Reunions

Today I felt a bit better which was good, and I had a pretty relaxing day (aside from being stressed about apartments). I had breakfast at a place on the corner and ate banana pancakes, then took a quick trip to Walgreens, then another quick trip to the bank, then mainly chilled out. Ben left early in the morning, Gabe was out in the morning but was around in the afternoon. I had some soup for lunch, chilled with Gabe, then I got a call from Marisol, who is also looking for apartments now in SF. She and I might live together here in the city which would be pretty cool. Gabe and I went to meet up with her at a cafe, we hung out there for a while, then eventually Gabe left and I went with Marisol to look at Craigslist a bit, then I went home, hung out with Gabe some more. Saray and his girlfriend came home after that, then eventually I left to head to Polk Street to meet up with lots of Tufts kids (and a few non-Tufts) for dinner.

We ate at Mekong again, there were 9 of us: Jacob, Melissa, Karen, Adina, Adina's housemate Becca, Claude, Sunil, Sunil's brother and me! We had a nice dinner, then I got a ride home in the back of Sunil's very full car. Somehow Claude and I squeezed in there. Now I'm back here mentally preparing for my job tomorrow morning. I'm excited! Well, that's about all for now.....

Exhaustion

I'm very tired. Yesterday Ben and I explored downtown after my job interview, then headed down into the Mission and had lunch at a Guatemalan restaurant. We practiced our Spanish and ate chiles rellenos which were OK, I had good tamarind juice. Next we bought some food for dinner, then walked all the way to Castro Av just in time to miss the bus back to the apt. Grr. We waited for the next one which took about two years, then back at the apartment we rested, eventually we cooked dinner (mostly Ben did since I had a headache), Dan and Saray came home and the 4 of us had a nice meal together. After that we just stayed in the apt, Ben went to bed early and I went to bed earliesh too. Today Ben woke up at 6 and I woke up at 8 and then we hung out here, looking at Craigslist (as soon as I'm settled I am going to need a BIG break from that website), then we eventually left and went to Berkeley. Berkeley was fun, we walked on the campus and Ben tried to find his professors, we had Taiwanese food for lunch. I found out that I got an offer for a job which I accepted, I start on Friday....I am not writing about it on the blog yet, so if you want to know more you should email me. We shall see how it goes. After checking out campus we met Mary and her boyfriend Seth at Berkeley Bowl, then Maria too. Then Mary left, Maria, Ben and I stayed and chilled there, then Adina came with her housemate, we met them. Berkeley Bowl is a pretty cool store. After this Ben and I went with Maria walking around to see various houses, then chilled at her place, then walked around more, then eventually took the BART back to the city and then the N trolley to Abby's house. We had a nice dinner with Abby, Kendra and Russ. Ben made good soup, we also had good bread and salad with corn in it. We chilled for a while after dinner, then Ben and I found out that Gabe was coming home tonight afterall (he drove all the way from Laramie, WY, which is 16 hours). We took a bus back to the apt, saw Gabe (who is staying at his sister's tonight since we are still in his room). Gabe is awesome, it was really cool that he let me stay here. This makes up for all the times he annoyed me in chorale in 11th grade. Ben and I are both emailing people and still on our computers. We are both getting sick (I think I already DID get sick). It's 11:37 PM and definitely time for bed. Goodnite. More soon on this blog, don't worry.

A week ends and another begins

On Sunday I had a pretty relaxed day...around midday I went to Cole Valley to check out an apartment. The place was really nice, but for 4 people....over 30 people showed up at the Open House. Even though the place was pretty decent I didn't bother trying to get it...I still have the application in case I change my mind though. After this I was going to meet up with people at a free Ozomatli concert in a park in the south of the city. I spoke to Selby (who now lives in the Bay Area) on the phone and he said that at noon they were already closing the gate. So it wasn't worth it to go. Instead I headed back to the apartment, hung out with Dan and Saray. In the afternoon, Dan, Saray and I headed to Target in Saray's car so they could do some shopping, then we were back in the city. Dan bought a cuisinart so he made pesto, I made pasta and some sausage and tomato sauce, so we had a nice dinner. In the evening, I decided to go by myself to a dessert place in Richmond...it's a chain from Hong Kong. The trip was definitely worth it, I had a really amazing drink: sago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sago), fresh squeezed mango juice, whipped coconut cream, crushed ice topped with fresh mango. Pretty awesome. I also bought a box of mango mochi (mochi with fresh mango inside) to bring home. Dan, Saray and I ate them in 2 seconds. They were amazing too. So that was Sunday.

On Monday I cleaned up my room in the morning, then at 11:30 or so headed out to the East Bay. I got to Berkeley at about 12:30 and walked to Adina's new house. It was fun seeing her, her place is pretty nice. We went to a Thai place for lunch. After lunch it was time for me to head to El Cerrito for my interview at the afterschool program. I got to El Cerrito early, it's only 9 minute train ride away from Downtown Berkeley which is pretty nice. I roamed around a little bit, visited another Target, then had my interview. The interview went pretty well, I am pretty excited about the job so hopefully I'll get it....I'll be keeping you all posted. After the interview, I called Adina and we met again at the Berkeley BART station to ride into the city together. She went and had dinner with Melissa, Jacob and Karen while I went back to the apartment to meet up with Russ, Abby, Kendra and Ben! Ben just arrived yesterday from Germany, R, K and A went to the airport to pick him up. I got to my apartment at about the same time they did, so Ben and I dropped off our stuff and Abby and Kendra came up to see the cat. Then all of us piled in the car and drove back to Abby's house in Sunset, then all headed to dinner. We ate at an Indian place which was pretty good and pretty cheap, then went back to Abby's house and hung out there for a bit, had some tea. Ben and I came back to the apartment here at 9 or so, then Ben went to bed. It was pretty impressive that he stayed up that late at all.

This morning we're chilling here, I have another job interview here in San Francisco at 11 AM for this company....more details about this later, it sounds possibly interesting. Ben needs to do various errands as well. Ben has a blog too and I'm putting the link to his blog in the links section of mine, so check it out.....it's exciting that he's here! That's all for now...

First Weekend: Part 1

On Friday morning I headed to Clement St. to go to New May Wah Market...got good fresh rice noodles, several vegetables, garlic, chilis, thai basil, thai curry paste, chicken breasts, coconut milk and shrimp crackers all for 11 dollars. After that I headed back to Alamo Sq and cooked myself kee mao for lunch. I got distracted with the cooking due to two phone calls regarding jobs....I have an interview at a school near Berkeley on Monday. So that's very cool. After my lunch I went on a short run...running is tiring here due to the hills.

In the evening I walked toward downtown, eventually at 7 met Jacob and Melissa for dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Tenderloin. The food was really good, after dinner I went to their apartment, saw the roof which has some nice views when it isn't foggy. Then we decided to go to the movies, so we walked down to Van Ness and saw Little Miss Sunshine.

Little Miss Sunshine was good and entertaining, though I don't think it was all that great. After the movie it was 12:20 and I said bye to Melissa and Jacob and tried to get a bus home....no buses came, so then I eventually started walking down McAllister. About 3 blocks away from Van Ness, things started feeling slightly sketchy....as I was thinking this, 4 guys pulled up in a pickup truck across the street from me and got out. One of them called out to me and told me that I probably shouldn't keep walking down McAllister because people had just been shooting down there. He suggested walking on a different avenue, but I decided to go back to Van Ness and find myself a taxi. This was much faster and cost 6 dollars. I had no idea how much to tip since I am pretty sure I've never taken a taxi by myself in the United States. In South America you don't tip taxi drivers so it is much more simple. I think I didn't tip enough.

Today I slept till 10, Dan and Saray slept even later than me. I left at 10:25 or so and took the bus to the Ferry Building to go to the Farmer's Market. The farmer's market was pretty sweet, I had coffee and a scone, then met up with Melissa and Jacob. I tried lots of good samples, ate some more food, we bought stuff to make dinner (homemade ravioli). Then we headed our separate ways, I went on the BART to Berkeley. This was my first time in the East Bay, and I liked what I saw. I first headed to the Farmer's Market in Berkeley, where I saw Maria. I chatted with Maria, then ate a really delicious peach, then went off exploring. I made sort of a figure 8 through Berkeley, starting by heading north along Shatuck, then west, then down MLK, then back east on University and into UC Berkeley campus. UC Berkeley is really nice, it was also a beautiful day, noticeably warmer than in San Francisco. From campus I headed south on Telegraph Av, then west again eventually back to Shatuck, then I had a chicken caeser wrap at the famous Berkeley Bowl supermarket. I bought a few more things for dinner, then eventually got on the BART again at Ashby.

Crossing the street before heading back to SF on the BART, I ran into Mary, my friend from senior year of high school. I don't think I had seen her since then. It was good seeing her, she lives in Berkeley now so hopefully I'll see her again soon. It took exactly one hour from Ashby Station to the doorstep of Gabe, Dan and Saray's apt in Alamo Square (BART and bus). This actually included a 10 minute stop to buy a Muni pass and a map downtown.

Berkeley was pretty cool, I really liked it there a lot. I'm thinking about living there instead of SF, especially if I get a job in Berkeley. We'll see what happens though...

I chilled in the apt this afternoon, looked for jobs and possible houses in both SF and Berkeley. Then eventually I headed back to Nob Hill to Melissa and Jacob's for dinner. I had a nice dinner with Melissa, Jacob, Timmy and Kyle from Tufts, also friends who live in the same apt building, Thomas and Alex. We made homemade ravioli filled with basil goat cheese and sauteed yellow squash. Jacob made an awesome sage/butter sauce, Timmy brought excellent bread and wine, Melissa made a salad, then peaches and blueberries for dessert. Good food, good company.

It took a while for me to get home (2 buses). It kind of sucks having to travel on buses, especially alone since there isn't anyone to talk to. A car would be pretty convenient in this city, especially at night, although I don't think there's much parking near Melissa and Jacob's house anyway. Karen is coming back tonight, it'll be cool to see her soon too (she lives with Melissa and Jacob).

Now I'll post a few pictures, although I think I'll mainly have this blog be for just writing. I'll eventually post pictures on my website if my brother or dad can show me how to do that. That's all for now...




Angkor the cat



Sunset near Arkansas



Full House



Basil goat cheese and yellow squash ravioli with sweet peas and wine and sage butter sauce

Bienvenidos a San Francisco

Well, I have now been in San Francisco for almost 48 hours. Things are going well so far, I like this city a lot and I'm excited to get to know it more....it's definitely strange to be here without a real place to live or a job, and at times (like a few hours ago) I feel a little bit lost....more on this later.

Anyway, yesterday was a great first day in the city. In the morning I hung out at Abby's house with her ex-housemate Kassie...she moved today to Washington DC, so our time here in SF only overlapped for 1 day. In the afternoon I met up with Russ and we set off for a bit of exploring. We started off in Cole Valley, and from there walked through Ashbury Haight and Lower Haight and then down into the Mission. All of these neighborhoods were pretty cool, and I was very impressed by Russ's knowledge of dozens of restaurants that we passed. There is definitely gonna be some awesome food here. I really liked the Mission and I'm gonna try to get back there soon....lots to explore, especially foodwise.

Last night I had a nice dinner with Russ, Kendra and Abby (mac and cheese and broccolli and mango for dessert), then Russ drove me over to Gabe, Dan and Saray's house so I could drop off my stuff. Gabe, who isn't here now (since he's in Amherst for a week) is basically the best person ever....he's lent me his room for a week or so while I figure out what I'm doing which is really cool. He lives with Dan and Saray near Alamo Square, which is where they filmed the intro to Full House. Very nice location. Dan and Saray and their cat Angkor are all awesome too, so far it's great staying here. After dropping off my stuff, Dan and I headed back to Abby's house with Russ and met up with Kendra, then headed to a bar near their house, with Abby, Kassie and some other people. Good times, nice bar....Dan and I got back early since he had work today. He and Saray both left early this morning.

I spent the day today (Thursday) applying to jobs, reading and exploring. I headed downtown to see about a MUNI pass, but then decided to just wait till Monday to get a weekly one...then later I took two buses to get to Trader Joe's for a bit of shopping....I'm gonna try to limit my eating out to one meal per day. Wish me luck. In the afternoon it was more job searching, then at 5:30 I went to see an apartment in Cole Valley, but when I got there there was a sign saying that the showing was cancelled. Grr. I headed to the southern part of Cole Valley where Russ and I had gone to a cafe/bakery the day before. We had noticed they were hiring, and since I had a resume with me, I decided to drop it off. I ended up having a conversation with the assistant manager who seems pretty cool....she looked at my resume for a second and then said "You worked at the Black Sheep Inn! That was the coolest place I went to in Ecuador!" So maybe my wonderful volunteer experiences in Ecuador will help me get a job after all. I've always wanted to work in a cafe/bakery type place and this place is really nice....people who work there seem pretty cool too. Sadly it doesn't pay much or provide benefits, so we shall see....

I had dinner with Abby and Russ at a Vietnamese place in Inner Sunset, then we got some bubble tea, then I chilled a little bit there before heading back to Alamo Square. Tonight on the busride home I started feeling a little bit lost....sometimes I'm pretty optimistic about things and am excited for all the things I can do here, people I can meet, etc. but other times it's pretty much the opposite and I start to wonder why I came out here at all. I guess that's normal though, we'll see how I feel after a week or two here. I still have a lot to do and explore in San Francisco, not to mention Berkeley and Oakland.

I think that's about all for now....despite feeling a bit lost and confused about things, most everything is very good. Tomorrow on my adventures I'll try to take some more pictures so I can post some here....

The Journey

I made it to San Francisco! Things are going well so far. After some errands and one last slice of Antonio's, I left for Bradley yesterday afternoon. My mom drove me to the airport and came with me to check in....this went really smoothly despite the new security issues, and I was all checked (both bags) and through security in about 10 minutes. No problems at all. Bradley has free wireless which was nice, and then I ran into a girl named Kim from Tufts, so I chatted with her for a while as we waited for the flight to board. The flight to Dallas was pretty uneventful, I started reading the book "Prep" by Curtis Sittenfield...I read practically the whole flight, with the occasional pause to look out the window at the Great Lakes and some nice, flat states.

In Dallas, the wireless internet is not free, so I didn't use it. To get from Terminal B to Terminal D, I took the new Skytrain. It's pretty fast and goes high up (above all the terminals). I was a bit concerned by how rickety it felt....a lot like the Green Line in Boston...a little strange considering it's a brand new monorail.

On my flight from Dallas to San Francisco I sat in the emergency exit row which was good. I sat next to a man from Bangalore who works for Oracle in Texas. He didn't seem to want to talk about Bangalore (I told him I was there last fall) so we didn't. I read more, then tried to sleep.

I got to San Francisco on time, and Russ was there to pick me up. My bags also made it to San Francisco, but it took 45 minutes for everyone's bags to arrive at the baggage claim area. Strange. Anyway, it's good to be here. San Francisco seems really cool so far (although I haven't seen much yet). Now it's time to seriously start looking for jobs. I'm currently in the Inner Sunset neighborhood, things are pretty quiet here (at least in the mornings). It's 10:40 AM right now and it looks like the fog is starting to clear.

That's about all for now...hopefully I'll put up some pictures sometime soon.

0 Days Until Departure

I am still in Amherst, but I'm leaving for San Francisco later today. I'm psyched, although not that excited about the flights. I have checked in already though, and I printed my boarding passes. Now I just need to check my bags in at the airport and I'll be off...I'm flying from Hartford to Dallas, then Dallas to San Francisco.

Here's a picture of a lot of my stuff on the bed before I packed it. I am now mostly packed.




There is also a picture of some pesto stuffed scallops that my grandpa made on Sunday. They are served over mezclun greens.

Friday

I still haven't started packing. I applied to two jobs today (which is not as good as the four I applied to yesterday). Once I get to California I need to start applying for way more than that. I'm getting excited. Aaight, not much else to say right now. Time for bed.

5 Days till Departure

I'm leaving for San Francisco in 5 days. I have not started packing yet.