A Little Bit of Rest and Relaxation!

All of you readers out there can tell we've been quite busy and working hard in our past two weeks in San Diego! Don't worry, we've had time to relax, too. We spent our first full weekend (Jan 9-10) visiting Coronado Island and the famous San Diego Zoo. We took a city bus to Coronado Island, which was scenic because we got to go over the big Coronado bridge on our way there. Once we were there, we had the opportunity to explore the famous Coronado Hotel and relax on the beach. It was warm enough to wear our bathing suits and a few of us even went swimming even though the water was still freezing in my opinion! There were also some great shops and restaurants on the island. A particular favorite was the homemade candy store, where several of us stopped to fill up bags with goodies. Kristy broke the record with a total sixteen dollars spent on candy! I hope she doesn't get mad that I just outed her sugar addiction on the internet :)

On Sunday, we woke up early to make it to the zoo by 10 AM and spent nearly the entire day there. We had the opportunity to visit a baby panda (very cute!) and a sea lion show. Our tickets allowed us unlimited access to the zoo bus tours and the "Skyfari" gondola. Favorite animals seen by the group included the gorillas, Siberian tigers (rawr! go tigers), elephants, koalas, and more! Of course, we also enjoyed attractions such as face painting and the gift shops too.

This past weekend, we went out to lunch as a team. Paige found a great Mexican restaurant for us in Old Town, a fun touristy district of San Diego. After a short trolley ride, we sat down to a huge menu full of our favorites. I must say, the salsa and guacamole was quite an upgrade from those Greencastle Mexican restaurants that we are used to! My personal favorite, the fish tacos, were full of flavor (shout-out to my mom, who also loves fish tacos!). After lunch, we had a couple hours to explore the shops and sites of Old Town. There were plenty of souvenirs and fun gifts purchased.

At the end of our reflection period on Sunday night, we received a special surprise. A few of us who have been on WTIS trips before knew this treat was coming but kept it a secret from our teammates. Becca passed out envelopes full of letters & love from our family and friends at home. It was great to receive such special notes and we thank you all for putting forth your time and effort to provide those for us!

Look for an update next week about our upcoming weekend visit to Los Angeles, where we will continue our learning on homelessness with a visit to Skid Row and then stay overnight at a hotel in Hollywood with some guaranteed fun times!

Love,
Madeline