“As one went to Europe to see the living past, so one must visit Southern California to observe the future.”
As you know, I’ve made it to southern cali. Let’s begin with the trek trying to get here….
My flight was scheduled to leave at 4 on Mother’s Day (love you, Mom). As my parents and I were driving to ATL, I get a phone call from Orbitz announcing my flight had been delayed until 5. A little relief, because I could have a little more time with the fam, as well as my sweet friends who came to the airport to send me off. We get to the airport, check my bags, take a few pictures, and head straight to the food court to nom on something yummy. Before I knew it, there were only about 30ish minutes before my plane was going to take off, and I still had to get through the craziness of security. Plenty of emotions were running through me as I was about to split from the crew and head through those gates all by myself. I knew I’d be back, but 1. I was a little frightened flying by myself (especially bc I had the middle seat in the middle section), and 2. I knew this summer was going to be a different summer for me. A few months of where I needed to be taken out of my comfort zone, away from all things familiar. I knew my heart was about to be stripped down and molded in the most intimate way by the Lord, and that’s what kept me pushing toward that plane.
So, I finally make it through security, look back to blow my sweet parents a kiss, and I get yet another phone call from Orbitz. Flight delayed until 5:30. Thank you. I can now breathe a little. I get to my gate, and I have a few minutes to sit down and get my self together. I notice that my momma had left a little note in my bag, as well as having a few other notes from friends I have yet to open. I waited a little to open those, because I had a feeling my eyes might start dripping some water, and I had to keep it together, at least to get on the plane and get seated.
I find my seat, and hello to the 2 guys sitting on either side of me. Not so bad, I must say :) I sit down, and the guy to the right of me asks, “are you going to Australia, too?” I replied, “urm, no, but that actually sounds enticing.” I soon was told they were UGA students who were going to Australia to study abroad for maymester session. (insert: funny thing, I had thought about doing maymester in Australia this summer). ”oh you’re from UGA?!” a little piece of home to carry me to LA. Stephen (to the right of me) and “Skippy” (to the left of me. Skippy’s his last name, I can’t remember his first). I had been up in the air for 4 hours and realized I had yet to listen to my fully charged ipod. The entire trip we chatted, found out we had mutual friends, played the square game (where you make a square and put your initials in it, and I must say, I’m a champ), played trivia on the plane, watched movies together, and danced to the supermashbros. During little breaks where I had to be quiet and let the boys do their homework, I decided I’d read my little pieces of love by mi madre and dear ones. Yep. tearjerkers. All I really have to say about those “pieces of love” is that I am beyond blessed to have the people in my life that I do. They outpour love, encouragement, compassion, truth, and hope into my life, and I am so incredibly thankful for each one of you.
…back to the plane ride. I had glanced at the virtual map on the back of the headrests that would reveal where we were flying over, how many thousands of feet we were up in the air, the temperature, all the kind of stuff not everybody wants to know when you’re up in the air:) However, I did think it was cool to see how fast it took for us to get from state to state. Last time I had looked, we were getting close to Vegas, and then all of a sudden we hear this loud noise. The bathrooms were a few rows behind us, and everyone was looking back. The man who was sitting on the other side of Stephen, had passed out in the bathroom and was seizing. His wife soon saw it was her husband, jumped out of her seat, ran back there and was screaming/panicking. A man jumped up, yelled for a doctor on board, and at this point, everyone’s adrenaline was pumping. Thankfully, there were 2 doctors on board, and they rushed back to check on the man. However, they could not get the door to open all the way, bc airplane bathrooms are so tiny, and the man had fallen inside. The flight attendant had brought the man’s wife back to her seat, and a few of us were trying in all ways we could to bring her some sort of comfort. Long story short, we made an emergency landing in Vegas. The EMS rushed on to the plane, broke the bathroom door down, and successfully got the man off of the plane. We, of course, all prayed the man would be ok, we were just all ready to get off of that plane. It was about 730ish Cali time when we had landed in Vegas. We were not able to take back off to LA until 10 Cali time. They had to put a new bathroom door on before we were able to take off, and we were all told to stay on the plane. Of course, at this point we were all getting a little anxious. Finally, we take off, and land in LA around 11 (which is about 2 in the morning GA time), so my biological clock was done for.
I find Mrs. Janet (who I am staying with out here), we get our bags after about an hour, and head to the parking deck to head on to Orange County. Oh, but wait. We get stopped in the deck, because the toll things were broken. BUH. FINALLY, we make it home at 2 in the morning. That was a whole story in itself.
On to actual cali time….
It took me a few days to get caught up on rest, but I still was ready to get out and see the beauty of my new home for the next few months. I live in a community within Orange County called Coto de Caza. It’s in the canyons, which is beyond beautiful. (Pictures to come) For all you who know my strange fear of wolves, my curiosity kicked in. Whew, no wolves in these mountains. However, they have killed a few mountain lions, 1 that was in her backyard. Ok, how lovely. I’ve got my pepper spray ready to handle a big cat any day.
Besides the fact of me having a new adventure out here, I am interning with a pediatric psychologist. I worked for about 15 hours that first week, and it was all about getting settled in, learning the ropes, and getting acquainted with the staff and patients/families. Even though that week was semi-short, I learned so much about the patients and their families within the small talk we had. I also got to sit down and talk one-on-one with Dr. Brutoco about my goals for this summer, goals for my career/life, and was so excited to leave that room once we were done talking. I did not realize until then how lucky I am to have this internship. He is one of the most respected men in California, and his love for helping guide children/adolescents is humbling.
Successfully having a wonderful week, we decided to celebrate my first weekend in San Diego. Mrs. Janet has a daughter in her late 20’s named Alison. Alison and her husband, Dave, have a precious little 22 month old boy named Charlie. I’m in love with all 3 of them. Alison is also a tall one (5’11”), and we have already established our excitement for sharing clothes :) Dave’s family has a beach house just south of San Diego, so we stayed there last weekend. On Saturday, we got tickets to see the Dodgers play the Padres at Petco Park. I thought Turner Field was intense. Take yourself a little visit to Petco Park. Pretty amazing. The next morning, before heading back to Coto, we ate at this breakfast joint that reminded me a lot of Savannah. It was adorable, and the food was incredible.
So, as I’m approaching the end of this looong blog entry, I will end with a compacted version of this week. I worked over 35 hours this week. Yes, a busy week, but I learned more than I thought I’d learn this whole summer. We had our first staff meeting this past Wednesday, and I am so thankful for it. We all got on a more personal level with each other, and Dr. Brutoco shared many kind words about my dedication, the light that I was bringing to the office, and the love I was showing to the patients. He was so appreciative of who I was, and I was reassured of how I am most def. meant to be in that internship. He asked me to tell them about myself and my family, the south, and of course, they all asked me about “grits”, and what exactly they were. It never fails to hear a giggle when I say “y’all”, and for the first time in my life I am told not to say “Mr. and Mrs.” and “mam and sir”.
