At the hotel

I'm here at the Best Western Lanai Garden Inn & Suites in San Jose., eating Little Caesar's pizza (and crazy bread!). But let me backtrack.

So I had to kill about 3 hours at the Chicago airport. I messed around online, chatted with Jackie, talked to Dad, walked around...but eventually, the fatigue from getting next to no sleep last night caught up with me. I thought it would be a good idea to eat something -- that maybe that would make me feel better. Of course, being in the airport, I was hyper-aware of the inflated pricing. It's not that I'm on a tight budget, really, just more thinking about how I didn't want to spend so much on something so not worth it. I ended up getting a Big Mac meal at McDonald's and one of those new Chipotle BBQ Snack Wraps. It was...well, it was McDonald's. It was cheap. But it sure didn't make me feel any better. I walked around a bit more and tried to find out where my flight was going to leave from and when, and also trying to plug my laptop in somewhere to let it charge up. Eventually I heard over the intercom that the flight would be leaving from B22. So I headed over there. At this point I was getting exhausted. I sat down and waited. And waited. It took forever for this plane to get there. Eventually we boarded, and my seat was pretty close to the front, and was a window seat (with an actual window this time!). After some more taxi-ing delays, we took off. As for me, I nodded off. I slept through most of the flight on and off, and I was actually able to get fair-quality z's for being on a plane.

I woke up and watched the rest of an episode of The Office they were showing on the in-flight entertainment. For the rest of the flight I basically looked out the window at the mountainous scenery and looked over some of the lesson plans for Levels R, 1 and 2 for week 1. Finally we arrived in San Jose, at about 3:45 Pacific time. We deboarded and went to the baggage claim, where we waited for a while before our luggage came out. I got my two pieces and headed over to the shuttle bus that takes you over to the car rental kiosks. My stop was Avis, so I got off and went inside and waited a while for an available representative to retrieve my reservation. However, when I gave them my name, the gentleman pulled up my reservation and told me it hadn't yet been paid for. I then called Adrian, who said that was weird, and asked to talk to the representative. He wouldn't talk to him, because he said he couldn't accept a payment there for the reservation, that it had to be done via Avis' 800 number. So Adrian said he would call them and pay for it with his credit card and have IRD reimburse him, so I could get on my way. So I hung up with him and waited. After about 10 minutes, he called back and said everything should be OK and that I should check with the agent there while he was on the phone with me, and simultaneously on with the 800-number representative from Avis. It took a while because he was helping two other guys and there weren't any agents. Finally he looked it up and it had gone through. So I said goodbye and thanks to Adrian, and got my car, a blue Chevy Cobalt.

I had looked up directions to the hotel when I was online at the airport, so I got those out and headed out. The car was nice enough, as was the drive. It only took me about 15 minutes to get to the hotel, which is right off of CA-101 South on Tully Rd., a fairly busy thoroughfare that reminds me a bit of Florida (except the weather is tons nicer here and there's a much nicer mountain scenery all around). So I got to the hotel, and checked in without a problem. I actually have a King Bed Non-smoking Suite here. It's a lot like a studio apartment, with the bed, a TV, a bench, a loveseat, table, desk, free wireless, a mini-fridge, microwave, and personal bathroom (I don't think all the rooms here have this as there are public restrooms in the hallways). I was really glad about the wireless, since I forgot to bring an Ethernet cable along. So I got some ice and had a glass of water, flipped on the TV and unpacked a bit. I'm glad I packed light (relatively speaking). I had a cereal bar and called Jackie, then decided to look for some food in the area. I started out at Google maps, searching for restaurants, stores, grocery stores, and "pizza" near the hotel's address. There's a lot really close by (much of it within walking distance, though the area is heavily trafficked). I noticed that there was actually a Little Caesar's franchise just down the street, so I thought I'd do that since their prices cheap, I like it, and I hadn't had it in a while. The drive was indeed quick and easy, and I noticed a plethora of other good spots around here for eats, like cheap Chinese and what looks like at least a couple of Vietnamese joints, which I'll definitely try. And there's a Mexican place in the same plaza as the Little Caesar's, alongside a carneria. So I got a large pepperoni pizza for 5 bucks, and added a $1 bag of crazy bread with a side of marinara sauce. So for just over $7, I got dinner for at least two nights, probably with a lunch in there too. And what was awesome was that they had pizzas made, ready and waiting, so I got it right after I ordered. Sweet!

That's all for now. I have to prep a bit more for classes tomorrow, get directions and everything, make some calls, and above all just relax. On the whole I think this place is nice, I like it here, but I definitely am stressed and kind of wish I was home at the same time. Thankfully I'll be coming back Wednesday (to do it all over again).

More updates probably tomorrow.

-Alex