Day 1
Video-Subject-Tim and I arrived to the starting point of our journey, the Grossmont trolley station in La Mesa. This was very convenient as it allowed us to get into San Diego without having to pay the ridiculous overnight parking fees. However, the trolley was Tim’s first traveling expense to pay; $2.50 for a one way pass to Downtown San Diego.
During our trolley ride, a woman commented on the tattoo on Tim’s leg. This sparked a conversation about our different cultures. She explained how she grew up as a “Military Brat,” was born on an island in the pacific, and moved all around the world. Not 5 minutes into our trip and we already gained our first of many new friends.
It wasn’t long until we ended up at the edge of downtown San Diego -- the ocean on our left, Petco Park on our right, and the Gaslamp quarter in front of us. We started a walk up Fifth street, luggage and pillows in hand, until we noticed a three story building on the corner of Fifth and Market street with the word “HOSTEL” printed along the top and, sure enough, that building was our hostel.
When we stepped inside, we were greeted by a friendly man behind the counter and checked in where Tim paid for his rooms, totaling $52 dollars. Tim also picked up a lock for his luggage cubby for $3.00. It was there that we ran into the other members of the Senior Experience group (who showed up earlier in the day because they had nothing better to do). While Tim was staying in a 10 Bedroom dorm, my team and I were set up with a swanky private room for the first night and I would be staying in Tim’s dorm the second since everyone else had to leave the next day.
We found Tim’s room and he had already unloaded his luggage and met his roommates. Though it was billed as a 10 bedroom dorm, it really was a four bedroom dorm with a door connecting a six bedroom dorm. We didn’t see anyone in the connecting room, nor would we for the entire night. We began to explore the brightly colored hallways of the hostel and found a media room with TV and internet on the 3rd floor along with an enormous kitchen and dining area.
Seeing the kitchen made us realize Tim hadn’t eaten yet, so we went down to the lobby to see if the employee behind the counter had any recommendations: inexpensive was a determining factor in Tim’s decision. The new woman behind the counter recommended this kabob place a couple blocks away. $8.57 later, Tim had a fantastic meal and was ready for the night ahead. That night, the hostel put on pub crawl to several of the bars around town, and gathered a group of about 20-25 people from all around the world. The group was greeted by Jarred, the volunteer coordinator, and he led us to our first pub. The Bareback Grill, a New Zealand-themed bar.
Before we entered, Jarred had very pertinent information for everyone that was visiting from another country. He explained exactly how tipping is handled in America. Being a waiter myself, I had my hand up with index and pinky fingers extended as if he was my Rock’n’Roll God. Seriously, thank you Jarred. Tipping procedures are different in every country. Here in America, our bartenders and servers depend on tips as their source of revenue. It was the small things like tipping etiquette that really brought different cultures together -- The education of how things work in different cultures and the respect that should come with it has a unifying effect.
Anyways, the Kiwi bar had a great atmosphere with a live band (guitarist/singer and man playing the bongos), and we when we entered we were treated with a free round of drinks. Another surprise came when we were given sampler platters of the Bareback Grill’s appetizers. Tim eventually used his voucher, left a dollar tip and began mingling with the other hostellers. Already this night was turning into an inexpensive one.
The next bar we went to was Lucky D’s on Market Street. That night, the bar was not that busy which was fine by us as the open area lent itself nicely to socializing. There was a pool table and plenty of activities, but we mainly found some interesting people to talk to and relax with. In celebration of our hostel stay, Tim and several of my group members took part in a shot of tequila ($5.00), which served as Tim’s only expense at this bar.
The next pub on the crawl landed us on Market Street at Henry’s, the bar across the street from our hostel. Henry’s had a dance floor, live music, and a DJ playing danceable music between sets. Because of Tim’s fun and eccentric personality, one of our new friends from the pub crawl offered to buy him a drink and Tim gladly accepted, thus allowing him to not spend anything at this bar. After drinking his dark beer, Tim jumped out on the dance floor and cut a move or two… possibly even three. The mood and environment was such fun, that even I had to put down the camera for a second and move my uncoordinated body to the beat. It was also here that I rediscovered the camera had a night vision mode and allowed me to capture things actually happening instead of shadowy figures moving around in darkness.
Fortunately for Tim’s wallet, he is not the biggest drinker, thus allowing him to get through the night with only three drinks and six dollars spent. Once Henry’s closed, Jarred led the group down Fifth to a pizza joint to finish the night. Tim didn’t partake in the pizza (he’s lactose indignant), but I inhaled two slices. Exhausted, we finally walked back to our hostel where we almost immediately fell asleep on our Tempeurpedic beds. That’s right, Hostelling international had super high quality memory foam mattresses. Take that, Holiday Inn.
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