AND IT RAINED (day five)

Waking up to expect the pool flooded it was a bleak morning for my goodbye to the motel. But after my Starbucks bagel and a thorough check of the room (I almost forgot my toiletries) I was of to Union station to catch the Amtrak to OC.

Well what seemed like an easy journey from the beginning turned out to be an insane adventure! First the train was delayed three times due to an accident with a semi on the track (so I got talking to a few people waiting with me) then on the train I happened to be sitting next to a guy from Disney who gave me a few inspirational words about going after your dreams and making the most of my experience here, as we pulled into Santa Ana I made me way of the train, unfortunately due to my extremely heavy bag I was slow coming down the stairs hearing the bells go of I freaked and tried to jump the last steps, to which I tripped and skidded towards the door as I saw them closing before me I gathered my last ounce of dignity and half crawled half jumped of the train.

It was here that I came face to face with a deserted station and no one that spoke English, this I discovered on my first encounter with the information lady

Me: hi do you know which bus I catch to Irvine Uni
Her: No
Me: oh…do you know who would?
Her: No
Me: umm…is there any one who could help me?
Her: No
…..just as I thought I’d stepped into the land of the incredibly mean she looked at me and said…
skdjhfskdjfh,dkjgh,sdgkjhg (that was my attempt at spelling what she said in Spanish)
and I realised that “no” was pretty much the only word she knew

so I moved on to discover that the bus that I was supposed to catch doesn’t even come on Saturdays… three bus transfers later and a lady that told me her life story and the history, cultural variation and food of the area I got fed up and caught the first taxi I saw to uni

well…luckily the cab driver was nice because when we got there, the whole thing was closed (my plan of talking to the people at the international office, leaving my bags there to check out local hotels and sorting out my application went right out the window) and the guy looking at my nervous look at the meter offered to charge a flat rate and drive me around to find a cheap hotel

so now I’m here typing away in the same hotel he is staying at (he moved out cos his wife drinks too much...don’t worry he seems nice, his daughter is here studying fashion...no, not in the hotel) and I’ve just spent the afternoon, scoffing Chinese food, shopping at Alderman’s (like Woolworth’s only bigger) and watching tv,

we’ll see what happens tomorrow…

P.S. this room smells so badly of cigarettes I almost broke down laughing when I saw the fat “NO SMOKING” sign in the room right over the 5 ashtrays on the table : )