Day 1: LAX

7/10/11

What a day and it's only 2pm! My morning began at 3:30- and having gone to bed at midnight I was a bit tired when I woke up! My mom and I left for the airport around 4:30! I have never flown by myself before so I was nervous when we parked at the terminal.

I am NOT a light packer. My two carry-ons and two checked bags weigh about 120+ pounds- HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY! One of my checked bags my grandma gave me was an army like duffle bag without wheels and weighed about 45 lbs. Dragging all that dead weight left some blisters on my hands and I'm a bit sore for lugging around all the weight.

I flew virgin airlines and was assigned a window seat all the way in the back of the plane. My flight was 100% full and lucky me, I sat next to Chatty Cathy! Fortunately I was able to sleep the first half hour and when I woke up she immediately chatted me up. Our hour+ conversation was actually really great. Chatty Cathy's name was Barbie and she is a hair stylist in her mid fifties. She is a recovering alcoholic and shared her story with me. Barbie has a daughter about my age and she was kind enough to became my mom for the rest of the flight and found me a restroom, helped me get my luggage, and showed me to the shuttles- this was great b/c I was so lost. She was definitely walking like she was on a mission which was challenging to keep up as I dragged, rolled, and carried all my crap.

After the shuttle and at the hotel I realized (more the person checking me in) I was at the wrong hotel- the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express are a little too similar. By then I was exhausted and it took a lot for me to hold it together. I was by myself, sleep deprived, grumpy, and didn't know where I was but knew enough to know I wasn't where I was suppose to be. But they were nice and had a shuttle come and get me to the correct hotel. So I get to my room and am starving. There is a nearby 7-11 and I grab some food. Little did I know there is no microwave in my room to heat anything up. I walked all over the hotel and finally was able to find one in the laundry room where no one spoke English!

Once I took a break and caught a second wind I realized I will not rip up my hands carrying all my luggage. (WorldTeach told us we need to be able to carry our things up to 6 blocks and 4 flights of stairs- and that was not going to happen with this duffel bag!) So I called a cab and went to Target and bought one. This may not seem like a big deal but I've never been in a cab before let alone by myself in California with all those crazy drivers!

I am the first arrive in my group and we have a meeting tonight at 9. Soooo until then I am going to take a nice long nap in the sun by the pool! Tomorrow we leave for Hawaii (a 5 hour flight) at 10:30 am with a  few hour lay over and then another 5 or 6 hour flight to Am Sam! Lots of traveling tomorrow and I'm excited to meet everyone and not travel by myself!!

Until next time!!!!