Training days (Mon//Wed//Sat)

Monday, May 23.

Trainer: Joseph.
Training: Streets.
11:30-20:00

First day of training, oh boy was I excited! I was all on my own to make it back to the Cast parking lot and then walk over to Pride Rock Cafeteria. I made it way early, with the inefficiency of the bus system, and sat around eating cereal for a little while, trying to figure out how I would recognize my trainer, not knowing where or who to look for. At 11:25 or so this man came into the cafeteria and somehow spotted me right away, told me to come over to a computer and had me clock in. First day using the Cast Deployment System (CDS).
After completing that step Joseph took me on the bus that shuttles between Pride Rock, the security booth we go through to enter Disney grounds and another section of the backstage area. We got off near the main Custodial Office where we sat down and had him grab a folder with more paperwork for me to look at. Amongst other things I received a locker, which I share with Xavier, and a water bottle in a little insulating pouch.
I once again went on park tour, but this time dressed in my pretty Custodial outfit and carrying my pan and broom. I probably looked dazed, trying to take everything in and attempting to pick up trash off the ground (turns out super flat papers, i.e. maps, go under the pan, not in. You have to scruntch it up with your foot). Joseph showed me a few of the cast area/break rooms; depending which section you work in you will be in a different break area, crossing the park for a 15 minute break is obviously not practical. With the heat and the fact that he started at 7:30 that morning we took a good number of break which was nice. I met a number of other Custodials, all incredibly nice, and drank a whole lot of water. I met Gerhard from the Netherlands who speaks a bit of French so it was fun, he told me to take the language test to get a language on my nametag. Still have to do that, the tests are only (by phone) on Fridays so I need to fit that into my schedule.
To kill time Joseph took me through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in Africa where I saw all sorts of birds birds, gorillas, and a hippo. The funny thing is that I can tell you it was Pangani now because I worked in that area yesterday (6/11), two days ago I had no idea what it was called. He also took me on the Wildlife Express Trail to Rafiki's Planet Watch to show me the back area there. The Planet Watch is not accessible on foot, you have to take an actual train to get there, it's a more scientific look into wildlife where kids can really learn about animals, watch real live veterinarians work on animals, and there's a petting zoo somewhere in there.
After a few more breaks, lots of water, and a trip through the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia (yay tigers!) I was told it was time to begin our trash runs. Trash runs consist of us grabbing a big banana boat (ok, I don't know what they're called in the real world)

This thing. We call them banana boats...

and fill up a little bin attached to it with three rolls of plastic bags, a good handful of recycling bags, some towels and some disinfectant - and don't forget gloves! and go around emptying from 20 to 30 trashcans and rebagging them.There must be at all times three bags in a can, so if you have two trash runs in a row you can put in two new bags on your first run so you only have to pull out the trash on the second one without spending twice as much time rebagging. And then you wipe the trash can on top and the lip/flappy thing... they gave it a name, I can't remember. On that specific night we took care of the Caravan trash run - on your trusty Animal Kingdom map you will find this in Asia where the parade route passes number 12. This long straight line is Caravan and it has about 25 cans I think (plus recycling).
Each area of the park is split into parts to which we are assigned. Asia is split between Caravan, Anandapur, and Everest; Africa is split into Harambe, and Pangani; Dinoland is Dinosaur, Boneyard, and Theater in the Wild; Discovery Island is split into Flametree, and Pizzafari; and Main Entrance is Medical Side and Bus Side. I don't know about Camp Minnie-Mickey, I haven't worked there yet.
But back to the main subject! After the trash run we emptied the cart, washed it in Africa and placed it back in Asia's back area. We walked back to the Custodial Main Office and filled out some more paperwork, sat around for a little while and then clocked out for the day. On my walk back to the bus I met Brittany who offered me a ride back to Vista even though she lives in Chattam/Patterson. We picked up another trainee and made our way back home!


Wednesday, May 25.

Trainer: Carridad.
Training: Restrooms.
11:30-20:00

After a wonderful day off of sleeping in and visiting Epcot with some of the roommates I made it back to the Custodial Main Office for a second day of training. I had Tuesday off because Carridad was not working on that day and she is apparently the only female trainer, so for restrooms we're all based on her schedule. Carridad met up with me at 11:30 and took me back to Pride Rock to get a set of black work shoes provided for free! Now I have two sets of shoes, I can switch back and forth like Mom told me to do.
After that we made our way back to the front of the park and made our way up to Asia. She showed me around a bit more in areas such as Kali River Rapids where some of the garbage cans are way in the back and hard to see/find. She then took me to the back area to show me the storage closets where I can find all the bags/towels/chemicals/plungers I could need to clean restrooms. We went on to the Caravan restrooms (near Flights of Wonder - number 12) and I was shown what is expected of me on the days I have restroom duty. I wipe down the sinks if needed, I make sure the floor is clean of debris and water, I check if the paper towels are full, same with toilet paper and the seat coverings, I clean up the baby changing area and that's it - when I get into the restrooms. At some points in the day I have to refill the soap and sometimes empty the trashcans if need be. After showing me this restroom, Carridad took me to the Kali restrooms (between Yak&Yeti [N] and the Kali Rapids [13]) and we did the same thing again... except the Kali River Rapids is the wettest ride in the world and people are soaked when they get in there to change, so when cleaning there towels are incredibly useful.
We went back and forth between these two restrooms the rest of the day, it takes between 15 to 20 minutes to clean when all goes well so it's a pretty peaceful, easy job. At the end of the day Carridad showed me the closing procedure: wipe down everything, make sure paper towels and toilet paper are full, and fill up the soap. Grab a garbage can on wheels and take the trash to one of the back areas and poof you're done.
The best thing about being Custodial at the Animal Kingdom? It's easy - they let you work at your own pace as long as you get the job done and guests don't complain. Many people complain that it's a boring park to work in; I get to walk around with my own thoughts all day, I think it's pretty nice =)
I've been told that if I pick up shifts at the Magic Kingdom I'll get blisters from sweeping like crazy; I think I'll stick to the Animal Kingdom for a while, I like the rhythm.

Saturday, May 28.

Trainer: Reinaldo.
Training: General//Assessment.
8:00-12:00//12:00-17:30

Early start. Very early when you know that the bus takes forever to get to DAK. To be at the clock in area at 8:00 you get there at 7:30, having to leave Vista Way at 6:50.
It was nice to be there so early and enjoy the cooler air and softer sun. I met up with Reinaldo and another trainee and we went around the park again, making sure we knew a bit more about general things. At 10:00 we attended a "Track Talk", where the managers update the Custodial crew on a few things and make sure we don't have problems, etc etc etc. After that we were assessed - yay exams! Actually we sat at a table and Reinaldo handed us a multiple choice questionnaire thing and told us not to answer any of them unless we were positive about the answer; if not we were to ask him and he would tell us/explain the answer. Needless to say we both passed that just fine and learned a few things in the process. That was my morning, four hours went by incredibly fast and poof, I was on my own in the park.
I keep saying they release us in to the park to see how we survive and people laugh, but I'm serious. One minute you're a trainee taking an assessment, next thing you know you're on your way to Asia to start your first shift all on your own. Reinaldo introduced me to John who was doing the trash run before my own trash run in Anandapur and asked him if I could shadow him and double bag them so I could just pull them when I did my run. John was nice enough to agree and that was quite a relief, the cans are all over the place. I spent some time sweeping the streets and at 14:30 I met up with John and followed him around bagging trash cans trying to remember where they were and which way we grabbed them. John showed me a few tricks to make things easier, such as the way to set the pan and broom when you don't need them so they don't fall and don't have to lean against anything. Yay for efficiency (one of Disney's four keys!).
By the end of that run I was running extremely low on water and didn't quite realize how much the sun was beating down on my head until my vision started going dark and I recognized the signs of imminent passing out. I told John I wasn't feeling to well and he told me to get over to the closest water fountain STAT. Which I did and after refilling my poor body with water I felt much better. John then apologized for missing the signs of me behind super-dehydrated - looking like a tomato that is not quite ripe, you know, super pale but super red cheeks? yeah, that was me). This adventure taught me to drink. A lot. One bottle and hour is what I was told.
Since that day John tells me to drink whenever he sees me. He also helped me with my trash run, saying he wanted to make sure I got all the cans, I'm pretty sure he just wanted to keep me from fainting in the Kali Rapids' waters. 'Cause the cool thing is that we get to go into the queue area of the rides to grab the trash there, but for the River Rapids we have to cross a moving floor and I was told to be super careful, we don't want trash in the water, hehehe.
By the end of that run it was time for me to go home, and I must say, it felt nice to go home so early... my last early shift!

Orientation and DAKlimation

Saturday, May 21.

Custodial Core: 8:00-16:30
This day started to early for my taste, and I had to wear dress clothes again. I made my way to the Disney University to learn everything I could about being part of the custodial crew. We started once again in a classroom (upstairs this time) with about thirty of us sitting at tables of six.
The first part of the day was spent listening to all the safety information: how to carry things, how to push a broom, how to clean correctly, how to keep safe from blood borne pathogens, and how to clean up Code V (I'll let you readers guess what that is).
Basically, at all times we have our pan and broom

This is what our pans look like. Fancy, right?

We have a set of keys so we can access custodial closets and open up specific cupboards with chemicals - muahahahah. Actually, the thing that was repeated the most was to not mix chemicals. ever. ever. ever. That is our basic supply. Anything else: towels, gloves, bags, chemicals are found in supply closets, along with push brooms (to clear water from sidewalks), squeegees (to clear water from tables and benches) and pickers (the long pinchy things to grab papers in bushes, trees, and faraway places).
We were shown how to pick up blood; there is a special BBP box (blood borne pathogens) found in a number of closets with very specific supplies: goggles, gloves, towels, a specific chemical, and a heavy-duty bag to place bloody items and another to place items to be cleaned and retrieved at a later time.
As they discussed all this blood issue they handed us a paper giving us the choice to get a Hepatitis B vaccine (or 3 - one shot every 2 months for 6 months), everyone freaked out and checked the "get vaccine" box. I didn't, I figured I would get it later if it became necessary. (Apparently I had the shot as a baaaaby so I don't actually need it at all, yay!).
This ended the first part of my day.

After spending all that time in class they took us over to the Magic Kingdom's underground tunnels called the Utilidor - utility corridor. It's pretty impressive, it goes all around the park with an incredible number of doors popping up most places up in the Kingdom. From what I hear it's incredibly easy to get lost in them, from the map, I'm pretty sure I would be the first to get off the path =D. On this special occasion they just took us to the Mouseketeeria where I bought delicious rice and terryaki chicken! After half an hour of relaxing they took us back to Disney University for the second half of our day.

The second half was a bit different from the first; instead of going to the classroom we were in that morning they took us to a computer lab to complete "online classes". These included how to be safe and how to be courteous, what a surprise, right?! Some of the lessons were about working with blood, with sharp objects, how to deal with customers, disabled guests (sight, hearing, mobility), etc. The basics, and long, long, long lessons. We had to listen to the audio version so we couldn't skip through pages hehehe. A few questions were asked, pretty straight forward and we had a final assessment. Actually, some people already took some of these classes so they were able to leave early (not fair!) Two of us were stuck there until 2pm (instead of 4:30pm), the last two to leave.
Did I mention we were paid for the first time that day? We were supposed to be there until 4:30pm according to our schedule, but NO, they took two of our work hours away from us!

After such an intense day, I caught the bus back to Vista Way and finished putting some things away.

Sunday, May 22.

DAKlimation: 8:30-14:30
Sunday was another dressed up day, the last one! It was what they call DAKlimation. DAK stands for Disney Animal Kingdom, I'm not sure I had to spell that out for anyone, but one never knows. For this meeting we were expected to make our way to the Animal Kingdom's cast parking lot and walk over to the Cast Services building. To give you an idea, we were given a little map the day before with "not to scale" written on it, that's always encouraging. So a good number of us were on the morning bus to get there which made it a bit easier to find the place; it wasn't just for Custodians this time, just folks working at the Animal Kingdom. Always interesting to see the face they make when you tell them you'll be cleaning up the park, I don't think they realize that's the job I actually wanted.
The day started with a presentation of the Animal Kingdom and it's history. The two people presenting did a great job of getting us excited about all the animals there and how they would be all around us as we worked. Once again they had to cover safety issues and the way were are expected to interact with guests.

Animal Kingdom Map (PDF)

My home away from home.

After two hours of presentation they took us out of the Cast Services Building and took us around backstage to the back of the Lion King show (found in Camp Mickey-Minnie) and made us enter the park in two groups. FIRST TIME IN ANIMAL KINGDOM. It was amazing, trees trees trees trees trees everywhere! As soon as we stepped in the park I spotted Thumper from Bambi posing with a little girl, birds were calling through the park and squirrels were running around.
They proceeded to take us around the park in record time showing us the main attractions and not much more, stating that we would have time to explore on our time off (which I now realize was a lie, there is no such thing as exploration time!). They dragged us at lightning speed through Camp Mickey-Minnie into Discovery Island, through Africa, into Asia and down into Dinoland before running back into Camp Mickey-Minnie and back to the classroom =D
Another little bit of information w as given to us about our jobs and what was expected - I'm sure the repetition was necessary for a number of people, but aarg, woke up way too early to go through that.

We walked over to the cast cafeteria called Pride Rock to grab a quick lunch (Chicken Wellington for me, can't go wrong with chicken, mushrooms, and puff pastry). Our next step was to make it somehow to the DAK Costuming building, we were offered a bus to drive over from Pride Rock but having met a few people, we decided to drive over there with the directions we were given on the back of our schedule (once again, not to scale). Needless to say, we got lost, the driver - an English girl - freaked out, not liking to be late, but in the end we made it 15 minutes late. The costuming building is HUGE, rows and rows of costumes, all of them for Animal Kingdom roles, I can only imagine the size of the Magic Kingdom costuming.
With another girl we ran over to the Custodial aisle (the Baloo row =D) and grabbed a few shirts and pants. We were told to grab a size larger than we usually wear, which is kind of depressing, but we have to deal with it hehehe. We also have to tuck in our shirts and the pants come up to our waists which makes it even worse, but hey, we all look ridiculous, no one looks better than everyone else.
My costume is white, I had a choice between pants and shorts, I obviously chose pants, my legs don't need to see the sun, that's a silly concept. Our shirts are button-up and white with a blue squarey-looking patch on the top-left corner. Black belt, black shoes, and a choice between a white straw-looking hat or a white cap. I chose the hat because they were out of caps and because it provides a lot more shade, and to be honest, it's the coolest part of my costume. I've yet to take a picture of it, I will one of these mornings.
Oh! And a poncho, we get transparent ponchos for the rainy days, they were out of normal sizes so I'm stuck with an 5X-large one for a little while, at least until I can get it exchanged. They also gave us a blue belt bag to put it in.
With five sets of costumes in arm we checked them out and caught the bus back home where we compared costumes, at least those of us who had them. I must say Laura's train conductor and engineer costumes are pretty awesome compared to mine.

Having tried to go to Wal-Mart the night before but failing miserably - the buses stop running at 6pm for Wal-Mart every other day - Ricky and I decided to try again on Sunday night where the bus runs until 1 in the morning.
We bought a few necessary items for Ricky apartment-wise and work shoes for the both of us. Mine are surprisingly comfortable, with a good amount of padding both on the sole and on the sides. After another little while we caught the bus back to Vista Way where we called it a night and crashed, ready to start our training the next day.

Did anyone notice my lack of dinner talk? The first week we basically stuffed our face with delicious Chick-Fil-A. Their nuggets are so delicious and... real?

Free Days and Traditions

Thursday, May 19.

We were free on Thursday. And honestly, my brain is going blank as to what happened.

My roommates had their "Welcome Session" on Thursday, so I was all on my lonesome, I got to sleep in and enjoy the sunlight through the blinds falling straight on my bed and warming me up just right.

My apartment building

In the early afternoon Ricky and I caught a bus back to the Casting building we were at the day before in the hope to set up my direct deposit (I forgot to bring a voided check on Wednesday). I gave up on the direct deposit, I'll be setting it up online next week after my second paycheck.
Right across the street from the Casting Services is Downtown Disney so we walked down there instead of waiting for the next bus. We did not have our passes yet so we could not go onto the ride there but we went through the store, and I must say, that's when the magic began!
They have a HUGE gift store, with Disney, Disney, Disney everywhere! I refrained from buying anything, go me! But it was a very close call. (Thanks Ricky for constantly reminding me that we'd be there 7 months and that we would get discounts in the future.)

My first sight of the Magic Kingdom sign!

When we made it back to the Vista Way apartments Ricky finally convinced me to try out the pool, and what an amazing idea it was. Getting out of the heat into fresh water renewed my faith in swimming pools; the last time I went to a pool regularly was back in middle school when Mom would go swimming on Sunday mornings.
We spent a little bit of time in there, not too long in fear of burning up without noticing. And to be honest, that's all I recall of Thursday. I went to bed at some point =D

Friday, May 20.

On Friday we had to attend "Traditions". We caught the bus over to Disney University where we had the joy of attending "class" for a few hours. We also had to wear business attire so that was pretty exciting!

The idea behind that meeting was to make us believe in the magic of Disney and how to make others believe in it. We played a small game where we had to place a few of Disney's historical events in chronological order. That day was the day I realized I didn't know anything about Walt Disney and his amazing company =D
They took us around the Magic Kingdom on a very, very quick tour. It was so amazing. My very first time on Disney ground! The reason they took us on that tour was to have us observe the Four Keys our program is based around: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. An example we had was a random greeter at the Tree House (Robinson Family?); he keeps guests from getting hurt and he watches out for his own safety at all times, he is courteous to each and every guest (children included), he wears his costume and knows the Tree House's story by heart to keep the magic intact for all guests, and he shows people where to go to keep the line as short as possible. Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency. They kept repeating them; actually, it was the central theme behind Traditions.
After our little trip to the Kingdom we made it back to our classroom to continue our education of what Disney is all about. Not only do we have to keep the Four Keys in mind, we must also remember the Disney Service Basics.
The Basics, we are told, are: I project a positive image and energy; I am courteous and respectful to all Guests, including children; I stay in character and play the part; I go above and beyond.
Can I say... brainwashing? Yes, I believe I can. But hey, we got little Disney figurines if we spoke up and answered questions, so kind of worth it for all us College Programs (CPs) who want free stuff from here =D Needless to say, I didn't speak up, so no figuring for me, oh no, oh no!

To break up this block of text, here, have a palm tree!

About three-fourth of the way through our day someone knocked at the door, at which point everyone looked around confused; we weren't expecting anyone... And in came MICKEY MOUSE! We were all quite excited, Mickey came over and brought the class a present (we didn't know what it was until the very end). He hugged a few of us, patted our shoulders, danced, laughed, and asked us a few more questions. It was amazing. So magical. Disney is all about the magic, it's just... Magical!

The rest of the meeting was as interesting as any information session is; we covered safety, safety, safety, and what to do/not do while on the job. The difference between being onstage and being off/backstage, how to act with guests, how to be a good cast. All in all, if you've been raised correctly and have a minimum amount of morals you'll be just fine (thanks Mom and Dad =D).
But the best part was yet to come!!! As we walked out the classroom door, we were given our name-tags which meant we could now go to the parks for free (party!).

Does this need a caption? Of course! This is my amazing name-tag.

Needless to say, when we all got home that night we headed over to the parks, my roommates in one group, I went with Ricky... I can't remember why we separated. I remember leaving later and taking the monorail to the Magical Kingdom and seeing the fireworks from there; gorgeous!
We walked all over the park, taking it all in; actually, running around like chickens with their heads cut off (that was just me, I dragged Ricky all over hehehe). We road the PeopleMover in Tomorrowland, Mad Hatter's teacups and Snow White's Scary Adventure in Fantasyland, Splash Mountain and Runaway Train in Frontierland. All in all, it was an amazing night!

I finally reached the end of our day of Traditions! On to Orientation/DAKlimation...

Day One

Wednesday, May 18. [edited 5/26/2011]

The check-in at Vista Way supposedly started at 9:00 am. The line outside, we were told, started assembling at 6:30 am, the check-in actually opened an hour early. Therefore, by the time we reached the apartment-choice kiosk thing, the two choices Ricky and I had were gone; of the three apartment complexes, Vista Way, Patterson Court, and Chattham Square, only Vista Way had 2 three-bedroom apartments with all our requirements. It turns out the lady in charge or Ricky and me was nice enough to place us on the same floor (second) of one apartment building (#3). So that was one positive thing.

Building #3, apartment #308

The temperature by 10:00 was already pretty high up there, we were sweaty, tired from traveling, not showered, etc. and they took our picture for the property ID we have to carry when walking into the Vista Way... community? So yeah, I look gorgeous on THAT image, let me tell you. Ricky is shaved and without glasses so he looks super, super young =D

I'll save you from the boring details, we filled out paperwork, signed our lives and ideas over to Disney World and basically accepted to work for the best company ever. By the time we were done at the Welcome Pavilion we had 15 minutes to grab our suitcase (2 in my case) and run over  to find our apartments before running off to another registration. I entered apartment 308 and found it completely empty and decided not to pick a room right away since I'd been told that four of the roommates knew each other. The apartment has three bedrooms, one right next to the front door with an attached bathroom, the other two are at the other end of the apartment with a small bathroom shared between the two. A large living/dining room joins into the kitchen which contains a microwave, fridge, stove/oven, and a dishwasher.

View from the center of the Vista Way complex

After a very quick tour of the apartment, I ran back out to meet up with Ricky and we ran over to catch a bus over to mysterious places. We ended up a bit of time later at Disney's Casting Building facing Downtown Disney where they lead us into a labyrinth of more paper signing, fingerprinting, picture taking, etc. Pretty crazy. We were looking everywhere, trying to figure things out, with the whirlwind of new information they gave us we were all a little giddy. About two hours later they brought us back to Vista Way where we had an hour to breath before leaving for a "Welcome Session". When I got back to my apartment my roommates had moved in but they were still nowhere to be found, I made my bed (with my head in a corner of windows) and went back out to the bus an hour later to go from the Vista Way apartments to what is called "The Commons", a residence for international students that work for Disney over a year.
We ended up being in a super-cold room, yay for air conditioning! They told us a hundred times that safety safety safety was the most important thing and that offering alcohol to under-21s was the best way to be terminated.  All in all, that was it. It was still pretty magical, free stuff was thrown out into the crowd - the usual: pens, pins, ID-holders.
MAGIC, it's all about magic.

But yeah, by the time this was over I believe it was about 6:00pm, we made it back to our apartments where I finally met my roommates and Ricky met some of his. I live in a 3 bedroom/6 people apartment, my room-roommate is Lynn, she's a College Program alumni, so she's already been through this and is super awesome. The other four are: Laura, Jessica, Erin, and Cristina (from Puerto Rico). Five of us drove over to Wal-Mart to pick up stuff like boards and lamps, and some food to fill up our fridge. Having kitchen utensils already in the apartment made our shopping trip a bit cheaper. We still ended up with a FULL car! The three of us in the back (Jessica, Cristina and me) had laundry soap between us and pillows stacked on our knees, I've never had better airbags in the back seat.
After that trip I finished unpacking my suitcases, setting up my room and if I'm not mistaking went to try out Chick-Fil-A with Ricky, it was delicious.

We were invited to a small get together that night, Cristina was not interested in staying very late so I went with the rest of the roommates to walk back with her. It turned out that the "partiers" were from Puerto Rico so Cristina ended up chatting with them for a while, it was pretty entertaining to listen to, they speak super fast.

That ends my first Wednesday in Florida =D

Traveling

Well, it's been a crazy start to this unexpected internship. The trip Ricky and I took from Pasco, Washington to Orlando, Florida had two stops in between: Salt Lake City, Utah; and Los Angeles, California. Both were one hour stops which was quite nice considering the flights themselves were not all that long.
The flight to Salt Lake and the one to Los Angeles went admiringly well, we started late from Salt Lake but caught up within the hour to arrive on time. I managed to grab a raspberry jam filled doughnut from Krispy Kreme from the airport before that flight. Delicious.
We nearly missed the flight from Los Angeles to Orlando. The airport is under construction, incredibly confusing with no departures/arrivals TV on the level we arrived at. After going back and forth through never-ending corridors we finally found our gate 30 minutes before departure. A huge line was standing around the gate so we went to grab food at Roxy's Diner, a beautiful little diner. When we got back upstairs we realized it was the last call to board the plane so we rushed forward and ended up having another crowd behind us so we ate our burgers and fries before take-off. We managed to grab a few hours of sleep during those five hours, I personally managed to keep water from spilling on me while I slept. Once. The second try ended up with my hands falling into my laps while holding a cup of water, which spilled all over my Delta blanket, pants and socks. I'm pretty sure I scared the heck out of Ricky when I jumped to try and get off my seat without spilling more water.
The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Until we got out of the plane. Orlando's airport has a huge hotel! It's gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

At the airport, tired  but excited.

See what I did there? I put a "tapestry filter" 'cause the photo was blurry. OOO the trickiness!
But anyway, we used the restrooms to freshen up and took the little subway thingy to the baggage claim. While in the little tram/subway we passed by huge windows where I caught my first sight of Florida's palm trees and an amazing sunrise. I'm sorry to say I was not in picture mode and lacked the presence of mind to take a photo of that. Now that I think about it, the hotel photo was <em>after</em> the tramway.
We made our way to baggage claim where Ricky's suitcase was found first, Mom's suitcase not far behind and my smaller blue one followed. I don't think I've ever gotten my suitcases this fast, it was amazing.
After that, well, we waited for an hour and a half for the Mears Shuttle Service. I grabbed my flip flops out of my suitcase, Ricky got into shorts, summer had just started for us. Ricky wanted to race in wheel chairs, I preferred to sit my butt into the chairs we found and be all lazy. At 8:15 or so the Shuttle Service finally opened and we went to buy our discounted tickets. We waited another five minutes for a car and off we went towards the Vista Way Apartments where our adventure was to continue.

Few days to go

I am just about ready to leave Pullman and make my way back home. My room is packed, I have a few last items to grab around the apartment and on Saturday, at 11:30 I participate in my Commencement ceremony – I’m pretty excited here.
Getting to this point I went through a few more steps, I turned in my application for my internship class (for my program – Engl498), I attended a meeting with the College Program representatives and Ricky attended a second one after that. Overall, the program does its best to help us out, any question we have they will do their very best to answer.
From what I have been told, the placement in apartments is based on who you stand in line with during Check-in, so if you don’t like the people around you, go to the back of the line. This fact will be remembered on May 18 =D
Not much to add, as I pack my boxes here in Pullman I try and think of what I will need to pack for Florida. It’s hard to believe I won’t need the warm sweaters and jackets I have been wearing for the past few months.