I'm writing this update from the Pacific Ocean as we sail to Hilo, Hawaii! It's currently 11:00pm (or 2300 in nautical time) and the day is winding down. It's been a busy 36 hourse since the students began boarding the ship in Ensenada, Mexico.
Which reminds me, I have updated about the San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico ports just yet, have I? Let's start with San Diego and move on from there...
As you know, I flew out of RDU early on Saturday morning, January 5th. I was excited that I was meeting my friend Elizabeth, a fellow staff member I had sailed with last voyage. After a short layover in Denver, Colorado, I got to San Diego around 1:15pm PST (4:15pm EST). Elizabeth and I hugged immediately upon seeing each other and any nervousness I was feeling about the trip washed away. It was good to see such a good friend and to know I was in her company for the rest of the trip.
We immediately got down to business and made the most of the 24 hours we would have to explore San Diego. First we visited Old Town, the site of the first "town" in California. I tasted some sasparilla soda (not my favorite). After a bit of walkiing around, we both quickly realized two things - 1) we were fairly hungry and 2) we were already a bit tired (we had both gotten up early and had come from different time zones). We hopped public transportation and made our way to San Diego's Gaslamp District, home to tons of great restaurants. Being so close to the boder of Mexico, we thought our best bet would be to try an authentic Mexican restaurant. What is said is that we were about the only people in the restaurant - our bodies were so out of whack with the travel and time zone changes that we were eating at 4:45pm! The restaurant was decent and we headed back to our hotel and crawled into our beds at 7:30pm. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - we are party animals! What can I say? That's just how we roll!
The next morning, we got up early and headed over to Balboa Park, a famous area of town with tons of museums, natural beauty, and, of course, the San Diego Zoo! We walked around the grounds for a while and spent some time in the Museum of Man which had some interesting exhibits on abilities and disabilities as well as a gruesome exhibit on torture. Ick!
After Balboa Park, we had some time to kill before we needed to be at the official start of this crazy adventure - the welcome social. Of course, we didn't want to simply sit around waiting for the social to begin so we had the brilliant idea of going to the Mexican border. The San Diego public transportation system takes you directly to the border, so we hopped a trolley and made our way to our destination.
Once Elizabeth and I reached the border we realized that we hadn't packed our passports. We asked a gentleman if we needed passports to cross into Mexico. His answer - "No. But you need them to cross back into the US." That sounded like good advice to follow, so we snapped some pictures at the border and made our way back to San Diego and the hotel.
After our trip to the border, Elizabeth and I knew we needed to go to Target to get some supplies and toiletries we didn't pack. After getting lost and caught in the rain, we made it to Target and spent an hour shopping for the supplies we needed. Thank goodness for my family and the parents of Mangum Elementary who had gifted me some Target cards for Christmas - they came in handy as I bought all of the things I'd need for my journey. Thank goodness also for Christine, another friend who I sailed with previously, who met us at Target and whose parents drove us back to the hotel with our bags full of supplies!
Once back at the hotel, we realized that the social was well under way. We quickly joined the party and were surrounded by an amazing group of individuals who welcomed everyone with open arms! Of course the Student Affairs group gravitated towards each other and after the social we all agreed that we needed to bond over dinner at a California staple - In N Out Burger. Now, I've never eaten at an In N Out and I had no idea there was a secret menu. I was quickly taught a few of the essentials - if I order a burger "animal style" it comes with a special sauce and some grilled onions. If I order my fries "double fried" that means I want them to be extra crispy. Who knew?
After my In N Out indoctrination, we called it a night and went to bed ready for a day of training and boarding the ship.
We woke the next morning and spent the morning going through essential training. We then caught a bus to the San Diego port, got checked into the ship, dropped off our luggage and continued training on the ship until we sailed away from San Diego at 2300 (11pm). Our adventure was officially underway and I had a huge smile of my face. After months of planning, a few sleepless nights of excitement, and several hundred dollars in passport visas and shots, I came to a realization - I made the right choice to go on this amazing voyage!
More tomorrow - next up, the quick port of Ensenada! Thanks for reading!
Which reminds me, I have updated about the San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico ports just yet, have I? Let's start with San Diego and move on from there...
As you know, I flew out of RDU early on Saturday morning, January 5th. I was excited that I was meeting my friend Elizabeth, a fellow staff member I had sailed with last voyage. After a short layover in Denver, Colorado, I got to San Diego around 1:15pm PST (4:15pm EST). Elizabeth and I hugged immediately upon seeing each other and any nervousness I was feeling about the trip washed away. It was good to see such a good friend and to know I was in her company for the rest of the trip.
We immediately got down to business and made the most of the 24 hours we would have to explore San Diego. First we visited Old Town, the site of the first "town" in California. I tasted some sasparilla soda (not my favorite). After a bit of walkiing around, we both quickly realized two things - 1) we were fairly hungry and 2) we were already a bit tired (we had both gotten up early and had come from different time zones). We hopped public transportation and made our way to San Diego's Gaslamp District, home to tons of great restaurants. Being so close to the boder of Mexico, we thought our best bet would be to try an authentic Mexican restaurant. What is said is that we were about the only people in the restaurant - our bodies were so out of whack with the travel and time zone changes that we were eating at 4:45pm! The restaurant was decent and we headed back to our hotel and crawled into our beds at 7:30pm. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - we are party animals! What can I say? That's just how we roll!
The next morning, we got up early and headed over to Balboa Park, a famous area of town with tons of museums, natural beauty, and, of course, the San Diego Zoo! We walked around the grounds for a while and spent some time in the Museum of Man which had some interesting exhibits on abilities and disabilities as well as a gruesome exhibit on torture. Ick!
After Balboa Park, we had some time to kill before we needed to be at the official start of this crazy adventure - the welcome social. Of course, we didn't want to simply sit around waiting for the social to begin so we had the brilliant idea of going to the Mexican border. The San Diego public transportation system takes you directly to the border, so we hopped a trolley and made our way to our destination.
Once Elizabeth and I reached the border we realized that we hadn't packed our passports. We asked a gentleman if we needed passports to cross into Mexico. His answer - "No. But you need them to cross back into the US." That sounded like good advice to follow, so we snapped some pictures at the border and made our way back to San Diego and the hotel.
After our trip to the border, Elizabeth and I knew we needed to go to Target to get some supplies and toiletries we didn't pack. After getting lost and caught in the rain, we made it to Target and spent an hour shopping for the supplies we needed. Thank goodness for my family and the parents of Mangum Elementary who had gifted me some Target cards for Christmas - they came in handy as I bought all of the things I'd need for my journey. Thank goodness also for Christine, another friend who I sailed with previously, who met us at Target and whose parents drove us back to the hotel with our bags full of supplies!
Once back at the hotel, we realized that the social was well under way. We quickly joined the party and were surrounded by an amazing group of individuals who welcomed everyone with open arms! Of course the Student Affairs group gravitated towards each other and after the social we all agreed that we needed to bond over dinner at a California staple - In N Out Burger. Now, I've never eaten at an In N Out and I had no idea there was a secret menu. I was quickly taught a few of the essentials - if I order a burger "animal style" it comes with a special sauce and some grilled onions. If I order my fries "double fried" that means I want them to be extra crispy. Who knew?
After my In N Out indoctrination, we called it a night and went to bed ready for a day of training and boarding the ship.
We woke the next morning and spent the morning going through essential training. We then caught a bus to the San Diego port, got checked into the ship, dropped off our luggage and continued training on the ship until we sailed away from San Diego at 2300 (11pm). Our adventure was officially underway and I had a huge smile of my face. After months of planning, a few sleepless nights of excitement, and several hundred dollars in passport visas and shots, I came to a realization - I made the right choice to go on this amazing voyage!
More tomorrow - next up, the quick port of Ensenada! Thanks for reading!
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