Every so often, I'll be in the mood to write a small memoir of sorts, regarding an event in my life. The first of these will be about the trip I took to Hershey, PA with my high school choir and the high school band. We were attending a nationwide music competition called Music in The Parks, in which school bands and choirs would compete against each other, then spend a day in an amusement park. Our band and choir would perform at a local Hershey school on Friday, then spend the day in Hershey's Chocolate World on Saturday. It was my senior year of high school, so knowing it was my last year, I was determined to make this trip the best I could. I wanted to make it an improvement from Hershey 2007, which had it's fun moments, but also had it's dark ones.
After several grueling months filled with practice, fund-raising and stress, we were ready to go on the last weekend of May. Here's how it all went down, at least from my point of view. I don't remember things in a very chronological fashion, but I'm going to try my best.
Part 1: I Didn't Miss the Bus
I woke up on that Friday, May 30th at 5:48 PM, filled with anxiety and excitement. I dressed in clean underwear, socks and a bra, my Old Navy jeans, my pale blue t-shirt with the old Native American woman on it (one of those fantasy art sort of shirts), my checkered sneakers with the Corpse Bride laces and my favorite dark blue hoodie. I brushed my hair and put in my lavender shell earrings (my favorite pair, they're hand made by a Mic Mac friend of mine). I finished packing my my luggage; in my dark gray roller suitcase, I packed my clothes for the performance, my pajamas, my clothes for the park, a bathing suit, toiletries (make-up, soap, shampoo, lotion, Noxema, dental supplies, my jewelry) and Wendell. Wendell is the teddy bear I've owned since infancy, who I happened to be very attached to. In my Happy Bunny tote, I had packed books, music and snacks to keep me occupied on the journey, which would be eight hours long. Then in my small leather backpack, I packed my medication, my money, and anything else that was highly valuable.
I was all packed, dressed and had eaten breakfast, but I still had at least an hour to go. So I painted my nails, and no, I don't remember what color I had painted them. I woke my mom up, waited for her to get dressed and drink her coffee, then we got in the car to drop me off at the school.
At the school, the large coach bus was already sitting out front and boarding. I panicked, dreading the thought of being left behind. I jumped out of the car, even though it may still have been moving, shouting to my mother to open the trunk. I admit that I get anxious before big trips.
But I didn't miss the bus. I loaded my suitcase into the luggage compartment, hugged and kissed my mother goodbye and told her I loved her and that I'd be good. My friend Hannah, who was not going on the trip (not in choir or band) accosted me right before I left, making me sign some paper work for Project Grad, and then giving me a hug. I still have no idea what she was doing there, she probably had just arrived at school and was walking to the front door when she saw me.
We loaded ourselves into the spacious, air conditioned bus, complete with an entertainment system and a bathroom. I sat with my friend Stephenie, who I would later be rooming with in the hotel. Our principal (who's eldest daughter was in band, and thus going on the trip) gave us a speech, reminding us that we were representing Bellows Falls Union High School and the State of Vermont. In other words, we had better fucking behave or when we got back, he'd open up a can of whoop ass on us. Then he left the bus, and the band teacher, Mr. Burke took role call. All of us except Amber were there, having been in a car accident the night before.
The bus left the school, the air seemed to be crackling with excitement and anticipation. I opened my first can of Amp energy drink. I took a sip of the fizzy lukewarm liquid, hoping it would wake me up, then I put on my headphones and listened to Bloody Jack on Audio Book. To tide me over on the long journey, I had brought a good variety of snacks, dried apricots, Goldfish crackers, Scooby Doo Graham Crackers (shaped like dog treats) , and Lifesavers Pep O' Mints, to combat any carsickness.
We rolled down the road, watching the bucolic spring countryside. Since it was early morning, the sky was a sweet pale gray, and it was slightly chilly outside. No one talked much or too loudly. Gray spring mornings tend have a rather subduing effect.
We drove past Brattleboro and I counted the first of many cemeteries I would see on the journey.
The bathroom on the bus was small and cramped. You weren't allowed to put toilet paper in the actual toilet because it would fuck up the septic system, you had to put it in the trash receptacle. Have you ever used a bathroom on a moving bus? You have to grip the walls, because the whole thing shakes so much. You're sitting there, perched on the little plastic seat, praying to every god you can think of that the door will stay locked, so the boys sitting in the back of the bus won't see you with your pants down. Then you get to your feet, and try to pull your pants up without falling over or dropping anything into the toilet. You push the button that flushes the toilet. Luckily, there's a little hand sanitizer pump for your convenience. A lot of the boys will complain about not being able to pee standing up in one of these bus latrines, because if they do pee standing, the bus' shaking and jolting could make them fall, or spray piss all over. Probably a combination of the two will occur.
We were out of Vermont, and into the fine state of Massachusetts. Mr. Burke put Enchanted into the DVD player. I turned up my CD player, not very interested in watching a ditzy, naive princess from another dimension mince around New York City.
The ride doesn't get very interesting for awhile, until we get to Connecticut. At some point we drove through Hartford, going through some of the city itself, or at least I think we were in Hartford. Nonetheless, I'm such a country girl, (The biggest city in Vermont is Burlington), so when we were driving past large office buildings, like skyscrapers, their glass windows gleaming in the noon sun, I found myself gaping open-mouthed. I'm used to little Northern New England churches and Victorian houses, so urban settings, very urban settings fill me with sense of wonder and a little bit of fear.I can be a little bit of a country bumpkin, sometimes.
While we were in CT, we stopped for lunch at a large mall. It had a two story carousel, something that's not usually found in malls in the Green Mountain State and a large variety of shops. We all got off the bus, our wallets screaming to be emptied. I was hungry for some good protein and something cold to drink, having had nothing to eat and drink but warm Amp and Goldfish crackers for several hours. The first thing my friends and I did however, was run into the Hot Topic. We looked at various and sundry items, and I bought a small pin that said "I need adult supervision". We chatted with clerk for a little bit, then moved on to Spencer's. In Spencer's we looked at the sex toys and giggled. I didn't buy anything like that of course, being on a school trip for one thing, and not wanting to waste my money, for another. Can you imagine my choir director's face if she had seen me get on the bus with a g-spot vibrator? How about the entire band and choir for that matter? So we browsed around Spencer's without buying anything, then went to the food court.
To my frustration and disappointment, McDonald's was still serving breakfast, so I wandered the food court looking for something good and cheap.
I decided to stop at the Sbarro, and got a slice of New York Style Cheese Pizza. Oh my God. It was delicious, greasy, cheesy and hot. I ate it with gusto, then bought a bottle of water to drink on the bus, knowing that drinking nothing but energy drinks all weekend could not be good for me or my singing voice.
Then, after everyone had boarded the bus, their stomachs filled with food and their arms filled with mall purchases, we set off to continue our journey.
That's all for tonight. I'll continue part two later today.
No comments:
Post a Comment