When I was in California I stayed at an amazing hotel. It was designed for kids, but we were all kids inside. Despite being packed 6 kids to a room, everyone loved the hotel. The trip was in February and us Minnesotans had the outdoor pool all to ourselves. There was one night where the seniors snuck alcohol into their hotel room, and you could tell which guys had too much to drink. The other notable story from the hotel was when a group of people played a game where they would try to guess who out of the group was most likely to do certain things. As you can imagine, 15-year-old kids got dirty quick. It all ended when the teacher walked by as a girl was telling about the times she had masturbated in the school bathrooms.
Outside of the hotel we went to 2 different schools where we performed for them and they played for us. We would then play together. All of us were surprised that the schools were outdoors. They had separate buildings on campus that the students would walk to. In MN the rooms are all in one building. There was one day we heard a gun shot and it was completely normal to everyone which is terrifying.
The night we went to Santa Monica Pier was special as well. I had never seen the ocean before and despite the cold and wind, I was determined to swim. I hadn’t worn my swimsuit and instead of walking to the changing rooms, I stripped down and changed on the beach. It was dark and no one saw. Multiple chaperones told me not to swim, but I have “a problem with authority” and did it anyways. My friend went with me into the ocean. The strength of the waves was incredible, and I felt the power of the sea. It was saltier than I thought it would be. My friend held my arm as I went under the water and I did the same for her. The waves were rather large, and we didn’t want to die. My mistake of the night came when I realized I had forgotten my towel. I put on my shorts and flannel and we continued our night though it was freezing for me. That was also the night when I got catcalled in public and explored an empty mall which is really creepy at night.
Other memorable moments include the time we went to a science museum and there was a section on different climates. On room was on the arctic and it had a wall of ice. All of us were hugging the walk talking about home while the Californians looked at us like we were insane. I had my first experience with Hollywood, and I loved it. There was a mall we went to there that had incredible gelato.
Coming home was a pain in the ass for multiple reasons. First our flight was delayed from 11 to 11:40pm which meant that due to the time difference, we arrived in Minnesota around 12:40am. My teacher told us we had to be at school the next day which meant that by the time I got in bed at 2am I had only 3 hours to sleep. The next day I was a zombie and I woke up to an essay text from my then boyfriend about how he had kissed another girl while I was gone. I’ll maybe go into that at a later time.
My trip to Cali was absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait until February 13th when I pack up and head to New York!
Love Peppermint