Today was the first of three days for the Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps North American Training 2012. I slept in, ate breakfast, then got ready for the training. After I registered, I recieved a tote, binder with slide information, patch and namecard holder. My mom had already registered because she is a mentor, and had already attended her mentor meeting this morning when I was sleeping. After gathering all my goodies, we went across the street to view the bay for a few minutes before heading back inside for the training to commence. The view of the bay was BEAUTIFUL and the breeze was extremely enjoyable. We ended up chatting with a gentleman from Sweeden who was also here for the training. Back inside, we took our seats at table 77 (7 is my lucky number, so two must mean im going to be double lucky!) and waited for the training to begin while meeting and talking with the other trainees at our table. I won't go into detail about the training session, but it was very powerful and pumped me up for tomorrow. I took some great notes today and will tomorrow as well. My Life. My Passion. My S4U.
After the training, my mom, 2 other trainees and I went out to dinner at Max's next to our hotel. It was delicious! We spent more time talking Climate Change and politics than eating though.
My Life. My Passion. My S4U.
Night all!

Pictures to come later.

Today was an awesome day. It started off slow because momma slept in and didn't know if she wanted to go anywhere. After my brunch of leftover pizza and cereal and discussion of what we wanted to do about seeing the sights, she decided that we were going to go to the Golden Gate Bridge and finish our sightseeing on Thurdsay evening. We can't stay an extra day because the plane ticket would be too expensive (honestly that whole ordeal would have been a mess.) But then, after I got ready, she kept debating if she wanted to go or not because she didn't want to get sicker. So, we decided to take a cab to the bridge which is very expensive but we had to make a sacrifice somewhere and take 1 bus and the BART and shuttle back to our hotel. All 4 were a success. The bridge was barely visible due to the fog but lovely all the same. Our spirits were high as we photographed, ate a snack and visited the gift shop (where we verified our bus information). We saw beautiful flowers, a man ski-sailing, a boat on the Bay and we could even see the other side enshrined in a halo of light. It was cold and windy so we did not spend too much time there. We rode the bus to Civic Center BART Station and attempted to purchase our tickets. Some lady came up and gave us a BART card with $10 on it for a $10 bill. She said we could add or subtract from it. The BART servic employee came over frusrated explaining that we couldn't add or subtract from it and that she had wanted the money for drugs, so he gave us a voucher so we could ride. The BART was packed with commuters and young adults. It was very interesting to watch the people get on and off, all in their own worlds. Today made me wish I could take mass transit all the time back home, that is how great of a public transit expereince I had today, compared to yesterday. Finally, we reached the SFO Station, caught our shuttle and arrived at our hotel. We purchased room service for dinner, a very elegant SF Seafood Mac n Cheese with clams, prawns, crab and fish. It was delicious!! I tried clams for the first time and liked them. After that, my mom and I chatted and she fell asleep. I am not tired and cannot sleep because the training starts tomorrow! Today was such a nice, peaceful and no-stress day. This morning, I was ready to go home because of yesterday and mom getting sick. I kept a positive attitude for as long as I could, but eventually all the emotions built up and I was a Debbie Downer. Tomorrow should be alot of fun, and Thursday is the rest of our sightseeing. I hope everything goes well! Momma said that either she plans too much or not enough for trips, and that when she does plan everything out, some things don't work out. I told her I'd rather have things planned and have to change them then not have any plans at all. You live and you learn, right?
Oh and my camera died today...and guess who forgot their camera charger? Now I have to search for and purchase a camera charger & superglue for my bag before Wednesday...Think Positive!!

So the day started off on a bad note. The first thing that went wrong was the coffee...said my mom. The coffee was fine. We ended up finishing getting ready later than we thought. We made it downstaires and started to ask the concierge what bus we should take to get to the Golden Gate Bridge, to Golden Gate Park, then to Haight-Ashbury and back to the BART station. This did not go well. My mom got frustrated that the concierge was practically cluless about where to go and had to print everthing off the computer becuse there were no handouts or information on what bus to take available. Finally, after about an hour, we had all our information and went on our way. We caught the Hotel Courtesy Shuttle the second we walked out of the hotel and proceeded to the airport. We followed the couple in front of us to the BART station, purchased our tickets, and made our way to the platform to wait for the BART. In just a few moments it arrived and we got on. The BART is very noisy but moves quickly. The concierges estimated 20 minutes of travel was probably closer to 40. We got off at our destination, Powell Station. The platform was crowded with people and we made our way above ground where we were greeted with all the sights and smells of downtown San Francisco. I have to admit, some of the people were very strange. After wandering about like lost puppies for a few minutes, we decided to sit down and look at our map to deicde where to grab a quick lunch. We then a Visitor's Center and went there for assistance, From the lady's advice, we went to Lori's, a 50's diner close to where we were. We both got a veggieburger with fries. At some point we changed our plans and decided to go to Haight-Ashbury first since the shops closed at 7. We proceeded to wait for the bus, got on and were on our way. We got off too early and had to walk up several steep blocks of hlls to enter the Haight district. Then we had to walk even farther to come to the famous intersection. We spent some time walking up the street and back down, looking at a few shops along the way, taking pictures and buying a few souviniers. My mother has Planter's Fasceitus, so she cannot stand at all or walk for long periods of time. We were very cold and she was tired, so we attempted to catch a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. This is where more trouble began. We were told so many conflicting ways to get there, told wrong directions, waited on the wrong bus and almost got on the wrong bus twice. We finally ended up meeting this lady who told us she was going the same way were were and she would help us. Her help was very appreciated and we could not have gotten back wthout it. We got off on the stop she told us to, and walked accross the street to wait on the bus. We had just missed it and the wait time was an hour. My mom becoame very frustrated because she was huting and tired and honestly, I wanted to go home too. The whole day had been way to much for both of us, emotionally and physically. I however, was trying to keep a postitve attitude. By this time, it was dusk and freezing. We discussed taking a taxi to the bridge, but then just decided to go back to the hotel. We went accross the street to catch the bus that would take us back to the BART. After a long bus ride, we arrived at the station, almost took the wrong BART, waited 20 minutes on the right one and then we arrived back at the airport where we caught the shuttle back to our hotel. Upon arriving in our room, my mom fell asleep while I tried to find dinner. 3 of the pizza places I tried to order form either didn't answer their phone or were closed. Finally, I ordered and waited about an hour for the pizza. When my mom started eating, she claimed she didn't feel well. We think she has come down with something. She was chilling, her face was red and she wasn't hungry, but her face wasn't hot I could't tell if she had a fever. We discussed taking her to an emergency room because the hotel doesn't have a thermometer available for guest use. However, after a while she started feeling a bit better, took some ibuprofen, and is now snoring and very much asleep. We had alot of plans for doing more in the city tomorrow, but we don't know if we are going to be able to if she doesn't feel better. So we might have to stay an extra day to do those things because our training starts on Tuesday. So far, this trip is almost comparable to "The Trip from Hell" as my dad called it, when we all went to California when I was in 6th grade. Almost none of our plans have worked out and there have been many issues along the way. I just hope tomorrow is better. I miss home. Even I am starting to get frustrated over this trip and honestly at this point I'm ready for the training so we can go home. It's sad, because I should be having fun. Well off to bed, wish us luck for tomorrow!