I recently undertook quite an adventure in my quest to receive AAUS scientific SCUBA training. This begins that story.
Day 1 Bellingham, WA to Charlotte, NC -To really
understand how this trip started you have to rewind a bit. I only found out about the program about a
month before it started. I had planned
to attend AAUS (American Academy of Underwater Sciences) dive training through UW at
Friday Harbor Labs in July but that program was sadly canceled due to low
enrollment. I inquired as to other
opportunities and the program with the Albanian Marine Research Center was
suggested. I applied, was accepted, and
had to get all my ducks in the row while wrapping up an incredibly busy and
amazing quarter. This last week was incredibly long for me and flew by at the
same time. I had two research papers due
last Friday, my finals started Tuesday, my last two research papers from my
student-designed experiments were due this week, Thursday I took my last final.
Friday I dropped Eric off at the airport
in Seattle then headed home to work and prepare a bit for my trip. I got a few
hours of restful sleep after getting home from work at 12.30 am and trying to
get some things accomplished before heading to bed, but I honestly don’t think
counted for much. Saturday passed in a blur of working, running last minute
errands, trying to clean my house, and last minute packing. What did I
pack? I’ll find out for sure when I
unpack. Before I knew it my friend Asher was picking me up and delivering me to
the airporter. Technically my Sunday
started in Seattle as my flight was at 12.20 am. I fell asleep minutes after takeoff and
hearing the flight was only 4.5 hours. I
thought I would get more sleep. I awoke
at about 8:30 am in that time zone. I left my googley eye in Charlotte, NC, no
really, I lost the googley eye pin off my backpack somewhere in the city. After
situating in Charlotte I headed into the city to explore a bit. I was
sad to learn there is no short-term luggage storage so I had to lug my dive bag
with me making exploring a bit less exciting.
They have great public transportation, which was about the highlight. The downtown core is small, maybe six blocks
by six blocks and most of it is a financial district from what I
understand. Sunday is more important in
this part of the country than at home and it was evidenced as half the
restaurants were closed and there are very few shops overall. I eventually found a nice Irish pub serving
breakfast and had a proper fry up on the patio while I enjoyed my book. After breakfast I explored some more but as
I overheard a tour guide explain to his group there isn’t a lot of old history
left in the city, it has all been built over.
I did eat again at a restaurant suggested by a friend, Mert’s, having a
small plate of delicious sweet potato pancakes.
I cut my city visit a bit short and returned to the airport. We eventually boarded the flight to Munich
and I slept quite soundly most of the way. (I was so frazzled and oblivious I completely forgot to take any pictures. Here is one that shows what my desk may have looked like before I left.)
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