San Fran: Day 4

Rise and shine, bright and early! We were up at 5:30 on Monday morning (which felt like 4:30 due to the time change) and out the door by 5:45 to make it to Martin's by 6. This was one of the other highlights of the trip for me, not so much because it was fun and exciting and new, but because it was eye-opening and an entirely new experience for me.

When we got there Trevor walked me around and introduced me to the crew - all volunteers, many of whom were once addicts and homeless themselves. They were all so kind and welcoming, I immediately felt comfortable. I was put on dishwashing duty, filling in for someone who hadn't shown up that day, and while it kept me from more hands on work with the people who came in to be served, I think it was actually the best place for me to start. It allowed me to play more of an observer role, and as it was my first time in a soup kitchen, I think I needed that. It was kind of a slow day, according to the people who typically worked there, so in between rinsing dishes and putting them away, I was able to observe the people who came in for breakfast. I learned that some were regulars, some were new, and there were others who were not homeless, but due to the downturn in the economy, made enough money to pay their rent and had not a penny left over to feed themselves. It was saddening to see all these people, but it was humbling to be in a roomful of volunteers who dedicated so much time to trying to make these people's lives a little bit more bearable.

I washed dishes with a man named Naji (my spelling may be off). He was quick and he was direct and I caught on quickly to what I was supposed to do as a part of my job in the dish washing line. When things slowed down a bit we talked, he asked me about school and swimming - he having just learned to swim 3 years ago and now working at a school instructing open water swimmers. He would swiftly but politely correct me or answer me if I was unsure about where something went or if I did something incorrectly. We chatted away through meal time and clean-up time. We went back to the office and sat and talked some more while I waited for Trevor to be done with his clean up duties. Naji told me that he was a recovering alcoholic and addict, over 20 years clean, and that he found Martin's and worked his way up to a kitchen director position in they system. In return for his volunteering he gets free room and board with a handful of other individuals and gets to eat whatever meals he may choose to eat while at the soup kitchen. He let me ask as many questions as I wanted about the organization, telling me all about what they provide for the homeless and what sort of things they experience on a daily basis.

When I left he told me that I was welcome back any time I was in the city since I was now part of the Martin's family. I think it was truly the most unique experience I had in the city, unlike anything you would find on a list of typical tourist spots. It simply amazes me how much of themselves these people, who have relatively little of their own, are giving to help improve the lives of the homeless. They were non-judgemental, open, polite, and caring. Even for the short two hours I was there, I really did feel like I was part of a family. I wouldn't hesitate to go back there again, it was such a wonderful opportunity.

Trevor had to go to class from 10-2 that day, so his mom and I set off on the metro on our own. We headed all the way back down to Embarcadero to go spend some more leisurely time at the shops inside the Ferry Building. We took our time wandering through stores, tasting chocolates, and perusing the little book store. We stopped at the Cowgirl Creamery for lunch - I ordered the lunch meal, which was a grilled cheese made with the "cheese of the day" (it was some variety of Swiss, the exact name has slipped my mind) and a bowl of cottage cheese soup. It sounds kind of gross, but only if you think of it in terms of like Knudson Cottage Cheese, which this definitely was not. It was so good! We sat outside and ate, watching people walk by and ferries docking and then taste-testing some of the chocolates we'd bought earlier.

We jumped back on the Metro to head inland back by the Civic Center so we could visit the San Francisco Library. Let me just say, "Holy cow." It was SIX stories tall! Five stories of wall to wall books with cute study areas and computer sections, and the sixth floor was a mini San Francisco history museum. I could go through and tell you what kind of books were on each floor, but there's really no point, you're pretty capable of looking that up yourself. It was just mesmerizing. They had a book for everything! Another two hours of time spent just browsing through books and more books.

This was my last night in San Francisco so I got to pick where we were going for dinner. Now, I could have picked something safe and typical, but I figured, why ruin my adventurous streak? I told Trevor I wanted to go to this place we had walked by the other day in Japan Town called Doobu - a Korean food restaurant that Trevor said was known for its tofu. Seeing as I'd never had tofu before, but had always wanted to try it, I thought this was the perfect opportunity. The three of us spent some more time walking around Japan town to work up our appetites before going to dinner. We saw the NBC4 news crew there interviewing shop owners about the current earthquake crisis in Japan.

Doobu was SO good! I got this tofu soup - it was like a broth with beef dumplings, rice cakes (pretty much round noodles) and soft tofu chunks, and then they served a bunch of little side dishes with other things you could add to your soup - sprouts, fried tofu, etc. The best part was, when they brought you the soup it was still boiling, so you crack an egg in it and then the soup cooks the egg! Amazing. However, it did further burn my pizza-burnt tongue...will I ever learn? Haha.

We stopped at this place called Holy Gelato on the way home, and I'm a sucker for ice cream in any form, and trying a new place is always okay by my standards. I got a mix of white chocolate raspberry and dark chocolate...mmmm! So good; perfect end to my food adventures.

Back at Trevor's, we watched two episodes of Dirty Jobs that were filmed in San Francisco - the trash collectors in Chinatown and the people who work in the sewers. Both super disgusting, but really funny too. We spent some time up talking before knocking out for the night.

SF: Day 3

We allowed ourselves a bit of a slower start on this day, not to mention I woke up so sore I couldn't really move that fast even if I wanted to! We met up with his mom, Justin, and Leah at a place called Good Luck to get dim sum for brunch. I can't say it was my favorite thing I ate while I was there, but it wasn't terrible. I just don't think I'd ever choose to eat it again. But it was definitely an interesting experience.

After dim sum we walked around in a bunch of authentic Chinese markets, which was surprisingly intriguing, even when I couldn't read most of the labels. We went into a couple shops as well, including another one with kitchen supplies that was too much fun to walk through. Once again I was way too excited for having a kitchen of my own at some point.

We split up from the group because they had to get ready to head out to Leah's parents' house. Trevor wanted to go to this book store that he had been telling me was the coolest book store he'd ever been in. It's called the Green Apple Book store, and is one of the prime examples of why you should 'never judge a book by its cover.' The outside of the book store looked like your average book store, moderately sized with a good selection of books. But when I walked in, I quickly found out it was HUGE with an OUTSTANDING selection of books. Every time I thought I'd seen it all, I'd turn a corner and there would be another doorway leading to another section or another stairway leading to another floor. The had new books and used books, books for full price and books on sale, fiction and nonfiction, music and videos...it was never-ending. We spent three hours in that book store - not because we had nothing better to do, but because it was just easy to pass that much time in there. I found so many books - I only bought three, but that was after trading out a bunch and deciding which ones I wanted most. I walked away with a list of at least 15 books that I wanted to read as well, from all different genres of literature. Even after selecting books, I would find one I was interested in and just sit on the ground, lean up against a bookshelf and read the first chapter. The whole place was mesmerizing, definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

We made a stop in Japan Town after that, which is set up kind of like a Japanese mall. Did a quick run through of some of the bigger shops - it's amazing how many options for organization they offer. I thought I was a pretty organized person as it is, but with all the different things they offer...I could be the next Monk!

After some down time back at the room which consisted mainly of reading and some small conversation, we got hungry enough to venture out for dinner. We decided on this pizzeria with some obscure name that was close-ish to Trevor's - probably about a ten minute walk, but it was rainy so we drove. After two pieces of delicious pizza that my burnt mouth is still recovery from, we took the rest in a box and made a stop at Safeway to pick up some ice cream for later. It was weird going into a grocery store where you couldn't just walk through some sliding doors; you had to walk down a flight of stairs and then, voila, you were standing in the fruit section!

His mom came to stay with us that night, and even though we tried to go to bed early, the time change had us all off...we knew we would be regretting it the next morning when we had to wake up at 5:30 to be at Martin's by 6...

SF: Day 2

Although all my days in the city were buys, this was the busiest day by far. As a preface let's just say we walked about five hours and spend another one or two on some form of public transportation. It was a true city style experience like nothing I've ever done before.

This was my first day on the Metro (also known as the Muni), the subway system restricted to only the San Francisco side of the bay. The whole thing was still really confusing to me and I couldn't help but think of how lost I would be if had to do it all by myself. Needless to say, I was really grateful to be doing all of this with Trevor. The Metro was a little more populated than the BART had been the night before, but it still wasn't bad. I was beginning to think those crowded Hollywood scenes from the movie were just embellishments, but Trevor reminded me it was only 8:30 in the morning and that I would get the true subway experience a little later in the afternoon.

We rode the Metro to the end of the line at the Embarcadero Station to start our morning at the Farmer's Market. They hold it in and around the Ferry Building - the old docks and clock tower for the ferries that used to be used as a means of transportation, but are now used mainly as a tourist attraction. The inside of the ferry building has been turned into a bunch of little shops - cafes, chocolate shops, book stores, novelty stores and the like. There were SO many people - I later remarked that I felt like I saw more people every ten minutes than I typically saw in a whole day. There were all kinds of fruits and vegetables and products, some that I'd never even heard of...it was definitely the kind of place I could see myself shopping if I lived there. Lots of exotic things and a wide variety of people too.

In the building we stopped at this kitchen store (I know its not uniquely San Francisco) called Sur la Table; I'd never been in one before. I've never been big on cooking or baking on my own because I've never had the kitchen space or the time to do so - but lately I've been looking forward to learning how to cook for myself, especially knowing I will have a kitchen in dorm life next year. This store made me more excited than ever to have my own place with my own kitchen with my own plates and dishes and pots and pans and utensils...everywhere I looked I found something unique that I would love to have as a part of my future kitchen. A little on the expensive side sometimes, but still.

Forgive me if some of the rest of this day is out of order - we did a lot and its hard to remember the order that we went in. I might skip out on some smaller details too because this post would just be too gigantic to exist if I included every little thing that I thought. :)

We walked from the Ferry Building to Chinatown which was freaking HUGE. There were so many people and so many stores selling the oddest things - apparently the Chinese like a lot of things in ball form and a lot of things freeze dried (shrimp, sea cucumber, seaweed, etc.) All the shops and stuff kind of reminded me of some of the places on Olvera Street. Trevor told me you have to be careful what you buy down there though because a lot of it can be products of underground shady businesses. But it was a good cultural experience, since I won't actually be going to China anytime soon.

After China town we did some crazy hilly walking up to Coit Tower to get one of the best views of the whole city. There were a lot of tourists up there, taking all the typical San Francisco touristy pictures. The hills and stairs we had to take to get up there were insane, but the view was worth it. Apparently you can go to the top of the tower too, but it costs five bucks, I figured the extra couple hundred yards up in the air wasn't going to make that big of a difference on the view so I was content with just staying at the base of the tower.

Walking back down all the hills was quite a bit easier than going up, but I could still tell my legs were going to be paying for this the next day! After walking down that huge hill, we approached another even bigger hill to walk up to see Lombard Street - the crookedest street in San Francisco. If you walk up it you have a TON of shallow stairs to climb up to get to the top, but it was pretty neat to watch all the cars driving down this maze like road.

We walked down another steep hill to get to Ghirardelli Square, another little plaza that was centered around the Ghirardelli chocolate and ice cream shops. I was able to resist the temptation to buy anything for myself, but I did buy some chocolate for my parents. When I go back, I'll definitely be stopping to get myself some ice cream. :)

We went to North Beach, which is like the Italian section of the city - little Italian flags painted on the light posts, Italian named stores, pizzerias. We weren't in here for very long, kind of just a quick walk through, but we did stop at Washington Square (I think that's where we were), a great little park in the middle of an otherwise packed area of the city. There weren't really that many people there when we got there, just a few with their dogs and others just sitting on benches enjoying the nice weather.

Then we went down to Fisherman's Wharf. I really liked this part of the day because we were by the water and there was just so much history and things to be looked at and read about. We walked down the pier and read about the histories of some of the different boats that were docked there - huge boats and little boats that played important parts in history. There were people walking around dressed as if they were in 1901, answering questions and talking about what the city was like back then. We walked into this place called Musee Mecanique that had hundreds of old arcade games and mechanically operated puppets and music boxes. The oldest thing there was this flip-book and mirror type machine from 1889! And it still works! Those are the kind of things that people would do for entertainment back then - no TVs, no computers. It was fascinating. We put a quarter in one called "The French Execution" and watched the curtain raise up and a priest stand over a man in a guillotine as his head got chopped off! Outside of this building was a little submarine museum with the USS Pampanito from WWII on display. They also had a memorial to all the men in the Navy and the Marines who disappeared in submarines during the war, the numbers were unbelievable.

We navigated our way through crowds of people to find the best place to get a bowl of clam chowder and ended up at a place over looking the harbor called Tarantino's. We had a super nice waitress with a cute accent - she had to have been from like Minnesota or Wisconsin. It was very quite and nice and we had fantastic bread bowls filled with clam chowder while we watched people walk by outside and watched the boats in the harbor. It was the first time we'd really sat all day too, which was a reward in itself!

From here I believe we took a bus (first time on a city bus) to the Civic Center to see the Saint Patrick's Day parade. At the bus stop I sat next to these two funny older ladies who were ranting about the time change and how inconsistent the buses were. The parade was quite the scene - a bunch of families with little munchkins all dressed in green, or a lot a lot of drunk people haha. People just walked around with beers and flasks and drank to their hearts' content. The parade itself was pretty cute and funny, but I'm not sure how many people were there to actually watch as opposed to having a great reason to get really drunk in public. It tied in pretty well with my reading of Frank McCourt's 'Tis too...about how when it comes down to it, everyone says they have a little Irish in them. :)

After some great people watching at the parade, we decided we should head back towards Trevor's house, but not without a stop at the Castro Station. He informed me that the Castro District was pretty much the most heavily gay and lesbian district of San Fran. We walked out of the subway to a vision of rainbow flags everywhere, couples of every shape and size, homosexual and heterosexual. We walked by drag queen stores where a man in full women's clothing was hanging up a sign outside of his shop. We went into this place called Hot Cookie (home of the famous penis shaped cookie, haha) to get some cookies that we ate on a corner as we people watched. I'd have to honestly say that was probably one of my favorite parts; I could have sat on that corner for hours. So many people from so many different walks of life walked by that street and it was so intriguing. We saw gay couples, a man walking a cat on a leash, two men who had pet cockatoos riding on their shoulders, a man walking down the street butt naked...and all of this was normal for this area. It was absolutely great, nobody really seemed to be second guessing what anyone else was doing, everyone was pretty cheerful and pretty polite and happy. Definitely a place I will return to when I go again.

We took the subway back to Trevor's and took a little break before we got in the car to drive up to Two Peaks to get another great view of the city. Two Peaks, if you remember, is what you can see from Trevor's window, and you can also see Trevor's house once you get up to Two Peaks. You can hike up the peaks also, and weather permitting I think that would be another great adventure; but after all the walking we'd done that day...I was perfectly okay with driving up!

After Two Peaks we took on the number one tourist attraction of San Francisco - The Golden Gate Bridge. On our way there we drove through the Golden Gate Park, mainly to see the buffalo (!!!), but Trevor also pointed out other features to me as we drove through, like the community track, parks, and conservatories. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and then parked on the other side so we could go walk on it. To say it was massive would be an understatement. So crazy that human's could build something that HUGE and make it that stable and reliable. We walked all the way to the center of the bridge before we stopped to enjoy the view. Trevor spit water off the side and I timed how long it took for it to hit the ocean water - 10 seconds! A 10 second fall! That was an even crazier thought considering the article we'd just read about a high schooler jumping off the bridge and surviving. After causing our necks to be sufficiently sore from all the looking straight up at the massive structure, we headed back across the bridge so we could get back to Trevor's before dinner.

We met Justin, Leah, and his mom, who had just flown in, at Justin's before heading out to this Vietnamese restaurant on the other side of the bay. Now, if you know me you know that I am not a very adventurous foody, and this would be the second night in a row that I was trying something outside the norm. It was at this point that I abandoned my skepticism of unfamiliar foods and decided I would continue trying new things for the remainder of the weekend. I had pho and other meat and shrimp dishes cooked with a mixture of spices and cooked vegetables - you'll be happy to know that I enjoyed it all and was very satisfied after. I'm still pretty proud of myself!

Exhausted, we headed back to Trevor's pretty early, showered and then went to bed pretty early. We had a whole other day coming that we needed to be rested for!

San Francisco: Day 1

This was my first time flying by myself. After a third run-down of exactly what I was supposed to do before my flight, I nervously walked through the doors into the bustle and chaos that is LAX. For someone who gets as easily distracted by watching and is in a very unfamiliar situation (as I was), this has the potential to be very dangerous. But obviously I survived, I'm writing this aren't I?

I got a window seat on the plane - my number one goal of my flying experience - so I was a pretty happy camper. We took off over the ocean and I remembered how much I love flying (it's been about 5 years since the last time I was on a plane). I don't get any fear out of it, I still get the thrill of the take-off and the landing, and I adore the changes in perspective. It's unbelievable to see the ocean and all it's expansiveness from a plane; it's an entirely different feel from the shoreline strain to follow the horizon. It took five minutes to get from LA to Ventura, I only know this because I could follow the patterns of the familiar coastline and I could spot the Ventura pier extending into the ocean. An hour and fifteen minutes of driving time was the equivalent of 5 minutes of flying time...that's really freaking fast! Not to mention how high we were - I saw the tops of clouds instead of the underside, covering the coastline for miles. Big change in perspective. We flew over mountains and mountains; land that was completely uninhabited and natural. It was breathtakingly beautiful, not to be cliche. There really is no other way to describe it.

And then, before I knew it, we were touching down in San Francisco. I met Trevor out past security and was introduced to the hustle and the ways of the city immediately as we trekked up stairs and navigated our way onto the BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit. This was my first subway ride as well (note: this trip had a lot of "firsts" for me, so get used to the phrase) and I think the fact that it was night time and pretty laid back made it a bit easier of an adjustment. I didn't have to deal with the crowds of people that so often pack into the subway...yet. We caught up with each other on the 40 minute BART ride to the Ashby station where Trevor's brother would be picking us up to go to his house for dinner. There weren't a lot of people riding, a few homeless people asleep on seat sections and some single riders minding their own business. A pair of ladies got on at one stop with shopping bags, gossiping about the usual topics. We talked, changing our volume according to the noise level of the barreling subway, we stopped talking altogether when we crossed under the bay; it was so loud we would have been yelling at each other to be heard.

At Justin and Leah's house we played with little Bonzai the cat while they made dinner. They live in a typical style house for the San Francisco area, even though they are across the bay. Steps lead up to four door ways, leading to different flats of the same building. They made us pineapple and shrimp pad thai, the first of many new foods I would be trying over the next four days, and I actually really enjoyed it! We also had a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes with a little cheese and a light dressing, which I liked despite my usual hatred of tomatoes. We discussed food, told stories, talked about the news, and did a lot of laughing. We talked about where we should go the following day, but at that point, all the places that were suggested were nothing but names to me; I had no associations.

We took Justin's truck back to the building that Trevor rents his room in. The whole building is owned by an 80-year-old woman named Audrey, and she rented the bottom floor of her blue house to Trevor. It had a bathroom, a couple of closets, a kitchenette, and a living space with a window over looking Twin Peaks (more on that later). Trevor has abandoned the idea of using a bed after experiencing back pain, so he sleeps on a bed pad with a bunch of blankets on the floor. I slept the same way for my stay, and even though I was so tired every night I probably could have slept on a bed of rocks, I'd say it was pretty comfortable. No better or worse than a bed at least.

I loved his apartment - it was the perfect size for one person to live in simply, but it was also an acceptable place to have people come visit without feeling overly crowded. It was small, but I really liked the whole idea of it. I would later gain an even better appreciation for the quietness and seclusion it offered as a break from the city life.

We went to bed that night with plans to wake up at 7:30 to start our day, beginning at the Farmer's Market.

"Save Me, San Francisco"

I'm leaving today to go to San Francisco until Tuesday! I. am. so. excited. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time - I'm definitely in my "run-away" mode. I get that every once in a while. I just get really anxious when I feel like I've been stuck in the same routine for a really long time. It's a really weird sort of anxiety too, sometimes it can be cured with something little and different from the usual, but sometimes it needs something big - like northern California big. :) Just the thought of being there in 8 hours makes the rest of today even a little less monotonous.

I'm leaving my computer here (I've been off facebook for the last few days anyway, it's been nice), I probably won't really carry my cell phone with me too much...it's going to be a real vacation from cyber/digital world too. I can't wait.

We don't have any big plans that I know of yet. Kind of just sight-seeing and experiencing the city, which I am totally okay with. Monday morning I'm going to the soup kitchen that Trevor normally volunteers at, and I'm really looking forward to that, I think it will be a good experience...and who knows? Maybe it will get me involved in something like that back home too.

Autobiography

I write on this blog all the time - about my life, about how I feel, about what I think. It comes easily, I just speak what's on my mind. But then, I get to English class and my professor says, "We're working on writing autobiographies and creative writing for this unit, begin writing about your life," and I have no idea what to say.

People have pages by now, and I have only one. One that I'm sure to toss out and be left with nothing, again. I don't have anything interesting to say. I don't know where to begin. I don't really have anything that flows together...just a bunch of random thoughts and stories. That's the way my brain works I guess. I don't really think in a continuous strand of thoughts, unless I'm on to something, some sort of big discovery or understanding. Or if it's required of me - like an essay or homework of any sort. But my creativity is not flowing. It's spotty and all over the place and unpredictable.

But how do I turn that into a productive English assignment? A clear idea would be useful within the next week or I'm going to be too far behind to even attempt to make up for all the writing time I've wasted...

I don't know what it is

I've had this really big issue with people complaining lately. I'm still not perfect at not complaining, I don't think anyone is; it's a part of human nature, or at least a part of human's that has been ingrained for so long, it seems natural.

I know I just wrote a blog about this not too long ago, so a lot of what I have to say right now is just reiterating everything I've already said. It's complicated to explain how this change in how I view complaining has occurred for me. I think, the simplest way to put it is I have people in my life that fall on both ends of this spectrum. I have people who lead relatively privileged lives who feel the need to complain about the most minuscule things. And I have people who have been to hell and back and through it again, but they don't ever utter a single complaint. I think meeting the people who fall into the later category have made me reevaluate how I talk about things that are bothering me, or how I look at life in general. And I don't mean it like, "Oh look at this person's crappy life, I should be grateful mine isn't like that." Someone said that too me once and I was a little offended and I didn't know how to respond because that wasn't what I meant at all. It's just made me aware of how reliant I was on this form of outlet, and how easily complaining can be taken advantage of. I do not need to unburden myself of my little problems by whining about them to someone else. I can either keep it to myself, or do something about it. That will always be the case, no matter how big or small the problem.

I guess what I feel toward the people who I'm indicating "have every right to complain, but don't," is a form of admiration. They have mastered or are born knowing something that is very rare - complaining gets you no where so why bother? Yes, talking about your problems and seeking help or guidance or just someone to talk to is one thing and I think everyone should see that as an option, but that's something entirely different.

I think I'm going to be taking a Facebook (a medium where I observe a lot of this groaning and moaning) break soon. I've finally reached the point where more of what I see on there is bothersome than entertaining or informative. I think my time could be better spent elsewhere.