First Stop St. Louis

The Chicago cohort

Waking up at 2 AM was a big struggle for me because I went to bed around 11 PM, so I just had three hours of sleep. When I was finished getting ready to leave to ECHS I checked one last time to verify that I had all of my stuff packed.  I thought I had everything but at the airport when Alie asked me if she could take a picture of me with my cohort while we were eating breakfast she couldn’t turn the camera on so I grabbed it and checked and I then remembered that I had left my memory card in my brother’s laptop (sorry Don, no pretty pictures for today; but Alie has a memory card that she can let me borrow for the trip that’s why she’s the best chaperone).  

When I arrived at ECHS Don was already there like a pro with his desk and with my cohort and chaperone.  He weighed my luggage to see if it was under 50 lbs.  

After Don finished weighing all of the luggage he gave us instructions about the trip and told us what our responsibilities were. On top of that he gave us some tips for the dinners that we are going to have this whole week with the alumni of each university we will visit.  After he finished talking, we went to take pictures and then we said goodbye to our parents and headed out to San Francisco International Airport.  

I was glad this day arrived because I was ready to get on the plane for my first time.  I didn't like it! This is probably because it was my first time but what I really did like about the airplane is the moment when it takes off because it feels like you are on a roller coaster and you feel that adrenaline in your body. Another thing I like is the clouds because they look like snow and it seems like you can walk on them. After I finished admiring the sky I fell asleep on the airplane - not the best sleep, but at least I got to rest for a little bit.  When we arrived at Phoenix we were speed walking to catch the other plane to St. Louis. When we got there we found out that they were changing a tire and we waited about 20 minutes until we could get on the plane. 

Chicago cohort at the luggage claim

The flight from Phoenix to St. Louis took about 3 hours.  When we arrived we went to go get our luggage but it took a long time for the luggage to come out.  When we got all of our luggage we went to get a shuttle bus to drop us off at our hotel.  

When I stepped out of the airport doors to get on the shuttle bus the hot air slapped my face and I felt like I was in a sauna - but worse. I have never experienced hot weather like this ever before.  Just in the time standing waiting for the driver of the shuttle bus to finish putting the luggage in the back I started sweating - that’s how hot it was.

When we arrived to the hotel we checked in at the front desk and we got our rooms. The girls needed to share rooms but luckily I got a whole room by myself and it felt good because at home I share a room with my two brothers. I didn't get to enjoy my room because Alie gave us 15 minutes to put our stuff in our room and go get a snack so we could head out to the Memorial Arch Park.  We went walking to catch the metro link train to take us all the way to the park. After we got there we needed to walk to the park but it was about two blocks away.  

The Getaway Arch

The Arch is so beautiful and it is so incredible and shocking that it was man made because is very huge and high.  My cohorts and I took some pictures of the Arch and we took a group picture, too. After that we went inside the museum to learn a little bit about St. Louis’ history and the history of the western expansion.  One fun fact I found out was that after Mexico won their independence from Spain the Santa Fe Trail was established for trading goods and the St. Louis economy depended much on the Santa Fe Trail trade.  Then Alie assigned us to share facts we learned with the rest of the group so we could share information and so we can be more comfortable talking to each other.

We got out of the museum and we needed to choose if we wanted to come back to the hotel and change or go straight to Anthonino’s Tarvena restaurant that she had made a reservation at already. We all decided to go eat so we would have time to blog and get to rest for tomorrow’s tour of Washington University, because it is at 8 in the morning. The restaurant food was good; my order was a grilled chicken sandwich. We talked more and got to know each other more and I am starting to feel more comfortable around them.

The Ravioli Appetizer