Day Seven- San Diego

This is my last full day. Sort of feel a little sick this morning. I went to the kitchen for some tea. Saw some of my favorites from last night, Chad and Josh. They weren't feeling well either! Must be a bug.  :)  After we sort of ate breakfast I watched a little of the news and went to my room to re-group. I ended up re-grouping for a while; Yesterdays sadness creeping slowly into today. The staff came to clean the room, my roommates had moved out. 

I decided to take the bus to the beach but jumped on the #7 bus at the last minute headed to the San Diego zoo and Balboa Park . As soon as the bus took off I thought, "Do I even like the zoo?" It definitely wouldn't be on my top 20 things to do when I travel. But I do like monkeys and elephants and I probably could be distracted by some other zoo fav's for a few hours. The zoo proved to be mildly amusing. I spent at least a half hour with a cute little monkey. I kept giving him leaves and feeling his hands! So weird! They felt like old people hands, thin skinned and soft. I heard someone saying something about monkeys, diseases, and aids so I decided to wash my hands before pressing onward to stare at the rhinos. They were cool. They made me feel a little less chubby and a lot more moisturized. Poor things. I went on an aerial ride over the zoo (free w/ my ticket) and can you believe it? I was alone. This is getting old, I promise you. I left the park after having sort of lunch over the phone again with my mom (thanks again mom) . My phone died and then I really was alone. Whatever. 

Decided to walk through Balboa Park. It was really pretty. It had super old buildings, allowed dogs and had water fountains everywhere. There was a strange miming act in the center of the park which intrigued me for about 30 seconds and then immediately creeped me out. I went back to the bus stop and asked a man what time it was. He had me read it for him. It was way earlier than I wanted it to be, 530. I started talking to the man and learned his name was, "Bebo". Cool name right?! Bebo clearly had Cerebral Palsy and was twisted up in his wheelchair. He said he wanted to stay longer at the museum which was in the park but his wheelchair battery was dying. We talked for about 20 minutes until the bus came. 

The stupid bus was ill equipped for a wheelchair. The bus driver hooked the chair up with big metal hooks and cables. It took her at least 5 minutes. I started thinking about the graduate class I took recently about universal design- how our world should be set up to easily accommodate everyone.  Bibo said it was hard going about his day but he does it and makes the most of it. He was so nice and genuine and the perfect example of  resiliency. He was so interesting to talk to. When a man got off the bus he stopped to tell me that I was a nice lady and to have a very good day. I know the man meant well, but what did I do other than talk to a person who was severely disabled? My sullen mood was more devastated by this man's comment. I felt horrible that Bebo was a witness to someone thanking me for speaking to him. Bibo is the cool kid, not me. He got off the bus and we said goodbye. I truly hope I see him again. When I got to my stop, a lady got off the bus also. She again said, I was "a nice lady." I said, "thanks" but again felt horrible. Are we really this far behind in disability equality? Really? I guess I missed that bus, so to speak, since I was always taught to be comfortable around people with disabilities, and then of course, there's EJ. I still don't know what to think about any of this. I'm needing a comment from... Erin... you're up to bat. 

  I got back to the hostel and ate free dinner. It was alright. Potato salad and bread- interesting foreigners! After dinner, I grabbed my laptop and headed for the common room. I ended up watching family guy with the guy from Sweden and a new Autrain guy, named Roland. It was funny... three different strangers... three completely different cultures... all laughing at the same parts. We watched the Simpsons too and then started talking about the festivities tonight. I let the Austrian guy borrow a dress and I borrowed some man pants and a hat and called it good. My first cross dressing party. I looked awful as a boy but no one cared. The boys had sexy dresses and make up and a lot of the girls had beards, shades and hats. I just wore my pj t-shirt, along with the borrowed clothes. The night was really fun. We girls pretended to play poker and the guys played flip cup. The brave ones went to Henry's bar dressed "as is"- the faint at heart went to bed... I think that was just me. Ha! I had a flight to catch in the a.m. after all. I will miss these guys. Crazy how quickly bonds are made. 

Graduate School Trip- Day Six- San Diego

Day six. Wow, it's almost over. This week has felt like a month, to be honest. I'm ready to go home, back to my reality. So, today is day one of not having anything on my agenda. I read some signs at the hostel that recommended places to see. I decided on Coronata Island. I walked a few blocks with one of the German guys to the bus stop. He carried on to buy his tickets to go to LA. I waited at the bus stop for what felt like ages, then realized that it runs on a limited schedule on the weekends. I had another run in with crazy people. This one guy, kept riding by on his beat up bicycle looking at me and then stopped and stood next to me. He said something to me but I couldn't understand- it was all slurs. Then he said something to two guys who were talking to themselves and sort of walking like hitler. They started walking toward me and at that moment I contemplated which way I was going to run. At that moment, my bus pulled up and I jumped on. The lady bus driver looked at me like, "whoa" and I said I know, thank you... saved by the ... bus. 

I arrived at Coronada Island around 11 or 12 and it was beautiful. It's a very touristy place, lots of cute little shops and restaurants on each side of the street. The island was covered in pretty, bright flowers and everywhere you went you could smell them. I heard about a famous hotel on the island and walked there after checking out some stores. As I strolled up to the hotel I smelled the best smell ever- ocean, flowers and sun screen. The massive hotel overlooked the beach, which was a pleasant surprise. Apparently the hotel is haunted. I was going to check that out but I got sick of looking for the hotel's entrance. So, I took my sweater, shoes and socks off, rolled up my jeans and felt the sand between my toes. I walked to the water. It was freezing. Some people were soaking up the sun, some were playing football and volleyball and others were reading, drinking and having fun. I laid my sweater down and tried to sleep, to no avail. I tried to read but I started feeling sad. This is not nearly as fun as experiencing it with someone. I started thinking about school and EJ and how I feel about not being able to see him for long stretches of time. I wish my little brother could speak, that would make it easier. I started feeling lonely, which was in deep contrast to the happy, sun bunnies around me. I started conceptualizing how much $120,000 is. I wondered if I'm doing the right thing. I wondered if I really know what I want or if I'm just rushing myself. I thought about traveling and all the people I've met and already said goodbye to. Some I will really miss, which I didn't expect. It's been such a journey. It's done a number on me convincing professors that I'm perfect for their program, when I'm still really not sure; one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. That is a house. A house! So, there's my secret revealed. I'm going through the motions. I'm just not sure. So, that whole head spin was... depressing...and... exausting... so I headed for the burrito stand. This is what, my third one? I love them. I called my mom (hi mom!) and talked to her over lunch. I sort of convinced myself she was there. Somehow I ate the whole thing. I felt sick after. That was stupid. I rolled myself to the bus and headed back downtown. I heard someone in the back of the bus... ummm... barking? Whatever. I continued day dreaming but the barking got louder. The man I will call, the barking man, had moved and sat behind me. I sat more forward and kept him in my periphery. He noticed. He said, "oooo sexy red hair... sexy red hair... DATE RAPE... DATE RAPE..." Over and Over. Excuse me for this mom, but is this guy fucking serious?! What the hell is going on here? At that moment a woman  got off the bus and the barking man yelled, "nice ass for an old lady.." That made me want to laugh even though I was scared. And he was right, she did have a nice ass for an old lady. I decided to move even though I knew that would continue and maybe allow the barking man more creativity. He indeed noticed but lacked creativity. He said, "nice ass, sexy red hair, date rape" etc etc. I noted to thank Erin for giving me this "sexy, red hair" and then prayed he didn't get off the bus at my stop. I no longer thought about my grad school blues, just my course of action if he did. I quickly thought about the immense difference between Denver and San Diego bus transit. My hypothesis is that San Diego is more spread out so the "normal" people have cars and don't appear on meat market bus 901, quests like this. Denver is more of a typical big city, where parking is difficult so the normal people, like the Josh we met, ride the bus. Dually noted. I got off the bus and decided I no longer felt like going downtown to take pictures, as planned. I'll save that for tomorrow. 

I returned back and met another new roommate. She was from Germany also. We talked for a bit and then day turned to night. I met some nice guys for Illinois here on a break from the military and walked to the store with them for some much needed wine. I wasn't going to go alone at this point. He got back from Albertsons and went into the kitchen. I began over hearing the transvestite talking to the old lady (who walked into my room earlier and walked back out, yelling about peeing too much for the top bunk- thank God their not my roommates by the way) ok... so I overheard them talking about having a three some with one of the 18 year old boys. I gagged and decided this wasn't my type of party. Strike one. The three of us went to the common room and were happy to see the germans, the hostel staff and some other normal looking people about to begin a drinking game. This is promising. I met a hilarious girl from MAINE, named Marge, a gay guy name Bob, and some other hostel staff from England, Germany and Sweden. The game was fun. I stopped worrying about school and had a really good time. I had a good buzz going and Bob asked me to go to Albertsons for more beer. I said, sure. We walked out and there we found the Swedish guy preparing his  bicycle that pulled a 2 seated cart. It was surreal riding on this thing through the warm streets of San Diego, with a gay guy named Bob, with a Swedish guy named? So crazy! And these are the moments that I wouldn't have appreciated if I had stayed at a hotel, alone. Oh, SO CAL life. 

Graduate School trip- Day Five- San Diego

Today is San Diego interview day! This is a big one. I really like this school. I woke up at 6:30 and put the wrinkly, sweat stained, nasty interview suit on, again. At this point who's gonna take me seriously, I mean really. But whatever, its all I got, no one has an iron, etc etc. So, I walked 6 blocks to bus 20 and transfered to the 964, after 30 minutes of waiting with a craaaazy guy. My first mistake was telling him that I was going to a psychology interview. Hey, he asked. He proceeded to tell me that psychologists always tell him that he has bipolar and schizophrenia but it's not true. He said he has a relationship with God. God lets him fly like a space ship, which he demonstrated. He said he sees girls like me there but they have wings. He said he sees aliens in bars sometimes and they take him to universities. For years, he didn't know why but recently he figured it out... they want him to go back to school. I'm not usually one to lie, but not wanting to upset the guy when he asked if I thought he was crazy- I said no. Ahhhh! There is something to be said for taxis.

So I arrived at the school at 9am, 2 hours early. I wasn't sure about the bus system so I allowed for a lot of time. I walked around the campus; it was beautiful. It was wooded and there were mountains in the distance. The school was about 20 minutes from downtown. I was interviewed by a nice student and then a professor, who was smoking a pipe when he picked me up from the student center. He was native american and wearing a canadian suit except it was black denim. He walked really slowly and looked wise. We got to his office, he finished his pipe and said, "So, why San Diego?" That was the only question he asked. It was semi refreshing not to be asked the same questions that I answered in the required essays and also semi disturbing. This guy was definitely not typical, but it was almost calming to be around him. I noticed myself slowing my speech and lowering my energy to match his. I didn't want to leave his head spinning. So, he showed me some of his books and gave me an understanding of the curriculum. He let me "borrow" a book so that seemed promising. After the interview he took all of the integrative psychology students, including me, to lunch!! It was a nice italian place. I had a delicious veggie sandwich since I haven't eaten veggies since I left Portland! I met a nice guy, named Dave and a cool girl named Blair at the lunch and hung out with them afterwards. Dave lives in the area and took us for free frozen yogurt and free beer at a brewery which together made me super sick. I've been practically stealing saltine crackers and noshing on granola bars and I wasn't used to all of this food! We drove along the coast on the way back and then he dropped me off. I laid down and felt better in a few hours. He picked me back up and he went to his friends house and played video games, more free beer. Then we went to a kick ass concert. The band was called, "The Union Line". The drummer was unbelievable! So the bar, called, "The Beauty Bar," was lined with those old school dryers and silhouettes of girls getting their hair done. It was a cool dive bar. Bars close at 2am here and since Dave's friend was spinning from 1-2 we stayed and listened to him. People can dance here. Crazy popping, waving, hippy, robotish nut-so moves. I still clap... I guess it's not "in" anymore." What do you do? Well, typically drinking helps, but I didn't want to get sick. My tummy is sensitive these days.

The best part of my day, was getting a California burrito at a taco shop at 230am (free of course.) It was sooo good. It was similar to other burritos, except better and with french fries in it. I got "home" and met a guy from Turkey. He liked my name... his was hemlock or something. He told me it meant helmet in his language, which doesn't fit his personality he said. He said he's a lover not a fighter... he came here avoiding the draft. Crazy. 

Graduate School Trip- Day Four- Denver, Utah, San Diego

I got up at 6 a.m. to get ready for my interview and to repack for my flights today. I had called a taxi to pick me up at the Denver Hostel at 8:30 for my 9am interview. He called me at 8:35 saying he couldn't find me. Finally I figured out that my hostel was on 16th ave. not 16th street... my bad. So, by this time it was 8:40. I decided to walk, well run-ish. I changed into my dansko's- thank god for them. It was a good 20 minute walk and difficult with my huge backpacks but I made it in time. I was sweating pretty bad when I arrived, had awful hair and needed to change shoes in the lobby- total hobo style but whatever, I rocked this interview.

 The interviewer asked all of the tough questions and I was prepared for the most part. She is accepting maybe 10 students in the fall and I'm confident... which means a lot... I'm rarely confident. The interview lasted 2 hours (holy marathon) and then I had a tour. The school is located in a cool part of Denver, right by the state capitol. The staff was nice. The receptionist even took my on 3 different buses afterward to pick up the airport bus at Market Street Station. I would have missed my flight had I missed that bus, so thanks Maxine, the lady with 6 grandkids, 2 kids and a cool unicorn sweater, which I told her I liked. 

My flight from Denver to Utah, almost made me hurl all over this poor soldier named Ray Meincke, who is 25 and not excited about going back to Iraq in a month. He flies drones (the people-less warplane things. Anyway, Utah is beautiful even from the airport. It is surrounded by snow covered mountains and they’re huge! The flight to San Diego was fine. It seemed long and I was bored, for once in my life.

I got to beautiful SD and took the public bus to downtown and walked the remaining 8 blocks to the hostel. The city was bustling and was about 60 degrees out. Apparently I just missed a bout of great weather.

 Anyway, got to the hostel and there was free dinner! It was really good. It was a bunch of cheesy pasta and garlic bread. One of my roommates is from Australia. I have an idea about the other- but don’t know for sure. She seems Bulgarian or something like that, but she doesn’t speak English- awkward! J  I sat with a girl from Paris and a couple of guys from Germany. They gave me something I called, “sweet beer.” It was just coke and Budweiser but it was good. I wouldn’t have it again but it was good. I said goodbye and went to my room. I need to plan the bus route to this school. I was going to rent a car, but I like the bus and it’s cheap; a win- win if you ask me.

I will add pictures and videos when I get home. Wish my luck on my interview! I’m so happy that it’s my last one for the week!!!

Graduate School Trip- Day Three- Denver & Boulder

I woke up at 7 a.m., took a barely warm shower at the hostel (only $15 a night- must tolerate!) and then locked my stuff up to head out for the day. Trisha, the South African I met wanted to hang out for the day. We first accomplished her reason for coming to Denver (shopping, ew!) and then mine, site seeing. We took the public bus to the Colorado Mills Mall where I hung out outside for about 3 hours.  Even if I wanted to shop, which is rare- it was 70 degrees out, the mountains were beautiful and I have no room in my bag. I even got a little sun burn or a rash. I found a $2 breakfast and stole some red pepper flake packets for the pasta & Couscous I brought and plan to eat in San Diego.

After the mall we went back to downtown Denver to catch another public bus to Boulder (2pm). The ride was beautiful. We met a cool guy, named Josh. He really loves Boulder- I was soon to find out why. The landscape was a mixture between desert like plains and beautiful black rock/snow covered mountains. Arriving to Boulder, I could tell that it was full of young people and the streets were covered with healthy, organic restaurants, score! My budget wouldn't allow that of course, so we ate at a place called Illegal Pete's. I decided to spurge and get a burrito and a diet coke. I managed to eat 1/3 of it. I'm not used to soda anymore. I saved the rest and ate it for a snack and then again for dinner. It was great. Boulder was full of backpackers, cute hippies and free spirits. From the looks of people, they really seemed health conscious. There were tons of people walking and biking.  Also someone was singing or picking a guitar on every corner. The town is nestled right up to the mountains; it's a beautiful backdrop to a cool city. The roads are brick and for a few reasons it reminded me of a summer day in Portland (the brick, the free spirits singing ditties, and just the casual, lax, slow pace of Maine life.) 

We headed back to Denver at 6pm and explored the downtown Denver area. A few things I noticed: there's a different group of people out at night, mainly kids on drugs. Trisha wanted to go to McDonalds for her dinner- we won't do that again. It's weird seeing 13 year olds high. Anyway, Denver started to feel a little too dark and a little too unsafe so we took the free 16th street shuttle to within 3 blocks of our hostel. We were scared at first walking but noticed that cops were all along our route- which was reassuring. Sixteenth street is awesome though, it has tons of stores and great restaurants but you just have to be careful how far you go down it. Look at me developing street smarts! We got back to the hostel around 8:30 p.m. and I decided I needed a reality check so I started preparing for my interview tomorrow. I'm going to walk to it. It's about a 20 minute walk. My interview monkey suit is already wrinkled so, really, what do I have to loose? My interview is from 9-11 or 12 and my flight is at 2:00. I'm going to try to take the public bus. I'll have to see what time I'm done. The bus leaves once an hour and takes about an hour. It cost $8 as opposed to a $45 taxi ride. 

Alright, thanks for reading. It's bedtime. Goodnight.

Graduate School trip- Day Two

March 3^rd, 2009

     3:30 a.m. bus ride from Portland to Boston- that was rough! I’m still not convinced about the glory of these neck pillows, by the way. You know, the ones that look like toilet seats or hemorrhoid cushions. Everyone has them though, so I’m rocking it. I got a free donut and orange juice on the bus, sweet, free breakfast. Arrived at 5:30 a.m. 

6:15 a.m. Flight from Boston to NYC. Quickest flight ever.

9:00 a.m.  NYC Craziness pursues.  After waiting for the flight crew to saunter into the gate at 930 and then a fuel pump breaking on the plane, I thought the worst was over.  ^{As I admired an amazing pair of knee high blue boots… I heard one of those nasty yapper dogs. The lady with the sweet boots was dragging the poor (and ugly) thing behind her like a rag doll. Little did I know she would turn into a psycho lady on the plane. She refused to get off her cell and store the stupid dog under the seat. She got booted, we all clapped and we were off.}

12:45 Chicago Interview. It went ok. I don't think I like Chicago. I'm probably just cranky. Too much crazy traveling. I spent my first $4.75 on food. Up til now I ate the two PB & J sandwiches that I packed and brought a sig for water. It was a cool deli called Brians. Turkey sandwich 3.75 & a piece of baclavah for $1.00- totally worth it.

8pm Arrive in Denver, Co... Hostel by 10pm (took the bus). I'm rooming with a cool South African woman. We're hanging out tomorrow.

GOODNIGHT. SO TIRED.

 

Graduate School trip- Day One

3/2/09 It's 9:30 p.m. I haven't quite finished packing yet. I'm catching a bus at 3:15 a.m. to Boston for my 6:45 a.m. flight. I'm flying to NYC and then to Chicago, arriving at noon. I'll be 4 hours late for my interview but they say they may be able to give me an interview when I arrive. I'm hoping for the best. My Denver flight takes off at 6 p.m. tomorrow night. I hope to have good roommates at the hostel. I'm going to need some sleep! I better finish packing. More later.