I’m feeling rather Doogie Howser-ish (in a bad way – it’s always a bad way!) having to blog off-line and basically keeping a diary. It’s been one hell of a day. First I didn’t get to bed till like 1 am, spent the last bits of last night prepping the blocks for the study and spending time with Chris. This morning, it was a hectic rush, trying to get everything done. I got all my stuff packed, miraculously into one garment bag and one camping back pack – not the huge ones, but the one from MEC that’s slightly larger than a book bag. Not bad. Would have cut down on a book had I had time to finish LOTR 1. Anyhow, Chris drove us to school, I dropped off all my stuff at the office, and then we loaded up the car with all the stuff that was supposed to go to Psych. So it’s like 9:20 am when we get there, and unload the stuff, and then Chris leaves to go to the dentist. I unpack all my junk, try to put books in the book case, threw out this UGLY UGLY lamp that was left from the previous resident of the office, and made my desk pretty. I also wiped my wall-calendar clean, there was stuff from December 2001! It was a little sad actually because there was the first date Chris and I ever went on listed in that month. Ahwn. Anyhow, cleaned everything up, found my missing data (woohoo!), then went to the lab to drop off materials and convert data from one file format to another.
Okay, so the time is now 10:00 am. Went to the office, only to find all the new exec taking our spots already. This was a pain because I needed to finish writing a few documents and had to wipe my harddrive clean. So, that’s what I did, after 30 minutes of talking with the incoming VP, and another while of stupidities. Finally around 10:30, got to work on my reports. Finished them within an hour, then wanted to go grab some lunch before heading out. It was only at that time, 11:30 that someone told me that I should have planed to leave for the airport 2 hours ahead of boarding, not 1 hour. Sigh. So I went, grabbed a donair, came back to the office, finished off the last of my work, and then took a (far more expensive) cab to the airport. Well, I got there at just before 1 pm, and it took all of 10 minutes to get through the check-in and customs. Whatever. Anyhow, when I got to the airport, paid my bills on my cell (not secure, I know, but I needed them to be cleared for activities later on today), and found out that I won’t be able to “pay-as-you-go” in the states. So, I then spent about 30 minutes changing back to my monthly plan for the period of time that I’ll be in the US.
Okay – so then I get on the plane right – I’m not crazy about Northwest because when I went to Minneapolis in 2001 for a conference, they totally made our lives horrible when the plane was cancelled due to bad weather. I do NOT have enough battery time to recount THAT story. Anyhow, I got seated in a row of three with the window seat, no one directly next to me, but this wacko lady on the seat at the end of the row. She requested 3 pillows and a blanket right away, then when “snack time” came, she had two glasses of OJ, and 5, count them 5 baggies of pretzels. Freak.
Okay, so we land slightly after our expected time, which is fine, but I still run out like a bat out of hell so I can get to THE MALL OF AMERICA. This, along with a very very nice French restaurant were the only social highlights to Minneapolis last time I visited.
So a $2 bus ride gets me there in about 15 minutes, and I have scheduled myself a good two hours and a bit to shop. It’s 6:30 and I’m ready to SPEND. First stop, Wizards of the Coast store – thinking this will be D&D heaven, I’ve got my hopes way up. Well, it was basically like a big board game store with a little section on D&D. No good miniatures, in fact, most of the stuff was Warhammer – I didn’t know the two were related. Anyhow, did buy some cute sparkly multi-coloured d6’s for Shadowrun. That will be good. Next stop, Hot Topic. There’s a link to the very cool store on the links bar on the left. Well, the Jackass t-shirt that I wanted is sold out and not being replenished, but I did get 3 or 4 pairs of cute undies, including the two-pack of Maggie Simpson briefs. I also got my brother a t-shirt that has Darth Vadder on it with the caption “Who’s your daddy?” and a Naked Dancing Hommer patch for Chris. Was thinking of getting other t-shirts for myself, but I really had my heart set on Jackass and didn’t really want to spend money on something that wasn’t a good price (e.g. punked out Hello Kitty t-shirt at $28 USD). Next stop – I didn’t know! See there are all these stores with funny names that we don’t have in Edmonton/Canada, and then there are the ones we do; the ones we have, I’d rather buy it back home, those we don’t have, I have no idea what they sell.
So wandering around, went to another cute clothing store and bought a Snoopy t-shirt ($10! Original price $28! It’s by Doe, a subsidiary of FINE, both which rock), AND I bought a curled up straw cowboy hat! I’ve been looking for a decent one of these since Vegas. They look ridiculously cute on me. Next stop, this weird store that I had bought my outerspace print bra at last time. Nothing quite so distinctive this time, but did get a cute camisole and panty set in nude for $10! Did I mention that there’s no tax on clothing in Minesota?
Next stop, food. And, there was a Krispy Kreeme store. I had to see what all they hype is about. I paid my 91 cents and got a small, HOT goey donut. It wasn’t good, or at least nothing to write home about (wait a sec….) and it was a mess! I don’t know how people can eat these! Anyhow, got my money’s worth because I stole two paper soda-shop style hats as souvenirs.
Then, since I was alone, tried to take a picture of myself – which didn’t work very well. This will be a problem for the rest of the trip.
Alright, after that donut, which was just stupid, I had a buffalo chicken sandwich and an “orange slice” (read an orange crush). I then was about ready to go. BUT I saw this crazy store; it was called “Lake Wobagon, Minesota”based on the Garrison Keillor radio show setting. This was very strange because I myself have only heard Garrison Keillor’s show once (on the Vegas trip), but Chris grew up listening to it on road trips. I went in and found the perfect t-shirt for him – It’s plain blue with text saying “still plays with cars”. Bought it, even if it wasn’t on sale, and a joke book from the radio show too – it will come in handy to keep us entertained on our upcoming trip to the Yukon.
Anyhow, all shopped out for today, went to catch the bus (on my transfer, yay!) and was bombarded with strange Americans. There was a lady(?) with a hook hand, a white guy who was tech-talking while pretending to be all hip hop and stuff. Scary scary scary. Anyhow, got back to the airport, through security, and back to a terminal with plenty of time for catching the flight. I am SO organized.
So this is the first trip I’ve taken without anyone, not travelling with anyone, not going to stay with anyone, not meeting anyone. It’ll be interesting. I think I’m going to have fun. I am REALLY glad I didn’t have to go to the crazy expensive trip to Tampa with Jeff, Jody and Carmen, not to mention Eliza who’s a crack head. I don’t think that would have been good at all, there were lots of problems months before we even left. I’m glad, VERY glad I didn’t go. This is already MUCH much better.
Should be arriving in Phoenix at 11:20 pm, then will find some transportation to my hotel. I’m totally going to take advantage of two double beds to myself! Going to take it easy at the conference, sightsee in my free time, eat well, try to jog or at least do stretches and some floor exercises, read, watch VH1, catch up on sleep, all the good things. Heck, I was even thinking of bringing my golf clubs with me, but I figured that was a bit too showy for a grad student. Maybe next year!
Wednesday April 30, 2003 6:46 pm – Econo lodge “hotel”
I am so frigging exhausted. Today was the first day of the conference, and even though it wasn’t the full long day, it was quite frustrating. I got in yesterday at 11 pm, we flew over the city and it was ridiculous – there was sprawling city and suburbs for miles and miles. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a city so spread out. Anyhow, got my stuff, called the hotel, and was told to take a cab. It would be about 7 miles, and so I got in a cab but the guy wanted to charge me a flat-rate. WHATEVER, I made sure that we got back to the starting point and got put on the meter. The hotel is freaking far away, not close at all to the university, even if the hotel name does have “university” in it. Sigh. Okay, so the room is fine, and I put all my stuff away, and watched VH1 – they had some stupid thing about who dresses the stars. Anyhow, finally went to bed.
This morning, woke up early, had a good shower, then went down to get me some of the free “continental breakfast” which was nothing but a stale pot of coffee and some saran-wrapped sugary pastries. Yuck. Tried one of the cinnamon buns but it was so gross I had to throw it out. Waited for the bus for a whole long time, and finally got on it. The university isn’t in any way walkable, and I got to see what was around the hotel: nothing. And there’s no way in hell I’m walking or even taking the bus late at night alone.
The campus is gorgeous and huge, and I saw my very first real-live orange tree – it was beautiful and smelled very very nice. Went and picked up my stuff, and the coffee mug I had bought – which was a porcelain mug, not a travel one… not very useful while I’m out here. Had to go eat something so bought a breakfast sandwich from the Burger king – which is not an unusual thing for me to have, but BOTH pieces of bread were buttered, HEAVILLY. Yuck.
The conference itself was good, Fred Genesee opened the sessions – he had come to do some talks at our school in November. I followed some other presentations, but people just aren’t really organized and their presentations aren’t very good. The materials need a lot of work. Anyhow, did hear one VERY good talk about this person’s work in Nimibia. Very cool to just hear about what is going on in that country, and her work was really interesting.
Lunch was good, they had these really fresh wrap sandwiches, water, a cookie, and a small big of chips. Ate alone – it’s been good to not have to be “on” while I’m out here. That was a really exhausting while I was working at the office – always having to be ready to be happy and peppy and stuff. Watched people go by, then walked around campus too. ASU was apparently established in 1885 but it looks like the whole thing was built less than 20 years ago. It’s very pretty but it doesn’t feel like it has any soul. It is exactly the same feeling as that stupid high school in Beverly Hills 90210. Cold, and too manicured.
Found out from a student-life office where their campus shuttle goes, where some stuff is around Tempe, and where to go around campus. Unfortunately, I was also told not to walk anywhere alone at night or even take the bus. Great.
Went to a few afternoon sessions, but again, they were only so-so. There’s one that sounds really interesting tomorrow, and of course there’s mine on Friday. But, I’ve not packed my schedule too heavily. But… I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that extra time… cause I went walking today to downtown Tempe, and it’s like 4 blocks of high-end stores and junk. Went to Urban Outfitters, which was good, and almost bought some cute pants to go with my super-on-sale Frisk undies, but what I thought were $20 pants were actually $28, plus 10% tax, and the exchange rate – hell, I didn’t want to pay $45 CDN for some plain cotton pants. Anyways, kept walking and made it almost all the way to the hotel, but I was exhausted, and took the bus the rest of the way home. Didn’t find anywhere between school and the hotel that was really appetising, so ended up ordering pizza. Yucky again.
So I’ve been in the room since 6 pm, and it’s dark now, and I just finished watching American Idol, which is another guilty TV pleasure, and will try to call Chris later. Oh, and I got myself some Cheerios and some fat-free milk so I can have a healthier breakfast while I’m here – one problem, no bowl or spoon – I guess that porcelain mug WILL come in handy.
I still have to work on my presentation, but I don’t know what else I’ll do with my evenings… hmmm.
Thursday May 1, 2003 5:5 pm Hotel room
Today went much better – I guess my expectations for the trip had been built up WAY too high. I wore my Snoopy t-shirt, slacks and sandals, and felt much more comfortable. Got hit on though, by the bus driver and some kid on the bus. I blame Britney Spears. Oh, and I ate my expensive Cheerios – in a very awkward way, drinking it out of my mug. Made sure to find some spoons from the food court today.
The morning session was really good, and a bit later than yesterday – which meant that I could sleep in. I did leave one that was right before lunch – the lady, who was supposed to be talking about French-English policy in Canada, which sounded great, but she seriously read every single word off the board. Sucks. I did get to see the tail end of the previous talk by chance and it was totally great – got the handout that I’ll look up on when I get home.
Lunch was delicious sandwiches again, I actually got two sandwiches (okay, and two cookies) but skipped the chips and only had a few sips of the 7up (it gives me headaches). During the long lunch, I went to the ASU Art museum which had an exhibition of CoBrA (not the chemical acronyms) but Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam – or something like that, the three main cities that were under siege during WWII – the artists were from these cities and their art reflected the oppression and damage they suffered. Some of it was really striking and disturbing. Anyhow, I enjoyed visiting the exhibit. They also had a room on American art, including a Georgia O’keefe.
After the art museum, I went to another gallery featuring photography from an MFA student. Then I tried to go to the geology museum, but it was closed in the afternoon, so I checked out the Fucault’s Pendulum in the science building and headed back to the conference.
The afternoon sessions were so-so, everyone was talking WAY over their time, and for the first time I wanted to ask a question but there wasn’t enough time to ask it. Then, after the 3rd presentation, I started getting a big headache. Went out for a walk, and decided to get postcards for Chris, my parents, and the office. I also got a cute ASU t-shirt as a souvenir.
After, I went on the hunt for some decent food for dinner. I didn’t want to go to the evening reception because it’s going to cost me something like $10 USD to get back to the hotel via taxi. So, I got myself a salad, which is good, and then went to get soup and a bagel too. Well the “chicken with wild and white rice” was a cream soup (!) so I asked not to have it afterall. I did get a poppy seed bagel with reduced-fat cream cheese, but they ladled on like half a cup of cheese, so when I got home I scrapped off 90% of it. Took the bus home, and met a lady from the conference who’s also staying at the hotel.
Now, in the room and going to work on my presentation, go to bed early, and eat some of the food I took home.
Tomorrow I have my presentation session in the morning, and nothing really in the afternoon, so I may go to downtown Phoenix tomorrow. The only problem is that I’ll have my laptop on me – not something that’s too light. We shall see. Saturday’s morning sessions will be fairly easy since they’re short, so might go to the mall where they have a Hot Topic, but it’s at the other end of the city… There’s also a trip to a botanical garden but I’m not too interested in that. I don’t really know what else there is to do here – I mean, everyone EVERYONE has cars so things are not easy to get to.
Oh – watching the news, and apparently last year there were May Day riots in Tempe. There’s no freaking way I’m going out there. They’ve shown about 5 cops on each of the corners of downtown Tempe. They’re wearing semi-riot gear. Scary.
Friday May 2, 2003 – 9:01 pm, Hotel room
Good day today. Woke up nice and early, had a shower, then was able to eat my cheerios with a spoon – ah luxury! Got a bus right away to the ASU campus, then did the last minute touches on my presentation while waiting for our session to start. The presentations were all very good, and when it came time to mine, the room wasn’t very full, but they were all very interested and I got lots of good, challenging questions. Good support. Grabbed some lunch (chicken burrito, so-so), and spent lunch alone in the students’ union. Then, went and took the bus to downtown Phoenix, which wasn’t too far, but still quite a distance away. Got out in the middle of downtown and walked around. Saw some really crazy architecture for the city hall, the court houses and the theatres and sports centres. Walked a good 3-4 kms to the State Capitol where there was a lovely garden with lots of war memorials, tastefully done (read: not gaudily patriotic) and a museum with history of the state, the capitol building, and a special exhibit on the Navaho Indian Code Talkers in WWII. There were pictures of a bunch of men who acted as code talkers and a few lines of quotes on their experiences. The photographs were gorgeous. Ironically the photos were taken by a Japanese man – I’ll look up his name and include it in a future blog.
I then took the bus back towards Tempe, dropped by the Urban Outfitters again. Saw a pair of pants that were exactly like the ones I had bought and immediately returned, but they’re slightly heavier and sky blue instead of mossy green. They were on for $16, that’s $12 less than the other pair. They actually fit better too. Got those. Then, had a nice dinner of spinach salad and penne chicken alfredo (which I could not finish) and unsweetened iced tea – which I’ve finally gotten a taste for - at Chili’s. Very yummy. For desert, bought some Nibs. Took the bus back to the hotel and took a shower. Watched some crap TV, then called my parent and later called Chris. My parents are happy that my trip is going well despite the self-imposed curfew. Chris is bored, but somewhat having fun just doing nothing. Actually, he’s doing a lot – he’s cleaning the house! I am so lucky!
Tomorrow I will be going to the conference for the morning, then I was hopping to have lunch at the International House of Pancakes. There are two museums around that I might go check out – the first is a Science Centre in downtown, and the second is the Peublo Grande Museum – which I presume is anthropological. Not sure which I’ll do – the Peublo Grande Museum is harder to get to, but it will be much more unique. Perhaps I’ll be able to do both?
Sunday, ah… See, we’re supposed to meet at the ASU campus AT 7 am… and I found out today that there are no busses that run by my hotel on Sundays. Period. So, if I want to get on the bus, I’ll either have to deal with another (crooked) cab driver, or else walk. I’m thinking of walking. I figure I won’t be wearing too heavy clothing (shorts, a thin blouse, cowboy hat, shades and a bag) and all I’ll be carrying is my camera, wallet, and sunscreen. I’m not exactly worried about walking alone in the day time, but it will be a rather long walk, and guys are all like “hey young lady, how you doin’ chica?” and stuff. I am so not used to that in Edmonton – I mean guys don’t even overtly check you out back home (they do in all the other provinces I’ve visited). I really like that about Edmonton. So anyways, I’m just more annoyed and a bit freaked. What the hell, if anything, am I supposed to say? I don’t know what is right. What won’t get me any other comments. Uhg. So, I might try walking. I suppose that means I’ll have to be up at like 5! THEN to get back to the hotel I’ll have to take a cab at night. I don’t like that either. Kinda wish I hadn’t bought the ticket and would have rented a car to take the trip instead. I’m not 25 yet, so I don’t think I’d be allowed to rent it down here anyways, or else they might charge me an arm and a leg. I don’t know. We’ll investigate transportation tomorrow.
Going to read now, haven’t really done much of that since I got here. I mean, I read on the plane, but VH1 is so damn attention grabbing. Last few days!
Saturday May 3, 2003 – 9:11 pm Hotel Room
Okay, I finally cried. I had a good day with some very bad parts, and I had enough. I woke up early and realised that I would have to walk to the ASU campus because there was no buses by the hotel. It took me about half-an-hour and 5 cars honking at me. The morning sessions I went to were very good, and the closing session was okay too. The Navajo flute player cancelled. I went to IHOP for lunch – ate their yummy pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs and greasy breakfast meats. AH! Then, I went to wait for the bus, and it took like 30 minutes for it to arrive. I had trouble getting to the Heard Museum that I was seeking, but after escaping a scary part of town with nudie “cabarets” and finding a bus instead. The Heard museum was actually very good, focusing on Native Indian cultural history and contemporary art. There were very well done displays on each of the tribes/peoples that live in the Arizona area, and a display for each of the regional areas where Native Peoples live (e.g. the artic, the rockies, the plains, the Great lakes, etc.) They also had a room full of these neat Hopi dolls. Can’t recall their proper name, but there were easily 500 of them. I had a colouring book when I was young of these dolls. They are all colourful and showy, some with masks or elaborate costumes, others with exagerated features to “scare off” bad spirits. It was very cool to see so many real ones.
It was getting around 4 pm, and I needed to head back towards the hotel. I haven'’ really enjoyed HAVING to come home by sunset. I don't mind it when I get here, but I don’t enjoy being forced to do so. Anyhow, I got back to downtown Phoenix and then for some reason the connecting bus just wasn’t coming. I waited for over 30 minutes, maybe more like 40 and no buses were coming. There were the 4 homeless people who were on the verge of arguing/fighting at the stop and it was obvious several of them were not all there mentally. I finally had to call the transit center to find out where the hell the bus was and they told me after a very long wait, to go to a stop 3 blocks down. I went to the new stop and was much happier there, even when the bus came from the same stop I had just moved from. Anyhow, got to downtown Tempe, and picked up some film and some tampons. I then waited for the bus again, and it came, and I got on but not for long – the restaurant I wanted to get dinner at was a lot closer to campus (and thus further from the hotel than I had remembered). I did get a very yummy traditional Mexican dinner of Carne Assada with beans, rice, salad, and flour tortilla. But then, there was a long walk home left. I didn’t like that – I passed the good trailer park, the not so good one, the bad one and then, the scary scary scary trailer park. Then further down the way was my hotel. I was just getting paranoid and scared, and then depressed. I called Expedia.ca to let them know that I was not happy with the location of my hotel and that naming it the “Econolodge Arizona State University” was a total misnomer. I don’t think that actually offered me a hotel change, but it would have been a pain to change on my own anyways. They weren’t very nice about the trouble I’ve been through getting to and from the university – especially when I said I didn’t know what to ask for in compensation. I told them I was not happy, and then hung up. I then broke down into tears and called home. Chris was so worried that I was like physically hurt, but he helped me through it and made me refocus on some of the nice things about this trip. This was really good, and I am going to take cabs for the rest of the trip (except maybe to get to the airport because that will be a work day during rush hour). When I got off the phone with him I ate my dinner and watched stupid MTV and VH1. Will go to bed early again tonight, maybe start packing, and get up early tomorrow to go to the Grand Canyon.
Monday May 5, 2003 – 9:15 am Phoenix airport, gate 26
So I didn’t go to the Grand Canyon simply because I thought I was going to pass out – see I had what the doctor at the hospital said was a stomach flu that was going around the ASU campus. I thought for sure I had food poisoning from the Mexican take-out. I threw up 7 or 8 times starting at 4 am and I felt like hell. I couldn’t sleep, my abs killed from puking, and I had a fever. I was really scared because I was alone and no one was out here to check on me or help me if I needed it. I called Chris and home and let them know that I wasn’t going to the Grand Canyon, and that I was feeling really unwell. At 11 am, I felt really REALLY bad because I was totally dehydrated. There’s no bottled water in the hotel and the tap water made me sick. I also tried to drink some soda or iced tea and both those made me throw up too. It was getting near the time I could maybe order in some water when I felt like I was crashing. I finally called the poison control center and they told me I should go to the hospital or to a clinic to get my electrolyte levels checked at the very least. So I called the clinic first, because I don’t have any travel insurance, and they said only the hospital could give me the treatment I needed. So, I was really scared, and got a cab to the nearest hospital. It took forever, or at least it seemed to take for ever – to check-in, get triaged, and then get seen. I finally threw up in the waiting room (in a puking container) and felt a lot better then. Still felt really really weak though. Anyhow, when I did get to the hospital bed, it was so nice to feel safe, like I could rest and people would take care of me. The doctor diagnosed me with the stomach flu and got me 2 bags of saline to address my dehydration. I got some antibiotics and some nausea medication too. They released me and I was asked to pay the bill. It cost over $729 but since I was able to pay today, they gave me 50% off. To me, that made NO SENSE. The people who can pay up front aren’t the ones who need a deal! Sigh. Anyhow, I was happy that it was cheaper. I took a cab to a pharmacy, got my prescription filled, and got a loaf of brown bread, some candy and LOTS of water. Last night I managed to drink 2 bottles of water plus had 1 piece of bread, and 1 lifesaver candy. Went to bed at 10 pm. Woke up this morning at 6 am, feeling much much better. Got up, cleaned, had a shower, put the remaining things away, and had 2 more slices of bread and half a bottle of water. My stomach is feeling fragile still, but much better than yesterday. Got the bus to the airport ($1.25 is SO much cheaper than the $20 cab ride!) and got through security. Now going to sit and take it easy until the plane takes off. Might go to Mall of America in Minneapolis again – depends how I feel and how the flight is going. There have been some delays because of tornadoes across the country. If I feel up to it, will go, if not, will stay and read LOTR II. Should be in Edmonton at 11 pm, where Chris will be there to pick me up. I can’t wait to be back home.
posted by traxis @ 3:52 p.m.
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