My big excitement has been that Victoria has now come to Raleigh to visit me. So, I am showing her around Raleigh, and we are taking two trips. We went to Charleston, South Carolina already. I had never been either, so it was a good place to go. There are lots of historic houses which are just beautiful. We also went to Magnolia plantation, which has a huge amount of gardens, and was really nice. It also had a swamp garden where we saw many alligators, turtles, some snakes, and a frog. We also wanted to go to the zoo, but our lovely weather turned cold and rainy, so we had to scratch that plan.

After Easter, we will probably go up to Washington, D.C. for three days. We also hope to go to the NC zoo for one day. The big problem is just finding time to do all the things we want to do, while also relaxing.

My big excitement has been that Victoria has now come to Raleigh to visit me. So, I am showing her around Raleigh, and we are taking two trips. We went to Charleston, South Carolina already. I had never been either, so it was a good place to go. There are lots of historic houses which are just beautiful. We also went to Magnolia plantation, which has a huge amount of gardens, and was really nice. It also had a swamp garden where we saw many alligators, turtles, some snakes, and a frog. We also wanted to go to the zoo, but our lovely weather turned cold and rainy, so we had to scratch that plan.

After Easter, we will probably go up to Washington, D.C. for three days. We also hope to go to the NC zoo for one day. The big problem is just finding time to do all the things we want to do, while also relaxing.

Well, I got an email saying the university is ready to submit the work permit, so I am going home tomorrow. I managed to get a good price on a ticket ($465), considering it is the day before. I guess the flight is not that crowded from what I could tell.

I have put up the preliminary webpage for the organisation I have been volunteering with, the Latin American Disabled People's Project, if you want to check it out. It's not fancy now, but it gets across the basic information. They don't think many of their members will be using it. Instead, potential volunteers and other organisations will be looking at it.

Tonight there wasn't a sandstorm, but we have had a bit of scare. Around 10:30pm, the fire alarms in all the rooms started going off. We went downstairs and a several other residents were looking at the fire control board thing, trying to figure out why it was going off, and what the problem area of the house was. The alarm stopped, so we made our way back to our rooms, but then it started going off again for longer. I went downstairs, and this time I checked in the basement as well. I noticed smoke down there. It was coming from a fuse in an electrical box. So I told everyone and went to call the fire department. There is a fire station right down the street from us, so the response time was less than two minutes. The firemen came and took out the burning fuse, made sure nothing else was burning, and then reset our fire alarm for us. It was the type of thing that maybe didn't require the two fire trucks that were sent to our house, but was probably a good idea to have them come take care of. If it had been left alone, maybe a fire would've broken out. We are no longer tired tonight due to high amounts of adrenaline. Hopefully we can get some sleep soon.

Today's weather has been quite strange. This morning apparently there was a ton of snow that dropped out of the sky, freezing part of the pond outside our house, and covering all the paths in the park with snow. Then this afternoon was sunny and a little warmer. Finally, as soon as I got back from the laundry (a minute ago), it started hailing pea-sized hail, and now it is raining some. We are getting all the weather options at once. I imagine we will have a sand storm tonight.

The good news is that I have a tentative job offer. They are applying for a work permit for me, and so I need to leave the country next week for several weeks to process the permit and visa, etc. Hopefully it will all work out and I will be able to come back and start employment in April.