[MouseWife]

I have to say, I didn't forget the great advice I received. I posted that night after returning home but I guess I took too long to post and I lost the whole thing! I'll try and not let that happen again...

We were to be at the school by 6:45 a.m. so the bus could leave at 7 sharp. 7 comes and goes. We don't leave until amost 7:30. It took us about an hour to get to Clairemont. So, we arrived at the museum late which put us late all day. {3 1/2 hour ride}

The ride up? Oh, girls trying to get truck drivers to honk their horns. Boys making eyes at girls in cars with their parents {of course, since they are only 12 none are driving cars out by themselves...}, a bathroom on the bus? Oooo!, and, we saw 'High School Musical' 1/12 times on the way there. {as well as Herbie...}

We had to leave basically everything on the bus. I was taken at first by the security. It was all very professional. I liked that. The building itself is quite beautiful.

We all head in, trying to be quiet {why oh why am I a chaperone of a bunch of noisy kids in a place that doesn't want noise??? I'll be quiet, really I will...}. Of course this is next to near impossible to some.

We head up the ramp to the first part of the tour. Something about the world we live in {I know, all of my groaning and I can't recall the first part} I was at the end of the line and two moms were taking off. I asked them where they were going and they said where the kids can't go. Did I want to go? Uh...Okay!!

We went looking for where to go as none of us had maps or any idea where we were supposed to go. The people there are so nice. They saw our lost faces and helped us. They took us down the elevator and right to the next tour.

We were then told that we might want to wait for the next group as this one was a bit difficult. Then they decided it would be alright. We told them we'd stay in the back as to let them have their time, we just wanted to view.

Well. The presentation is awesome. I learned so much. I think they way they presented it {using people speaking as if they were the actual people, with the emotion, etc.} and all of the visual.

All of it was getting to me. I tried to retain my composure. The group we were with was a bit difficult. They didn't like the woman telling them to 'Come' or 'Sit, please'. Then, in the room where I really felt so much emotion, two guys almost threw punches!!! Can you believe it?

The woman who gave the tour was a survivor. All of it just ripped my heart inside out. Not that I didn't know most of what I saw, because it always does, but, this was so real and personal.

Luckily I had a pocket full of tissue.

After lunch {at which a bunch of kids got into major trouble} we went on the second part of our tour. The Find Your Family {or something like that}.
It started off with us taking our picture with these computers and then putting in our background. What I realized later when we got the print outs was how much my son and do look alike. You wouldn't think it to look at us. So, that was something.

This part of the tour was very interesting to me because they put it out so honest and real.

They cover the issue of immigration and migration. They spotlight four celebrities. All four having very different backgrounds and home lives. This impressed me that they didn't sugar coat things.

One went on how he found out about his background via his uncle after his father died when he was 15. The second was taken to live with her grandmother and uncle somewhere in the south and how that effected her. The third was a baseball hero and how hard his life was, being afraid of his fathers temper, his father abusing his mother, never having a happy home and his father making his mother feel awful about her heritage. I was so amazed by it. They said that when they got older, he and his siblings confronted their father and made him leave the house. They said it was much happier after that.

The last was Carlos Santana. You know he is quite spiritial. He said he researched his family and came to find that he is the best of all of them. I don't know if the kids understood that meant he tried to have the best qualities and not that he was the best because he was a wealthy musician.

Anyways, we were in such a rush we had to run to the bus and head home. We watched High School Musical two more times and a couple of kids did the dances in the aisle. They also played this other game where they call out your name and you have to respond and that was fun, too. They were loud. I called my friend to let her know we were coming home and she couldn't hear me!!!

Oh, and on the way home they did have truckers honk their horns. In San Diego. I think it was the rush hour traffic and the truckers desire not to piss anyone off why no one would honk. At night, everyone was in a festive mood. They did make the kids stop though because they were starting to go overboard.

I loved the museum, I loved the people there. I cried my heart out. But, I want to go back and learn more. And see more. I want to take my family back and let them hear and see what I did.

Will I take my 12 year old? I don't know. I still think it is pretty heavy and if he doesn't get it might it just be a waste of time or have the reverse affect? We shall see.

Thank you again to everyone who gave me their input/opinions. Very much appreciated. Also, I did go by what I learned on her through out the tour as well as in knowing where to ask to go. I didn't know where the place was in the building but I did know what to ask for.

Thank you.