Hotel Quarantine

With only a week between sailing and leaving home, it was chaotic. Not having my own place anymore, my stuff was strewn between the garage, the attic, my old room and my brother Chad’s old room, a shed, and a storage unit. The to do list was endless, but somehow I managed to get everything together, packed and put away and even got one hour of sleep before I got my 0515 cab.

I was a little confused when the cab driver did not answer either of my good-mornings but once I got in the car, wondering what this cab ride was about to be like, she turned around and told me she was Deaf. I asked if she knew sign…she did and we had a little conversation. I love the language of sign language that I still find I sign to myself every day. So it was a treat to have a Deaf cab driver. It felt like a good omen, a good way to start the voyage into the unknown. It was still dark outside, as we drove down the back rounds, still in darkness, I smiled as I looked out the window. It was great to be home for a bit, and it’s great to be heading off to explore a new part of Antarctica.

As she dropped me off at the bus station, the cab driver and I chatted a bit more and then into the the terminal I went. As I was getting my ticket ready, I recognized an old friend, also Deaf, who lived on the opposite coast. I didn’t know when I’d see her again, but there she was about to get the 0600 bus! Sitting next to each other on the bus, we realized not only that we had the good fortune of being on the same bus, but we were on the same 6 hour flight! We got seats next to each other and chatted the whole way across the country. So much for catching up on sleep. The universe at it again, giving us a little treat.

Now in the hotel, I’ve caught up on work, taken a nap, done some room exercises and walked around the hotel a hundred times or so. Three times a day, there’s a double knock on the door announcing a drop off of a meal, which have been relatively good. They also let us walk around the hotel twice a day for one hour stretches at a time. But NO running, NO exercising and ONLY in the clockwise direction, and no taking the stairs down from the 7th floor. I’ve met some folks on the walks which has been nice and I think I’m going to be with a good crew. I finally got to meet my electronics coworker and the first thing he said after, “Can I see your face?” is “I thought you were younger,” or something to that effect. I just laughed.

When I walk into my own hotel room, I still find it strange that someone else has paid for the hotel room – that I’m here on a work trip. I guess it’s kind of feeling of having my own hotel room for the first time. Like I’m still slightly surprised I’m not with my parents, even though it’s been decades since I’ve been in a hotel with them. Likely still from that era, when in a hotel room, I usually have an uncontrollable desire to watch television. This time though, I’ve only watched a few minutes of Lethal Weapon 2, before doing other things. But even without watching much, I still have not had time to do my electronics projects I had planned or play much of my travel guitar. I guess I needed time to do yoga, to walk around the hotel, to catch up on some other work and write in my journal a bit – and find the resonant pitch of the bathroom. It’s an A, perfectly in tune, interestingly enough.

Tomorrow, we fly to Texas for a two hour layover, where we can’t get off the plane, and then an overnight flight to Chile. I’m praying I get a window seat. To Chile tomorrow!