AP-LS Puerto Rico 2012
This year AP-LS fell over Spring Break which was kind of a bummer because I would have loved the excuse to not teach for one night. But it actually worked out really well!
This year the conference was in San Juan, Puerto Rico and it was an excellent Spring Break destination. Best place to hold a conference? That's debatable.
I ditched a couple of talks in favor of sitting on the beach, but in my defense there weren't any at the time that I really wanted to hear which means they weren't on a topic I was familiar with/interested in.
It was a much different experience this year than it was last year. True, I've been before, and my life has changed dramatically in that time, but I was still looking forward to it and it didn't disappoint.
We stayed in the conference hotel this year. Last year we went cheap and stayed a few miles away but it was a hassle getting up, getting dressed, getting a cab, paying for the cabs, and then being trapped at the conference hotel with no way to change or lie down in the middle of the day. So we wanted to avoid that this year, plus it's Puerto Rico. It's the U.S. but it's not. So we stayed at the resort--it was not a hotel, it was a resort. It had it's own private beach, a couple of pools, ocean views from all the rooms, it was beautiful!
And it was easy! We could go to the room anytime and change, go to the beach, back to change and back to the conference! I don't know what the future holds (after Portland and Nashville) but I'm thinking staying at the conference hotel is the best option for sure.
But it wasn't perfect. Beautiful, easy, yes. But it was expensive--we crammed 5 people in the room so what each of us ended up paying for the week was less than the room was for the night which was awesome, but there was no free breakfast or wi-fi in the rooms. I'll never understand rich people because in their minds they've paid all this money for what is essentially just a hotel room with a great view, and are still willing to pay for breakfast everyday and don't mind taking their laptops to the lobby to use the wi-fi. I guess I'm more of a hick than I thought.
But the service was truly horrendous. Worse than any cheap-o motel I've ever stayed in. The last day we were there we went a few blocks away to a questionable Chinese restaurant where we got our food in under an hour, first time that had happened since we got off the plane, and that night we went to a restaurant at the hotel called the Pina Colada Club where the waiter was a little odd but the service there was really good too. I had fish tacos that were actually super delicious and I wish I had a place in El Paso that had the same thing...
We went off resort once, the first day we went to Old San Juan to walk around before the key note, but that was the only time I left. I was more than happy to stay put and just sit.
Ridiculous admission time: there was a cruise ship docked in Old San Juan, and I don't know if I've never seen a huge boat before but I was amazed at how huge it really was! And for the first time, I swear, I really understood how tragic the recent disaster in Italy really is! Seeing that really put Titanic back in perspective! I know, I know, pathetic, but sometimes the true weight of things doesn't really hit me until I see it up close I guess. I still can't believe how big it was!
But when we weren't conferencing we were eating and drinking. So many Pina Coladas! One thing about resorts, the bartenders know what's up!
THEN! Ugh. At some point during the day on Saturday the hotel puts up signs all around the conference area saying that there's going to be an Ironman competition on Sunday and the one road will be closed so if you're going to the airport to leave 4 hours early. Our flight left at 7:30 in the morning. Never again will I fly out first thing. Ever.
We had made a new friend while we were there so we were out drinking and having some fun on our last night and decided we needed to be down in the lobby to check out and get a cab by 3:30 a.m. (right?!) and a few of us, me included, were thinking screw it we'll just stay up but around the midnight mark started getting sleepy so we go to crash and 2 hours later are getting up to go. And all hell breaks loose.
We get down to the lobby and there's one guy at the desk and right behind us is essentially the rest of the conference. They didn't plan for any of us to follow their advice and leave so early. So we get checked out and get in the taxi line and there are no cabs. The drivers are all asleep. Of course they are, it's 3:30 in the morning!!! We finally get a cab and the guy doesn't know the roads are closed so that was special and eventually we get to the airport. The International airport and it's closed. We go in and the only thing that's open is the automatic ticket thing, but we're told we need to have our bags checked by the Department of Agriculture and they're closed. But the guys walk up just as we're about to go back to the check-in area and scan our bags through, without looking at them by the way... the guy seriously just had us put them on the belt and looked the other way then put the stickers on. Whatever. So I was the only one not checking a bag and I tell my friends I'll meet them at the gate. I go to the security check point and it's not open. By the time they opened everyone was in line with me so I just got to stand in line longer.
And eventually the airport did open--I still do not understand why airports close. I don't. Shouldn't they be open all the time?! Honestly, planes are rerouted, they come in at all hours, sometimes people have really long layovers, or there's an effing Ironman competition on an island with two roads and cab drivers who live in blissful ignorance of that fact. The airport, of all places, should be open 24-7.
My blog. My opinion.
And when they did open the airport and we get through security nothing else is open so we can't get coffee, we can't get breakfast, the lights weren't even on.
After the flight to Dallas we were almost killed coming into El Paso because of ridiculously strong wind, wind that rerouted some of our groups later flights. I used to be a really nervous flier but now because I do it so often it doesn't bother me and I reverted back to that terrified person immediately with that descent. I almost passed out and I have a cut on my hand from gripping the seatbelt so tightly. I seriously thought that was it. But we didn't die! We landed and I practically sprinted off that thing.
Then I was home. Before AP-LS I went to Tucson to stay with my sister for a few days, got back the night before AP-LS with enough time to pack and go to the airport. So I was home for the first time in over a week. I did a load of laundry, showered, called my parents, and was asleep by 7 p.m.
Overall, it was a good trip. I got a pretty decent tan and had some fun. Definitely a good Spring Break.
This year the conference was in San Juan, Puerto Rico and it was an excellent Spring Break destination. Best place to hold a conference? That's debatable.
I ditched a couple of talks in favor of sitting on the beach, but in my defense there weren't any at the time that I really wanted to hear which means they weren't on a topic I was familiar with/interested in.
It was a much different experience this year than it was last year. True, I've been before, and my life has changed dramatically in that time, but I was still looking forward to it and it didn't disappoint.
We stayed in the conference hotel this year. Last year we went cheap and stayed a few miles away but it was a hassle getting up, getting dressed, getting a cab, paying for the cabs, and then being trapped at the conference hotel with no way to change or lie down in the middle of the day. So we wanted to avoid that this year, plus it's Puerto Rico. It's the U.S. but it's not. So we stayed at the resort--it was not a hotel, it was a resort. It had it's own private beach, a couple of pools, ocean views from all the rooms, it was beautiful!
And it was easy! We could go to the room anytime and change, go to the beach, back to change and back to the conference! I don't know what the future holds (after Portland and Nashville) but I'm thinking staying at the conference hotel is the best option for sure.
But it wasn't perfect. Beautiful, easy, yes. But it was expensive--we crammed 5 people in the room so what each of us ended up paying for the week was less than the room was for the night which was awesome, but there was no free breakfast or wi-fi in the rooms. I'll never understand rich people because in their minds they've paid all this money for what is essentially just a hotel room with a great view, and are still willing to pay for breakfast everyday and don't mind taking their laptops to the lobby to use the wi-fi. I guess I'm more of a hick than I thought.
But the service was truly horrendous. Worse than any cheap-o motel I've ever stayed in. The last day we were there we went a few blocks away to a questionable Chinese restaurant where we got our food in under an hour, first time that had happened since we got off the plane, and that night we went to a restaurant at the hotel called the Pina Colada Club where the waiter was a little odd but the service there was really good too. I had fish tacos that were actually super delicious and I wish I had a place in El Paso that had the same thing...
We went off resort once, the first day we went to Old San Juan to walk around before the key note, but that was the only time I left. I was more than happy to stay put and just sit.
Ridiculous admission time: there was a cruise ship docked in Old San Juan, and I don't know if I've never seen a huge boat before but I was amazed at how huge it really was! And for the first time, I swear, I really understood how tragic the recent disaster in Italy really is! Seeing that really put Titanic back in perspective! I know, I know, pathetic, but sometimes the true weight of things doesn't really hit me until I see it up close I guess. I still can't believe how big it was!
But when we weren't conferencing we were eating and drinking. So many Pina Coladas! One thing about resorts, the bartenders know what's up!
THEN! Ugh. At some point during the day on Saturday the hotel puts up signs all around the conference area saying that there's going to be an Ironman competition on Sunday and the one road will be closed so if you're going to the airport to leave 4 hours early. Our flight left at 7:30 in the morning. Never again will I fly out first thing. Ever.
We had made a new friend while we were there so we were out drinking and having some fun on our last night and decided we needed to be down in the lobby to check out and get a cab by 3:30 a.m. (right?!) and a few of us, me included, were thinking screw it we'll just stay up but around the midnight mark started getting sleepy so we go to crash and 2 hours later are getting up to go. And all hell breaks loose.
We get down to the lobby and there's one guy at the desk and right behind us is essentially the rest of the conference. They didn't plan for any of us to follow their advice and leave so early. So we get checked out and get in the taxi line and there are no cabs. The drivers are all asleep. Of course they are, it's 3:30 in the morning!!! We finally get a cab and the guy doesn't know the roads are closed so that was special and eventually we get to the airport. The International airport and it's closed. We go in and the only thing that's open is the automatic ticket thing, but we're told we need to have our bags checked by the Department of Agriculture and they're closed. But the guys walk up just as we're about to go back to the check-in area and scan our bags through, without looking at them by the way... the guy seriously just had us put them on the belt and looked the other way then put the stickers on. Whatever. So I was the only one not checking a bag and I tell my friends I'll meet them at the gate. I go to the security check point and it's not open. By the time they opened everyone was in line with me so I just got to stand in line longer.
And eventually the airport did open--I still do not understand why airports close. I don't. Shouldn't they be open all the time?! Honestly, planes are rerouted, they come in at all hours, sometimes people have really long layovers, or there's an effing Ironman competition on an island with two roads and cab drivers who live in blissful ignorance of that fact. The airport, of all places, should be open 24-7.
My blog. My opinion.
And when they did open the airport and we get through security nothing else is open so we can't get coffee, we can't get breakfast, the lights weren't even on.
After the flight to Dallas we were almost killed coming into El Paso because of ridiculously strong wind, wind that rerouted some of our groups later flights. I used to be a really nervous flier but now because I do it so often it doesn't bother me and I reverted back to that terrified person immediately with that descent. I almost passed out and I have a cut on my hand from gripping the seatbelt so tightly. I seriously thought that was it. But we didn't die! We landed and I practically sprinted off that thing.
Then I was home. Before AP-LS I went to Tucson to stay with my sister for a few days, got back the night before AP-LS with enough time to pack and go to the airport. So I was home for the first time in over a week. I did a load of laundry, showered, called my parents, and was asleep by 7 p.m.
Overall, it was a good trip. I got a pretty decent tan and had some fun. Definitely a good Spring Break.
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