Today we are heading into Mexico City and a visit to the Bascilica there. After that on to see some ancient pyramids in the desert.
The purpose of today is that we move our class onto a motor coach where we learn and practice the skills we need to master while on tour. Part of this is learning how to speak using the microphone on a moving coach using one hand to operate the mic and the other to hold on for dear life. This is going to be challenging for me. You all know how much I use my hands to talk, well, it looks like I’m going to have to learn how to tell a story without the use of my hands.
I’m bringing the camera today so I should have pictures and tomorrow is a free day for us (no class yeah!) so I’ve got a day trip planned with a few of the other students. It’ll be nice to have an entire day where I can just play tourist.
That’s one of the things that impressed me so much about this school is that they design the training so that you get the travel experience from both sides – a tourist and the tour manager. I think it’s a clever way to train tour managers.
The other day I said that I could not imagine trying to do this job without this specific type of training. I know that there are people who do but I know I couldn’t do this job without it. Although this is like a boot camp and the training is intense, everyone here wants you to succeed. The instructors are friendly and approachable; willing to answer all of our questions and give us tips and pointers.
Well, it’s an early morning today as we have to meet at the school at 7:45am. I’ll check in again…