Premier

Tonight was the premier of the third season of Mad Men, an AMC show that goes behind the scenes of an imaginary advertising agency on Madison Avenue beginning in 1960. It is now 1963 and much will change in the lives of these characters; while history tells us that much will happen this year- the first and second Beatles albums, the Birmingham bus boycotts, the end of the Mercury space program, the March on Washington, the deaths of Thich Quang Duc and President Kennedy- the lure of the program is the drama that unfolds as the characters experience and react to their changing world.

Right now, I feel like Don Draper and the other employees of Sterling Cooper will in this season of Mad Men- my world is changing from the comfortable life I have built since I left for college. However, unlike Don, Betty, Roger, and the rest, I have a bit of say in how my life will change. I chose to come to Ecuador, to work as a volunteer, and to engage directly with community development. I get a hand in the change that is coming.

Though I chose this path, there are a number of happenings I am missing to be here- my sister's return from a year abroad in Germany, the phone calls to my parents just to see what's going on, all of college football, spring baseball, and the two hours I got to spend with friends on Sunday nights watching The Real World and Mad Men. Additionally, there are new challenges that I wish I didn't have to combat- keeping up with friends and family solely through electronic media, living with 7 women and only 2 other men, and making lunch without peanut butter or tortillas. Still, this is the place I should be and this is the time to do it.

I am no professional actor or screenwriter, so I cannot aim to match the storytelling ability of the writers and actors of Mad Men; I can, however, share my experiences and reactions to what is sure to be a life changing experience. In that regard, the stage has been set- I've taken a crash course in Spanish, gain my bearings in my new city, met some of the community members, and helped in a summer camp for teens these past two weeks. Tomorrow, we, the 2009-'10 PDs, take over the show, starting our own summer camp for kids in the final weeks before school. The preparation has been done; now it's time for action.