and his “dangerous impression” of Americans, if I shot guns off every morning, I would not be taking cover under my plywood-hard bed on the 7th floor every time someone sets off a Chinese firecracker. Instead, I would be laughing at my fellow classmates who had snuck into the wedding and found themselves ducking for cover behind the wedding party.

Backstreet in the Backstreet

Travels between our three different destinations were long, including fourteen and twenty hour train rides. Because time was long and boredom was strong, the group had a penchant for sporadic singing contests, especially to Disney songs like Aladdin’s “A Whole New World.” I used to sing in the choir back when I was in middle school and my mom was the choir director. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t in the choir for my musical talent or love for sequined vests. And I wasn’t the only one on the trip either who had sung in choir or just liked the sound of our voice in the shower. For that matter, one of our fellow student’s Chinese name even translated to “sings in shower.” So, when we arrived in Qinhuangdao to find the main form of entertainment, karaoke, located next to our hotel, we were excited to have an actual stage. In China, the karaoke rooms are rented out by the hour and can hold up to twenty people, just enough to terribly embarrass the mike-holder. Including the professor, her husband, and ten of the students, our professor also invited her sister-in-law and brother to join us. After a few of us had broken the ice with “A Whole New World” and “Hotel California,” the sister-in-law casually walked up to the mike. She looked slightly shy as she picked a popular Chinese song. Her shyness faded as she busted out in a perfect mezzo-soprano. The remaining group looked at each other and thought we had missed amateur night.

Not only did we like the punishment the first time, but we went back for more with our Chinese language partners. For the final meeting with our language partners, we invited them to karaoke. That night, we had Chinese and American students having a sing off in two languages, both off-key and to off-color songs, but nonetheless, interesting and funny. But, it was the quiet group members who readily grabbed the mike and shocked the rest of us. One such member expressed himself vocally to an Asian-accented Linkin Park’s “Bleed It Out” and another sang a pre-breakdown Britney Spears’ “Lucky.”

However, it was our last sing-off that cemented our pop star status and a real reason for all those paparazzi photos throughout the trip. While sharing our last lunch at a local dumpling place, the restaurant’s speakers suddenly blasted a surprising rendition of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Although sung in Chinese by a Chinese pop star, we filled in the English and the dance moves from our middle school dance days. A small group of local children and restaurant patrons watched in a bit of embarrassment and interest, but clapped when the seven of us were done. After all, we were in our own “whole new world” simply filling in with a bit of home.

Final Falling Dream

“What is your name?” the voice said in broken Chinglish. All I could think was “Am I alive? That was some fall.” At 200 feet, it was some fall and I had jumped it. The last day as a group, the professor took us to a local ecological center. Although the organic lunch, beautiful orchards and cute farm animals were captivating, it was the site’s amusement park that piqued the group’s excitement. And when I saw that bungee jumping platform, I grabbed four other group members and took the leap.

That first step off into the fast moving space between the slow-flowing river and my flailing body was intensely gratifying. I heard my classmate cheering me on and I hoped I would stop spinning in tiny circles. With the blood still rushing to my head and my eyes blacking out momentarily, I grabbed for the hook-like contraption and clutched on to a Chinese man no bigger than my 5’1 frame. He smiled and repeated his question, “What is your name?” “Ou Wen Hai,” I replied as I smiled towards the shore. My Chinese name may mean “sea of words,” but I was speechless on that river.

This week, Joe and I spent more time exploring the charms of Siena. It was relaxing for us after our past weekend of traveling and we were grateful for the chance to catch up on our rest while the others were off visiting new places.

Wednesday after class, everyone walked down to the very heart of Siena for a tour of Gino Cacino’s ham, cheese, and wine shop. Dr. Parker told us that this year was the first time they had tried this tour. Gino turned out to be the friendliest, most enthusiastic, and helpful shop owner we had yet encountered. The experience was not so much a tour as it was an explanation, with several colorful visuals, of how Gino and his employees make cheese and age ham right in their shop. We didn’t get to look in the back where the work actually took place, but with the help of Luca’s translations –Gino didn’t seem to speak a word of English—we soon had a general understanding of the process for aging cheese and ham.

The best part was when Gino brought out trays of salami, prosciutto, goat cheese, and parmesan for us to taste. Prosciutto is actually slices of aged and cured ham that are eaten uncooked. It makes delicious sandwiches or snacks with cheese and bread. I had never tried goat cheese before, but it was even better than the parmesan. We also tried red and white wine, as well as some dessert wine that we dipped pieces of biscotti into in the traditional Italian fashion. Biscotti are basically any kind of cookie, but the ones we tried were specifically crunchy and had sliced almonds mixed into them.

Gino was generous with his samples and we took our time munching while taking photos and examining his shop. He had one wall with several magazine clippings about his work and his shop. We determined that he is fairly famous in the area and he definitely deserves his excellent reputation. To thank him for his hospitality, several of us bought wine and cheeses from his shop to take back to our residences for later.

On Friday afternoon, Joe and I were scheduled to take the wine-tasting tour that we had missed the week before. We went into town early to eat lunch and check our messages online. When we returned to the bus stop to find our tour guide and the tour bus, we nearly missed the whole thing for a second time. We had been told to look for the tour guide that our classmates had had on their trip, but no one who couldpossibly be guiding a wine tour matched the description of the man we had been given. While we were searching, a group began to form in front of the pub where we were told to meet our tour guide. I overheard one woman talking about a wine tour and Joe recognized some of the girls from our local school Dante Alighieri. By the time we finally asked the woman who appeared to be in charge, they were boarding the bus for departure.

After several tense minutes of explanation and a few phone calls by the woman to her tour company, we were told we could join the tour. Apparently we had the wrong information about the tour guide, and we didn’t even know the name of the company, but Valencia, the actual tour guide for that day, was glad to have us after the confusion was cleared up.

The tour began with an exhilarating ride over rolling hills and around sharply bent roads. Fortunately the weather held out for most of the trip and the sunshine made the landscape all the more glorious. In Florida, or at least in Daytona Beach, there is not much landscape to enjoy. But the Tuscany region is made up of the most gorgeous vistas –carefully rowed vineyards broken by patches of olive groves and small hamlets with their quaint homes and shops. We stopped at the top of a very high hill, looking out on these sights in both directions, in order to allow us tourists to enjoy the view and take memorable photos.

Next we visited a little town called Radda in Chianti which seemed to be about a tenth the size of Siena. You could walk every street in about twenty minutes and surely everyone who lives there knows one another. The small size added to its charm and Joe and I quickly found ourselves enjoying the local shops. We had just enough time to find a few gifts for friends, take some lovely photos, and walk back to the tour bus.

The next stop was smaller still, not even a town, just a tiny hamlet among the vineyards and hills. There weren’t even any shops for us to browse and the total population was only about fifty people. We followed the tour guide on a brief, informal walk through one side of the hamlet and back up the other, just to get a taste of the simplicity of life there.

Finally we made our last stop at the main base of operations for Castello D’albola, the major wine maker of the area. The office and some of the wine cellars are located in the actual castle building. We wereshown three different locations of wine barrels holding wine in the aging process. Then we entered the office area where the wine tastings are held. We tried five different kinds of wine altogether but even more than the wines, I really enjoyed the olive oil. It tasted almost like some sort of grape syrup, possibly due to the fact that we tried if after sampling all the wine. I couldn’t help but make a purchase for myself and my family.

The next day Joe had made plans to meet up with his Italian skateboarding friend, Elisseo. The two had met on an online forum for finding others interested in extreme sports. When Joe decided he would be going to Italy, it worked out nicely as Elisseo lives in the outskirts of Siena.

I joined Joe and Elisseo for the skating session, but only to take photos and watch. While I have come far in my skateboarding skills, I am still nowhere near able to manage the hills that Joe enjoys. The particular hill they had chosen for that day was a little narrow but very long with a steep enough incline to get moving quite fast. The surrounding area was beautiful with many wildflowers, a small vineyard, and mountains visible in the distance. Joe and Elisseo spent about two hours skating the hill while I amused myself with my camera.

Later that evening, Joe and I took the bus into town to explore the possibility of enjoying an Irish music festival. In the process of locating the festival, we discovered that there is quite a large area of Siena that is grassy and covered in plants. It lies to the southeast of the city center, the exact area which we had not yet had reason to visit. We also found the most breathtaking view of Siena and the surrounding countryside visible from a park not far from the school where we study. When the music finally started we enjoyed the lively rhythms of an Irish fiddle, a cello, and a guitar played by a couple of Irish women who call themselves the Clover Duo. We also enjoyed a glass of Guinness and some traditional Irish jacket potatoes before taking our leave of the festival.

There are now two weeks left in the study abroad program and I can feel myself getting a little homesick. But there are still a few more adventures to be had before we prepare to head back to Florida and I know we will make the best of them that we can.

Wednesday again! So it’s just a week later than planned this time.

Well, I did not write an entry last week because I was so very busy. This was for two very good reasons though. The first one is one of the best parts about working at Lockheed: ‘Flex Time.’ This means that I have to do my 40 hours of work each week, but I can decide when I want to do them. I worked for 11 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday and 10 more on Thursday along with the eight vacation hours from Memorial Day on Monday to complete my work time and take off Friday.

Now I didn’t take off Friday just to go to the beach. I actually went down to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday night for the American Geophysical Union Spring Conference. The professor I work for, her advisor, and I went to the conference to observe and present (I just observed) several posters and talks on current research in the field of Space Physics; more specifically the Earth’s magnetosphere, which is what I am studying.

The best part about this was that Embry-Riddle’s Physical Sciences department sponsored me and covered the convention attendance and hotel costs. Having opportunities like this and still being an undergraduate student has pretty much convinced me that I have chosen the best major possible.

I was also able to meet researchers in the field from London, Germany, Finland, Alaska, and Japan. The only hard part was having to derail my brain from all the engineering I had been doing and get back into the physics. It was definitely fun though.

In other news, work has been going well. I have been setting up a lot of programs and models to simulate vehicle controls from some computational fluid dynamics data. There was also a ‘lunch and learn’ today where anyone from the site who wants to can go to a class during their lunch break. Today’s class was all about how to appropriately use scale models and relate small models to different fluid viscosities and pressure.

I also got home later than usual today because we had an intern dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. There are several more interns now from other colleges and even a few from a local high school starting on Monday. At dinner there were ten of us, including the Human Resources contact, Paula. This was an ‘official’ internship event which meant the bill was covered and everyone got cheesecake!

The bed is calling me and I must prepare for the rest of my week and hopefully some scuba diving this weekend.

Have fun!

Hello again, I hope everyone has had a good summer so far, I know I have!  Well, my second week at Continental started off with a bang.  Monday we had a Corporate Orientation for all of the interns at Continental Airlines.  We went to a big conference room with the interns from the flight, marketing, and engineering departments.   It was fun to finally meet all of the interns that will be working with us this summer.  During the course of the day, we learned everything we ever wanted to know about Continental: the history, how they operate, the aircraft they fly, etc.  Then we proceeded to the Presidential Office luncheon.  It was amazing to see where the executive board of Continental works.   We all had gourmet food for lunch while different Continental managers introduced themselves to us.  The most shocking moment of the day was when the President of Continental came over and chatted with us.  It was very impressive how friendly the second in command was to the interns.  Finally, the CEO of Continental came out and introduced himself and thanked us for making Continental a part of our lives.  After his speech he was kind enough to take a picture with all of the interns.  This was a great jumpstart to the second week, but the best is yet to come.

After Corporate Orientation, the week continued as normal.  My partner and I performed our normal duties as interns, continuously perfecting our skills and learning new strategies to improve efficiency and accuracy.  After a productive week at work, it was time to figure our where we were going to go for the weekend.  I didn’t think we could top Costa Rica, but boy, was I wrong.  We all decided to hop on a late night flight to London on Friday.  We flew on a Boeing 777, possible the greatest plane ever made, and arrived in London 10 hrs later.  On Saturday we checked into our hotel, and walked around to get a feel for London.  On Sunday, we saw all of the sights, including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Piccadilly Circus.  It was awesome being half way across the world for a weekend.  Everyone there was so friendly and we saw lots of history.  After the sights, we went dancing Sunday night and grabbed the early flight out of there on Memorial Day.  It was a weekend full of culture and adventure.  I can’t wait to go back!

I returned to work on Tuesday, where Matt and I ran the show.  My boss was out of town for a safety conference in San Diego.  It was pretty neat running the safety department of the worlds 4th largest airline.  We worked hard all week, and I decided to stay in the states for the weekend.  I went to North Carolina and saw one of my really great friends.  It was a great relaxing weekend full of fun.  As I start my 4th week at Continental, I can’t believe the time has gone by so fast.  I want to be stuck in slow motion so it will never end.  The next few weeks are going to be full of excitement.  Soon, we are going to start our tours of the control tower, maintenance facility, and the FAA facility in Oklahoma.  There are plenty of adventures to come, but until then, it ‘ s time for bed.

Well I have a new found appreciation for anyone who has ever had to service a lavatory of any aircraft. Our GV came in from London last week and it was my turn to take care of the lav. Unfortunate because the trip from London to McKinney is about 10 hours and with 4 passengers and a total of 4 crew, well enough said on that subject.

I have been hard at work training for my many duties at the hangar. I have been through a series of videos outlining fueling, fuel farm management, sexual harassment (always a corporate favorite), and to top it off fire safety. I have been training with some of the pilots as well. The avionics systems on both the Gulfstream GIV and GV are complex with a Honeywell Flight Management System, RVSM capabilities and the various auto throttles, thrust reversers, and an MDAU for maintenance techs to figure out what is going wrong with the aircraft. The MDAU helps so much whenever a discrepancy comes up. For example, the GV came back with a failure of the left ice detection system. We were able to recreate the failure on the ground and later found out what the problem was. After going through some of the checklists and flows with one of the pilots, I was allowed to observe a test flight of the GIV. To give everyone an idea of how fast these corporate jets are on takeoff roll, our V1 was 119 knots, which if anyone is flying the Cessna… that’s faster than our cruise. At 130 knots the nose was just starting to come off the ground and before you knew what was going on we were climbing through 10,000 feet. The performance on the Gulfstreams are almost beyond words, thus I can barely manage to get this down on the computer.

One of our other aircraft is currently down at the Gulfstream hanger located at Love Field in Dallas. I was able to travel down there and take a little tour of the facility where they perform some of the major component changes as well as refurbishing the interior. We hope to have the aircraft back in service later this week, but when you have a team of people taking apart your aircraft; it often never gets back the way it needs to be so we have some work cut out for us over the next few days. Stay tuned and if you have any questions for me email me at shane.bertrand@eds.com and I will try and get back to you as soon as I can.

Hey Everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well and that summer is going great. Summer here has been going pretty well so far, not much to do but I’ve been managing to keep myself busy. I’ve been working two jobs and going to class so the weekdays have been going by the fastest, but weekends have been pretty boring besides the whole sleeping factor!!! Anyway, I have done a few things that I will talk to you guys about, so I hope you enjoy this entry!
AT300- This class is amazing! It is my 9:45 class every day (Mon-Thur) and the professor, Marv Smith, is pretty much the most amazing man in this entire world. He knows how to make class fun, funny, but still gets the information across to you. The class is so easy too, I got a 90 on my first test without even studying! So we have our next test very soon and I hope to do really well on this one as well!
AS254- Aviation Legislation is going a lot better, as I told you all last time, we have to do two presentations and write two papers and blah blah blah…. Well I’m done with both of them and now I only have to worry about the final. I really am learning a lot in the class though and I’m really enjoying it.

So I will tell you exactly why I don’t have much to write about and it can be summarized in my weekly schedule:
Monday- Thursday : Class 9:45- 11:15, Lunch, Class 1:15 to 2:45, work til 5:30, Homework
Friday- ERRSA stuff
Sat & Sun: BOREDOM!

That is seriously what this past month has been like, but in a way it’s kinda nice because I don’t have to worry about meetings popping up or things like that. I really like having a set schedule it just gets a little repetitive!

Okay so FUN STUFF!!!

I WENT TO THE SHUTTLE LAUNCH!!! WITH PRESS PASSES!!!
That’s right, I was in the press site! It was amazing! So the night before the launch they do a tower rollback and we, as press, get to go to that and it is literally like 1000 feet away from the shuttle where we get to stand! So that was the night before the launch. The next day we got to Kennedy Space Center at 10:00 for a 5:02 launch… We got to go to crew walkout and we were like 50 feet away from the crew and astrobus! I was in awe the whole day and when that shuttle took off and you’re the closest that anybody can get (3.1 miles) you experience something that not many get to. The beauty of it, and especially the sound that you hear, it was so loud it shook me, it is something I will never forget! PLEASE GO CHECK OUT THE PICTURES ON MY WEBSITE www.virb.com/joejaworskiatc they are truly amazing!!!

So that’s been my much needed excitement for the past two weeks, but coming up I’m looking forward to my mom visiting me next week so I’ll be sure to write about that in my next entry. I really hope you all are having a great summer and if you have any questions at all about anything on campus or anything in general please feel free to contact me whenever you want!!

Until Next Time,

Joe Jaworski
AIM: HYPORBOY226
Email: Jaworksj@erau.edu
Pics: www.virb.com/joejaworskiatc

Wow. Traveling abroad can be a real struggle at times. This week was filled with so many mistakes and miscommunications that I’m just grateful it’s over and we’re all back in Siena. Let me start from the beginning.

In preparation for our planned trip to Florence, Dr. Parker had assigned each of us an artist of the Italian Renaissance to study and report on. My artist was Masaccio and Joe had the more well-known Botticelli. Others included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. We gave our presentations Tuesday, in order from the earliest artist to the most recent. This way we would have a better understanding of what we were seeing when we visited the Uffizi, a famous art gallery in Florence.

The trouble started the next day after lunch. We were scheduled to take a wine-tasting tour of south Chianti, the area in which Siena is located. As everyone left the classroom and moved out into the hallway, I ran ahead to make a quick trip to the bathroom before we left. I told Joe, so he waited for me, but when I came out everyone else was gone. We hurried to the bus stop, practically sprinting across town only to realize they must have meant another bus stop because no one was there. So we turned around and headed back to the school, hoping someone would have come back for us once they realized we were missing. Well someone did come back, but they left again before we could get there, so we missed the wine tour altogether. We later found out that we could still take the tour, but we would have to go another day with a different group. I felt pretty miserable for missing out on the fun our classmates had together, but at least we will still get to go. Either way, this was only the first of our problems.

The majority of Thursday went fairly smoothly. We all took an hour-long bus ride to Florence, which is called Firenze in Italy. Our first sight to see was the Church of Santa Maria Novella. The inner walls were lined with frescoes and great paintings from the Italian Renaissance. Several of us recognized works of the artists we had studied, including one of the most famous frescoes, the Trinity, of my own artist Masaccio.

From there Dr. Parker and her husband took us to lunch at a lovely restaurant near the Medici Chapels. Florence is famous for its steaks, and we were all amused to see the gigantic slices which Brian and Jon ordered. They were like something out of The Flinstones –caveman-sized chunks of juicy meat. The rest of us took the opportunity to try other Italian dishes which we had not tasted before. Joe had an interesting mix of penne pasta, Gorgonzola, and bacon. My dish was linguini pasta with alfredo sauce and shrimp, plus two giant prawns. Absolutely satisfying.

After lunch, the Parkers gave us a few hours to explore Florence on our own, with the instructions to meet back up in front of the Uffizi gallery at 3:45. A few of us decided to use this time to find the hostel we had booked and deposit our backpacks which we had been lugging around the city. The others stumbled across an intriguing tourist trap –a so-called “museum” of torture, which they decided to explore.

When we found each other again in front of the gallery, Dr. Parker had our tickets for us. We did not have to wait in line because our group had paid for entrance at a set time. Inside, we climbed four stories to the top in order to work our way down. Fantastic statues lined the halls and the rooms were filled with grand Renaissance art. Again many of us recognized works by our artists. I did not find many by Masaccio, but there were two of the most famous pieces by Joe’s artist, Botticelli –Primavera, which is “spring”, and The Birth of Venus. I really loved both of these paintings in particular. We also saw some of da Vinci’s lesser known works among the hundreds of pieces in the gallery. It was a nice tour of some of the truly great works of art that we studied in class.

At this point we decided to split up and explore the city some more. However, we were unable to meet up again for the rest of the weekend due to some unforeseen problems. First, neither Joe nor I have a phone to reach anyone while we are abroad. Until that night it had not been much of a problem, but when the others decided not to stay at the hostel and to return to Siena instead, they could not find or call us to let us know. Their rooms at the hostel were uncleaned and their beds unmade, and they were so furious that they decided to cancel and leave. We had no idea that they were gone or that they had broken their plans to go to Rome for the rest of the weekend. Joe and I figured we would find them at the hostel there and we continued with our plans unaware.

Before we left Florence, Dr. Parker required us to visit one more monument or museum on our own. Joe and I decided to climb Giotto’s Tower and visit the Duomo Museum. Giotto was one of the earlier artists from the Italian Renaissance who had a profound effect on the development of later artists’ work. We climbed 414 steps up his bell tower to get a beautiful view of the city and the Duomo, which is Italian for something like “grand church.” The one in Florence is a Gothic cathedral with the most amazing artwork from corner to corner across its outer surface. It is a wonder to behold as there is hardly an inch of space undecorated. We did not go into the Duomo because our guidebook told us that there was not much to view inside as most of the art has been removed to the Duomo Museum, which is where we went next. There we saw many more paintings and sculptures, including Donatello’s Mary Magdalene.

Joe and I spent the rest of that day traveling to Rome. On the way, we discovered by expensive accident that we had taken the wrong train. At the station in Florence there was no way to tell for which train we could or could not use our tickets. Thankfully the lady sitting next to us on the train translated this to the woman checking the tickets and was able to convince her not to charge us the full price. We paid only eight more euros each, rather than a miserable thirty euros. Though we arrived at our hostel in Rome fairly early in the afternoon, Joe and I decided to take the rest of the day to rest and wait for our classmates to show up. They never did.

Despite being a bit worried and irritated that no one had yet met us in Rome, Joe and I got upearly the next day to see the sights. We used a cheap guidebook to get us to what we thought was Trajan’s Column but turned out to be a different one which wasunlabeled in the book. By the time we had realized our mistake, we had already found our way to the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II which was a grand castle-like building decorated with magnificent statues and sculptures. Nearby we found the actual column we had first been looking for. It stood on the ruins of Trajan’s Forum, next to the partially restored Trajan’s Market.

There we made another mistake which cost us more time than anything else. Confused by the cheap guidebook and the unclear explanations on a free pamphlet, we spent a few hours exploring the Market which had been used to house the Museum of the Roman Forums. For the majority of that time, I thought we were in fact looking at the actual Roman Forums, not just a museum. Even so, it was an excellent place to explore; dark alcoves and steep stairs led from one level of ancient ruins to the next. Many broken pieces of columns and sculptures still lay strewn on the lawn of the Market where they had likely been marked and counted by archaeologists. We got quite a workout making sure that we had seen every interesting hidden corner of the ruins that we possibly could.

Next we strolled alongside the true Roman Forums, choosing to mostly ignore them in favor of the more exciting destination ahead of us –the Colosseum. Our anticipation grew as we caught short glimpses of the massive amphitheater between buildings. When we got a better view I took a volley of photographs as we approached. It felt amazing to see in person the great site which I had previously enjoyed finding in Google Earth, an online view of the entire earth by satellite images. Unfortunately we were pressed for time and the lines were long, so we did not go inside the Colosseum. But as Joe said, sometimes just being there and seeing it is enough.

Originally we had planned to see the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel on our way back to the hostel, but by the time we had gotten on the metro we decided to save it for the next day. It would have been better if we had just gone that afternoon, for when we had hiked all the way to the Vatican the next morning we learned that the Sistine Chapel was closed on Sundays –something we could have easily discovered if we’d just researched beforehand.

But that was only the beginning of the worst day of the week. Joe and I took the metro back to the train station and made certain that we got on the right train. However when the train reached Florence, where we already had tickets for the return bus-ride to Siena, we got off at the wrong station. We didn’t even know Florence had more than one train station until after we had walked up and down the street outside and finally looked in our guidebook to find out where we were. Fortunately tickets from that station to the main one only cost us about one euro each.

At the main station we walked in circles again trying to figure out where exactly the bus station was. Our guidebook map was not exactly clear but we finally managed to make it show us the way. Unlike the bus we had taken to Florence on Thursday morning, the return bus made many more stops and took much longer to reach its destination. By the time we arrived, the inner-city buses that ran to Vico Alto were no longer running. We asked one bus driver which bus we should take to get to the train station, where we knew that we could get a taxi. But the one he told us to take went nowhere near the station. Instead it took us on a wild, frightening ride through the north side of the city, out into the country on dark twisting roads, and finally right back to the bus plaza where we started.

By this point Joe and I were exhausted, hungry, and clueless as to how to get to Vico Alto. We thought to go into our favorite pub and ask the bartender to call a taxi for us, but just before we did we saw someone we recognized –our classmate Christian. He told us everyone else was in the back of the pub playing darts and they planned to take a taxi home later. Considering the weekend we had just had, I convinced Joe to stay and we spent the evening catching up with our friends and making up for being separated from them for three days.

So, after two very interesting weeks working with American Airlines, it’s time to update you on what’s been going one here. Working in the flight communications department, I have been able to experience first-hand what is being said between the pilots and upper management here at American Airlines. Two weeks ago American had their annual stockholders meeting, right down the street from where I am at the flight academy. During the meeting the reality of low profits (even negative profits) for an airline, when forced to operate at $130 a barrel fuel, was stated very clearly and plans for change within the company began to be laid out.

That afternoon I was able to sit in on a conference phone call where Mark Hettermann, VP of flight operations in Dallas spoke on what these changes meant for the pilots. After he was done speaking, I sat and listened to chief pilots from around the country take their turns in expressing their concerns and the moods from their bases. Sitting in an office in Dallas, yet being able to listen to pilots from round the country speak, allowed me to see just how big this operation is and how decisions made in upper management ripple down throughout the company.

Aside from all of that, I have also been involved in different tasks in flight communication. Every morning there is a summary report published containing all the data from flights from the previous day, and every morning I start off by finding this report and republishing it on a website for thepilots, and other employees at American to be able to access. Other tasks have included sending HI6 messages or what could be considered one-way e-mails to pilots via our own computer database. Sending messages with topics ranging from a group of Army troops that were flying aboard an American flight on Memorial Day, to a medication that the FAA decided was unsafe for pilots to take and fly; these HI6 messages keep pilots informed and are an easy way to get information to a selective group or the entire pilot population at American. I also go through customer service reports, picking out the positive ones to be sent to the crew bases of the crew being noted. These letters are then put into the crewmembers file and the crewmember notified of the report.

I also have gone through a monthly list that has all the First Officers who are becoming Captains with American. One would expect this to be a relatively simple task but the problem arises when some have already been a Captain before or others get deferred or withheld from upgrade training. Acting as a detective, it has been my job to search through the database and figure out who is actually going to become a captain, then after they complete their upgrade training, I make a plaque in recognition of their accomplishment.

Finally, I also take care of retirement postings on our web site. Receiving yet another list, this one contains the name of retired pilots; I go through and draft a short biography on each, to be later posted on our website. These have actually been very interesting and rather humbling. The vast majority of our pilots have served our country in some branch of military service, flown with other companies, gone through times of furlough and then been with American for 30 years!! At just the starting line of my career in aviation this appears to be huge shoes to fill.

Aside from all the eight-to-five office work, I have actually gotten to do a good amount of traveling and sightseeing. Going to both Dallas and Ft. Worth here in Texas, I highly recommend both. Dallas is very dressy and expensive from what I have seen, but they have an awesome fresh produce market on the east side of town. Farmers from around the state bring whatever they grow and the prices are unbeatable. Ft. Worth is a little more causal and a very good place to hang out. The downtown is very well maintained and shops, restaurants, and bars line the street, all within walking distance of each other.

My first weekend of travel benefits, another intern and myself flew out to San Francisco, California where we had a place to stay. Leaving the 90+ degree Dallas we were surprised to find a low 60 degree San Fran. Walking all over town on Saturday we saw the Golden Gate Bridge, China Town, and the rest of downtown. Skeptical of what San Fran would be likebefore I went, I was truly surprised at how cool most of the city was. While expensive I would definitely go back sometime! This past weekend I traveled up to Detroit, Michigan in hopes of getting to see the Red Bull Air Races. A sold-out event, another intern and I found a parking garage right on the river that was selling access to their rooftop. After sitting in the sun for about four hours, they finally called off the time trials due to high winds. More than a little disappointed we left straight to a hotel near the airport. Downtown Detroit, which we heard from everyone was not a very good place to be at night in small groups, looked like aninteresting place to see during the day. Situated right on a river that separates it from Windsor, Canada  the river and the river walk are a must see when traveling to Detroit.

Well our flight from Detroit is almost back to Dallas and I’ve already written too much, so I will check back with you in two weeks and let you know what is going on here in Dallas and around the country.

Cheers,

Jacob Velky