I had a great first full day in the Bay Area! Well, the morning started out kind of rough, actually. I went downstairs at Asa's place and his landlady greeted me by saying, "Who are you?" No, that's not a typo - I didn't mean to write "how" instead of "who" - that's actually what she said. I explained to her that I was Asa's friend and she immediately started berating me about having parked in her driveway the day before. I was pulling out of the driveway as she was pulling in, and she expressed repeatedly that it was "the worst, just terrible!" and she thought it was very "cavalier" to park in someone's private driveway without their permission. I don't think I've actually ever heard someone use the word cavalier before. She's French, so that probably has something to do with it. Having a mother and grandparents who are non-native English speakers, I know that their word choice can sometimes vary greatly from that of native English speakers. But still, cavalier? I apologized, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. Asa came downstairs and also apologized to the landlady. He thought she was away for the weekend - she usually stays at her house in Palo Alto - so he thought it would be okay for me to park in the driveway. Apparently not. She also told him that if he is going to have friends over, she needs to know in advance. Seriously?! Then she told me that I wasn't allowed to cook anything in the kitchen. I told her she didn't have anything to worry about because I don't know to cook, to which she responded, "Good." Asa needs a new place to live. These are totally unacceptable living conditions for a thirty year old. So, if anyone knows of a room available (not in some crazy old French lady's house!) in Berkeley, please let me know so I can pass the info along to Asa.
First I had breakfast at a diner-like place called "The Original" on Stattuck Street. I had french toast with bananas. It was mediocre at best. I much preferred the french toast at the Union League Club. Not only was the actual french toast really yummy at the Union League Club, but it came with warm maple syrup. Since my dad's from Vermont, we always had maple syrup in the house. I just got used to it and now I can't use any other kind. They just don't taste right.
After breakfast, I rode my bike around Berkeley. So cute! I really like it here. It seems like a great place to go to school. While I was riding around, I definitely caught a few whiffs of people smoking pot. I forgot to mention in my post yesterday that I saw a huge billboard on the side of the highway advertising low-cost medical marijuana evaluations. I don't know why California even bothers making people get evaluations. You can get a prescription for marijuana if you have problems with anxiety. Who doesn't have problems with anxiety? We're in a recession! Everyone's stressed! Apparently they're making a lot of money from tax revenue. Great! Maybe if they legalized pot everywhere they could actually pay for universal healthcare and bailouts and then the economy would be fixed and no one would suffer from anxiety anymore and then people wouldn't even need to smoke pot. Or maybe they would. Whatever, who cares?
On a less progressive note, I also saw a heinous bumper sticker that said:
Uncle Sam wants YOU!
TO SPEAK ENGLISH
I agree that immigrants should learn to speak English, mostly because a basic command of English is required in order to become a US citizen, but also because it makes them more attractive to employers and it will just make living in this country easier for them. The bumper sticker makes it sound like non-English speakers sit around and refuse to learn English. Maybe if more Americans tried to learn to speak languages other than English, they would see how challenging it is to learn another language. And it would help them communicate with the rest of the world, but that's a separate issue.
Back to my day in Berkeley -
After my bike ride, I went to the Berkeley Public Library. They have free wifi and more importantly, they have air conditioning. It was so hot! It was in the 80s and most places don't have AC. I spent almost all afternoon at the library. I updated my blog and downloaded a couple audio books on to my computer - Brave New World and Beloved, read by Toni Morrison herself. Score. I was really disappointed that the library didn't have any comfy places to sit. I mean, not even any padded chairs. What's up with that? Even DC public libraries have padded chairs. Well, maybe not the libraries that look like extra-large phone booths, but those things are ridiculous and Fenty is in the process of shutting them down and building real libraries. I bet Marion Barry is responsible for those things.
Then I went back to Asa's and lay down on the floor with a cold, wet paper towel on my face to recover from the uphill bike ride from downtown to his house.
Then I took my regularly scheduled afternoon nap.
In the evening, Asa and I met up with my friends, Sarat and Andrea, whom I know from TFA. They were both 2002 Corps Members. Sarat and I actually taught at the same school, Port Houston Elementary, the most wonderful little school in America. Sarat taught 4th grade and was the technology coordinator and I taught 1st through 6th grade special ed resource and was the special ed department chair. You gotta love when teachers with only one year of teaching experience are given leadership positions at a school. You gotta love it even more when they do a better job than most educators with 30 years experience. Our friend, Reid Whitaker, who also taught with us at Port Houston, is now the school's principal and is responsible for bringing the school to exemplary status. He's amazing. I am biased, but it also happens to be true. Check out what the Houston Chronicle has to say. If you're still not convinced, check out these other links.
Anyway, Sarat is now a college counselor at Sacramento High School and Andrea is a Public Defender in Richmond, CA. Sarat is also studying for the MCAT and plans to apply to med school eventually. They're also engaged to be married, but haven't picked a date yet.
Sarat, Andrea, Asa and I went to this funny place in Berkeley called The Missouri Lounge. They had an hour wait for food, so we just stayed for one drink and then ate elsewhere. With menu items like this, it's easy to understand why there was such a long wait. You've gotta check out the Fatty Melt. I feel sick just thinking about it. Asa was pretty disappointed that he didn't get to have one.
We had a great time at dinner. Then we just went home and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Yesterday I spent the day in San Francisco. Asa and I took the bart into the city. He went to study and I wandered around the city. Here's a photo we took before we parted ways:
San Francisco was great. It was also really hot. I had lunch in Yerba Buena Gardens, where they were having a concert celebrating the music of New Orleans and then I went to the farmers' market at the Ferry Building.
The San Francisco Bay from the Ferry Building
After that, I met up with Sarat and Andrea in the Mission District. First we browsed the shops. Here's a cute doggy I met at a shop called Ruby. The shop was named after her. I was very excited when I heard that and told the owner that Ruby was also my car's name.
Ruby
Then we had dinner at Taqueria Cancun, which my friend Emily recommended. She did TFA in San Francisco, so she's an expert on the Bay Area. I need to go get started with my day now.
Take care!
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