Hey there, Pittsburgh!

Last week I got a call from Mary, my boss, and found out I'd be headed to Pittsburgh this week to visit Carnegie Mellon University instead of Syracuse, as I had been planning. Even Syracuse was last-minute, I originally thought I'd be at Rollins College this week. BUT I can be flexible. Being a Leadership Consultant is all about being flexible, which I believe is the most important life lesson this job is teaching me.

Although I was a bit thrown off by the last-minute change, I was excited about the opportunity to see Pittsburgh. One of my best friends from home, Kayleigh, did a nursing externship here the summer between her junior and senior years of college. Kayleigh loved Pittsburgh and was always telling us about it. I, on the other hand, had never been, and here was my opportunity.

On Tuesday morning, I flew out of Peoria, IL and had a three-hour layover in Chicago O'Hare. Quite honestly, I actually like layovers. I would much rather have a three-hour layover than a half an hour layover--those are stressful. I do not like looong layovers, like the seven-hour layover my family had this summer on our way back from Australia. Ick.

Anyway, I was excited about my three-hour layover. I used the time to exercise (and by exercise I mean walk to every concourse in terminals 1 and 2 out of boredom. Said walking took an hour, therefore I'm calling it exercise.), eat lunch, catch up on paperwork from my DePauw visit, and people-watch.

This flight was the craziest I've been on yet--even crazier than the "air bus" in Washington! After boarding the flight, the pilot came over the loudspeaker and announced they were having trouble closing the cargo door and mechanics had been called to fix the door. "Should take about 15 minutes," he said, "but it my experience, it is never that easy." Half an hour later, the pilot came over the loudspeaker again, "Sorry for the delay, folks. I just went down to have a first-hand look at the door, and they think it may take another 45 minutes. We'll start beverage service and on-flight entertainment (a movie), and we'd be happy to give you tours of the cockpit too. You're welcome to use any electronic devices at this time." Quite honestly, a cockpit tour sounded interesting, but after watching young children scramble up to the front of the plane, I was too embarrassed to admit I was interested too.

The cargo door finally got fixed, and we took off just over an hour late for Pittsburgh. I fell asleep, like usual, and apparently missed some commotion at the front of the plane. There was some sort of "medical emergency" with an older gentleman, and as soon as we landed in Pittsburgh, everyone had to remain seated so that he could be carted off.

Needless to say, I was very happy to arrive at Carnegie Mellon University. Most of the Greek community lives on the Greek Quad, which is located right on campus. Last year, when a fraternity was removed from campus, Kappa moved into their house. Although it is not the cleanest house in the world (they are working on renovations), the Kappas are grateful to be on the Quad. Here is a picture of their house!