Too much good stuff

WordPress seems to have updated their layout etc and I’m liking it. Anyway. Back to me.

Texas was amazing! Well, the state itself is kind of boring (geographically). Very flat. The Gaylord Convention Center (hehe) was incredible. So exquisite. The nursing student convention was so cool and it was very empowering to see so many students with similar interests coming together. It was also nice to see a glimpse of what future options are open to me. It seems like in nursing it is limitless. I found out that there are summer externships around the nation though that will not only give you a stipend for working for them but they will pay for your travel to/from the location as well as the cost of staying in a hotel for the duration of the externship. The one I was told about is located in Houston — which, if given the choice, I probably wouldn’t work there — but it is nice to know that sort of thing is out there so now I have a better idea of what to look for. I’m shooting to get an externship next summer rather than working for orientation again. Other than future employment opps, I also attended some focus sessions. My favorite one was about graduate programs. There is just so much out there for a nurse to do. I think I really want to teach and I think I might like to get involved at the administrative level of nursing school in addition to practicing.

Last Monday, the day after I came back from Texas, we (Mike, Matthew, and myself) drove down to Long Beach. Matthew stayed with his high school friend Tess for the night while Mike and I visited his grandma who coincidentally lives just 6 miles away from Tess. It was nice to see ol’ G. What a trooper. She’s turning 89 this summer and she is still on her game.

The next day the four of us (Mike, Matthew, Tess, and myself) drove down to San Diego where we were able to have a short visit with Lani and her family. Tyson’s adorable! To my surprise we caught Matt on a day off (rare) so it was good to see him too. Lani was nice enough to give us a ride to the harbor where our cruise was embarking from.

The cruise was amazing! 5 days of heaven. The only semi-sucky thing is they automatically charge each guest $10/day for gratuity. This is nice because then you don’t have to feel obligated to tip when it’s 4AM and you’re calling room service for some New York cheese cake and smoked salmon with a bagel and cream cheese. The best part was that the food was practically limitless and charge-free (well, “pre-paid” I guess). We probably all ate the value of our stay since every day we were having some sort of sea food for at least one of our 5 meals. Lobster, beef tenderloin, filet mignon, sea food platter, beef wellington, escargo, grilled mahi mahi, smoked salmon, halibut, calamari… to name a few of our dinner plates. Breakfast and lunch were buffets and usually we had at least 6 pieces of sushi each prior to dinner. Then after dinner we’d go to a show or entertainment of some kind on the ship and by the time it was over, the midnight buffet was started! It was amazing. I probably gained like 10 pounds but I don’t even care because it was so delicious.

Ensenada, Mexico was… meh. It was kind of poverty-stricken and not much to look at. No beach (that we could find). We walked around in the town, browsed a little, bought some tacos then went back on the ship. I didn’t buy anything in their little shops because the shop owners were always so pushy. “Go ahead, try it on. What are you looking for? Do you like that one? Come over here and look at these…” etc. They were just annoying and once store owners start talking to me like that it makes me want to leave. So we did. On our way back to the ship Mike bought me three pairs of dangly earrings. They’re pretty.

Cabo San Lucus was soooo gorgeous. The beach was great, weather was perfect, however the shops were all the same as in Ensenada. By the time we got to the beach we only had like 2 1/2 hours though so Matthew and I went swimming for a while then chilled on the beach with the rest of the crew.

Other cruise memories: badgers (*snort* hiss), 3×750ml, disco dancing, crappy hypnotist, creepy 14 year old, beach games, karaoke, OUR karaoke (bohemian/titantic), Backstreet Boys, food comas, free Dramamine & breakfast in bed, chocolate melting cakes, Punjabi God, British accents, and vomiting/gagging noises.

So the cruise was awesome but when I do it again (and I will) I will plan it for during either winter or summer breaks when I don’t need to come back and start thinking again the next week. Coming back to the real world sucks. Matthew is already planning one for January. I’m not sure if I’ll have the money but if I do I will for sure want to go. I think in total for my room and everything I spent about $450 over the 5 days (including the $50 gratuity), which ain’t bad as far as vacations go, if you ask me.