Lunch, Dinner, and Shots

No, not shots as in alcohol. Shots as in immunizations. Five of them. Polio, Japanese Encephalitis, Yellow Fever, Hepatitis A, and Rabies. On Friday. My arms hurt. They're worth it, though, because now I won't be turned away from the ship and/or any of the countries we go to! I also got pills for Typhoid and a prescription for Malaria medication. I hope that covers all the possible diseases that I could get! I'd really rather not come back to the USA with some kind of weird incurable sickness from Southeast Asia, or something.


Last Saturday, I spent the day with other SAS students and alumni. I woke up and hitched a ride with my friend to Boulder and ate at Red Lion, a well-known (and very tasty) restaurant in Boulder Canyon. While I was there, I met two other people I'm sailing with this fall! 

There were also speakers, a band, and some games outside. At the end of the event, I got a world map for my room. Looking at it and mapping out where I am going is quickly becoming my favorite activity. After lunch was over, I hitched a ride with one of my new friends into Boulder, met my friend at her work, enjoyed some ice cream, and walked to the bus stop so I could make it to Denver for dinner. While I was waiting, two other guys met up with me and we all bussed down together. Once we got to Denver, we walked to Rock Bottom Brewery on 16th Street Mall for dinner and enjoyed a nice meal together. There were a total of 6 of us, all from different places and schools (except for two from CSU in Fort Collins), and despite not having known one another at the beginning of the night, we ended up staying and talking and sharing stories and laughing for somewhere around 3 hours. It was easily one of the best meals I've had all summer. Afterwards, we all parted ways and I bussed back alone to the Springs, falling asleep in my seat thinking about how this fall continues to loom closer and closer on the horizon.

From these two events, I realized there are REAL people (not just Facebook profiles) in the exact same boat as me (pun somewhat intended). We're all nervous, we're all anxious, we're all scared, and we're all more excited than we ever have been before. It'll be nice to legitimately know some people upon arrival to Montréal, which will be on August 22 for me!  Summer is ticking away, which I usually would be upset about, but in this case, it's totally fine. I never thought I would say that and actually believe it. First time for everything, I suppose!