10/11-? Las Vegas, NV

After arriving in Las Vegas, I decided to stay in the same hotel that Mom and I stayed at on our way through in September.  I was quite impressed (not that it'd take much to impress me these days when I stay anywhere with less than 6 bed in them).  I had a big ol' king size bed all to myself (I only slept on half, like I was expecting someone to be sleeping on the other side),  a couch, a desk, microwave, fridge, tv, hair dryer, iron and board...then there's the pool and hot tub, fitness room, hot breakfast (biscuits and gravy, waffles, yogurt, cereal, etc) all for $45/night!  So it was near an AFB and about 15 minutes from the Strip.  Whatever.  I stayed holed up most of that time.  Aaaand that's probably what led to my downfall.

I checked in on Sunday and left finally on Friday morning feeling like complete and total crap.  I went down for breakfast and nearly passed out.  Bad news bears.  I figured if I just took it easy till check out then everything would be okay.  I loaded up and headed to the USA Hostel on Fremont.  I got all checked in (in a room that turned out to be all boys again, no less) and slept most of the day.  When I finally emerged from my slumber, I decided I'd try to eat (I'd been having a hard time eating because I was feeling sick).  So, I warmed up some veggie soup and started talking with this German from my room.  Mid-conversation, the soup and all the water I stupidly starting chugging turned on me.  *WARNING: GROSSNESS AHEAD*  I've never thrown up like that in my life.  It came out with such a force that I was more shocked than grossed out that I missed the toilet.  I got it and myself cleaned up and felt quite a bit better.  Germany was nice enough to run to the store for me and picked me up some bread, bananas, gatorade, and tea.  After a banana and talking to Michelle on if I should go to the doctor or not, I called it a night.

The next morning, I got up early and went to a doctor on Rainbow Blvd.  I felt like such a titty baby when the nurse came in and I was all teary eyed from feeling bad, but whatever...I didn't cry before/during/or after throwing up which is a huge deal for me.  The doctor was super nice, but I didn't catch her name.  Young lady too.  She thought maybe I had pneumonia, but wasn't really sure so she just prescribed me a script for antibiotics, promethazine for my cough, and a phenergan shot (now that thing stung!)...I also had her do a blood test to make sure it wasn't hypoglycemia, which turns out wasn't one of my problems, thank god.  I went back to the hostel and crashed.  A Londoner, Liam (I can remember that because it's the first time I've ever actually met someone with that name), talked me into going to the Golden Nugget for a swimming party.  I didn't feel up to it, but he said I could just sleep once we got there.  And I did just that.  After sleeping for a solid two days my body was hurting from lack of movement, and weak from not eating properly.  He found an empty lounge chair in a shady area for me and I smooth fell asleep for a good 2.5-3 hours.  He went and did his own thing and I was a bit jealous, but the medicine thought otherwise.  When I finally woke up the sun had already started going down and I felt a bit better.  We got in the hot tub with a bunch of irritating teenagers that ultimately led to our leaving.  I decided I was ready to try some food (Mexican of course) and about 4 bites in I was done.  There was a Pub Crawl going on that night, but I had already made it clear there was no way I was up for that.  When we got back to the hostel, Zynall (like vinyl, but with a Z) (one of the guys who lives/works here), got me to talk to James (the manager) about working here.  He asked me a couple of questions and I was hired!  I start Monday and more than likely I'll be here till Christmas.

Sunday, I just took it easy, like James told me to do.  I also moved rooms so while it's a 6 dorm, it's supposed to be all female and there's only one other girl here right now, Aline (ah-lee-knee).  Liam was able to score some tickets to the Lion King for $25 a pop and with a deal that good, hell yeah I'm going! We took the bus down to the Mandalay Bay, and since we were pressed for time, we ate at House of Blues (still didn't have a big appetite, but was really hungry..if that makes any kind of sense).  I can't explain how cool The Lion King was.  How much work, time, and energy that has to go into that production is really quite extraordinary.  I don't really have much to compare it to, but I can see why it is the number one show to see.  Rafiki was probably my favorite character over all, but that Nila had a wonderful voice.  Zazu was pretty silly too.  After the show was over, we walked the Strip and got to catch the last water show of the night at the Bellagio.  We made it back to the hostel somewhere around 2:30.  Decent enough time for me to go to sleep and be able to wake up for my first training shift the next day.  Sadly, I hardly slept a wink.  It was pretty cool being in my room last night because it was only me!  Not that it really matters, but I didn't have to try to be quite so I wouldn't wake anyone up which automatically makes you feel a bit better.

Today, I woke up around 9 am ready for my first training shift from 10-4.  I made a few mistakes, but it's hard training people...you know all the shortcuts and how everything works so slowing down is almost like a nightmare, so I'm trying as best as I can to absorb it as quickly as possible.  I've got checking people out almost down, need a bit more practice, but checking people in is where I was messing up.  After I figure out the way the sales figures are done and play around with the system it'll be easy breezy like Super 8.

After these past few weeks, like after talking with John (my Arches hiking buddy), I've thought about how one day (certainly not just yet) it'll be cool to have kids to tell these experience to and encourage them to do the same.  And I'd like to take them on cool vacations and have these awesome memories instead of...boring, uneventful memories to put it lightly I guess.  And now that I'm (kind of) back into the hospitality swing of things Four Seasons is back on my mind.  I'm not going to stop traveling just yet.  I still have the whole east coast to explore next year, but I think I will make that a goal.  I enjoy (for the most part) customer service and being southern, hospitality is just my thing!  If I can get in and work my way up in a company like the Four Seasons who has hotels and resorts all over the world then I could be well on my way to being transfered to different countries to live and work.  

SUMMARY FOR THOSE WHO LOST INTEREST OR HAS A SHORT ATTENTION SPAN: I've been in Las Vegas for a week now.  I stayed in a decent hotel, then moved to a hostel.  Was sick over the weekend.  Got to see The Lion King production.  Got a job at the hostel for the next month (more than likely two months).  Life plans are circling around, but not fitting in just yet.

Seeing as there's no pictures, this post will only benefit me...but that's okay.  I promise next time, there'll be pretty pictures to look at  :)