Sooo, this post was sitting in my draft folder for nearly a year now, and I had to finish it! Its definitely a story worth telling...
February 2011
I am sitting here at John Wayne airport . its about 9:30 A.M. in the morning and its time to go home. I am tired and sleepy, but so rested from the 4 days birthday vacation! Laguna beach is truly beautiful. The weather so breezy, and crisp you just want to pause the moment and breath! and by the way, people are so much nicer than the East coast...We went a lot of cool places, had lots of good food and just had a blast!
but there is one thing about my vacation which I will never forget!
The Dolphins!
It was my idea, let me emphasis, MY idea, to go on a whale and dolphin safari. I found this place called "Captain Dave Whale and Dolphin safari". The whole thing sounded so cool! We would board on a small boat and would travel about 6 or 7 miles into the pacific ocean to be greeted by dozen of whales and dolphins at the time, dancing in the water and shaking their tails for us....or at least thats what their website stated! everything was perfect. We got in the boat, waiting impatiently for the captain to start the ride. Oh, and to make things more interesting, we had decided to fill up our tummies with Cheetos, Potato Chips and a turkey sandwiches before the ride, oh so oddly delicious!
Finally, we were moving, and out of excitement, Baubak and I decided to play Titanic! So, we made our way to the tip of the boat and stood there as the cold water touched our feet, and the breeze hit our faces. ahhh!! Just the picture perfect vacation. right?
UNTIL, a voice in my head commanded me "you better stop the titanic show right now, or you will regret it for the rest of the day!" I didn't listen of course. I don't know how many minutes had passed, before I was convinced that I just do not feel right. With the hopes of it being something temporary, I made my way back inside, and sat down. I was still excited and was keeping an eye out for the dolphins. I looked around. There were people laying down, sleeping on their back or tummies. I remember thinking to myself, what in the world is wrong with these people? Have they really paid this much money to come and take a nap HERE? little that I knew that I was about to join them shortly....
As the boat continued to vanish in the ocean, I started to feel the complete regret of signing up for this adventure with every cell of my being. "What a stupid idea..Who goes to see the dolphins in the middle of February?!!!!" I thought to myself, as my stomach kept tossing and turning! nope, no way back now! We are in the middle of nowhere! screw the dolphins I thought..Please get me outta here!
and it hit me. I have to make myself throw up! (sorry for being so frank, but that is exactly what was going on in my mind)
Poor Baubak! He was feeling all right, but the adventure was definitely over for him! He was trying to make me feel better, but it surely was not working. I asked him where the bathroom was, and rushed to it! And of course, the bathroom was more like a hole in the wall which I could barely fit in. I am not going to excite you with what exactly happened in there! (the whole 30 minutes), but we have an expression in Farsi that says, I saw the death in front of my eyes, and I am pretty sure I could relate to it at that moment.
As I was trying to regain my strength to get out of the bathroom, still feeling like crap, I heard a knock on the door. Baubak was concerned since I took so long, and he had decided to come and pay me a visit. What a bad idea!
As soon as I opened the door to announce my well being, Buabak's face turned yellow. It wasn't the most romantic atmosphere to be in per se. I looked crazy, and the bathroom...well...was a disaster, and that was more than enough for his stomach to turn. So, in a matter of seconds, I found myself standing at the bathroom door, trying to keep my balance, and Baubak took over my position. Let me not bore you with how many times we went back and forth, taking turns vomiting, and grossing each other out, but believe it or not, that has become one of the unforgettable memories of that trip for me! After 15 minutes or so, we finally stopped, completely out of breath, stared at each other and started laughing! What a disaster I thought! but It was rather a cute, unforgettable and gross moment!
I closed my eyes and fell asleep, until Baubak slowly woke me up to tell me that the trip was over! Thank you Jesus with all my heart I prayed. We spent the rest of the day doing way more fun things on land which I truly grown a massive appreciation for at that point! and I kept thinking to myself, Dolphins were not worth it!!
