Our First Yay! Day Away

Leaving my house in the dead of night was almost thrilling despite my sleepiness. The crisp night air, or shall I say morning air, made most who gathered in front of El Cerrito High School shiver. Street lamps were our only source of light.

My sisters were kind enough to see me off. 

After bidding farewell to family and bussing to the San Francisco Airport, my fellow cohort, Ms. Neal, and I lugged ourselves through all of the bagging and security checkpoints. Whew! Opposite from what I had expected, there were lines.

Ms. Neal was sweet and thoughtful in planning, and brought us all snack bags filled with snacks ranging from strawberries to Cheetos. I decided to eat the fruit and granola for breakfast, and use our allotted ten dollars to buy a salad for later, as we were expecting to not have time to buy food again until after our second flight.

The flight from San Francisco to Charlotte, North Carolina was beneficial for most of us because it turned into time for sleeping. I sat in an aisle seat next to Mahi. The only interruption to my slumber was a family who was sitting in front and behind me, who kept bumping me as they passed back and forth to talk with each other.

The lighting didn't appear this dim live, but it was on the duller side, making it easy to sleep. 

We rushed to make the next flight, although the rushing proved to be unnecessary. Due to bad weather, many flights had been delayed. I chatted with a girl my age from Lexington, Kentucky while we were waiting.

My view while conversing with Mahi.

On the plane to Providence, I ended up in a window seat next to Mahi. We chatted through many subjects including our families, books, and what it might be like to like to live in a really rural area. I also encouraged her to consider joining El Cerrito’s Speech and Debate team.

After we had dropped our bags in our dorms, we ran into a dilemma. Ms. Neal couldn’t find the keys to the rental van. After looking through everything and everyone we could think of, we decided to walk to dinner. We had to improvise and go somewhere closer than planned, however. So we ate at an Indian restaurant, where we met a man who had lived in the Bay Area for years.

We rushed back to the dorms to be on time for the curfew, eleven at night, while Ms. Neal sorted things out with the van.

Tomorrow is our orientation. It is also the day I meet my roommate, and Brown’s dining halls.