SCHOOL... AUGH

Orientation is over. I was really sick of it by Friday... so much information and stuff to absorb. I tried to deal with everything they gave us but I fear I'm actually just pretending most of it didn't exist. Our professors extolled us to give school our complete attention, told us we should be reading every spare second, and ALSO that we should start working on our resumes, looking for internships, etc. All of it is one part motivating and one part... holy hell, overwhelming. I guess it'll be better when I have constant contact with my professors through class and hopefully they'll remind us of what we're supposed to be doing.

Yesterday we went SURFING in Santa Cruz! It was my first time. The neighbours that live behind us, Michael and Dave, took us out and hooked us up with rental boards and wetsuits. The water was lovely and cold and I had a great time just paddling around and riding in the occasional wave. (On my knees.) We started at a beginners' beach and the waves disappeared after a while, so we decided to try our luck somewhere else. As Amy was climbing up the slippery concrete steps to get out of the water, a few waves came and knocked her around a bit. She hit her back on the stairs and sliced a couple of her toes. First casualty of the day! We got pizza at Pleasure Point Pizza (frickin' AMAZING) and then went to "The Hook", where Amy stayed out of the water and took pictures from above.

At The Hook we got to see two otters up close, and watch huge pelicans swoop over the water. It was really cool to be near wildlife like that. Unfortunately, there weren't too many waves at that place either and way too many surfers trying to grab them. Finally Dave and Nick tried for the same wave, bailed, got caught up in the whitewash, and Nick got his face beat up with a surfboard fin. He came out bleeding hard with two huge gashes in his left cheek, a small fracture in his jaw and a chipped tooth. We spent a few hours at the hospital getting him stitched up and X-rayed and then drove back home to Monterey. Amy and I got some groceries and meds for him, and he's been drugged up since. It looks pretty ugly - pictures will come eventually. (Probably on Facebook.)

Today we went to the Jewish Food Festival in Carmel. It was sunny, there was music, and there was lots of good food to try. When we got back, though, we kind of fell into a Sunday funk - uuugh not ready for school to start. Or maybe too ready? Either way it's time to get this semester started and see what comes of it. Wish me luck!

I just woke up from a horrible dream. I was travelling, but I couldn't enjoy it because I realized that somewhere along the way in the confusion with buses, I had lost my duffel bag. HOW could I lose it? Where could it be? ........ I was so relieved to wake up and realize I don't even own a duffel bag. I am so tired of worrying about losing stuff... and so glad I'm stuck in one place for awhile. Haha! I'm such a nerd.

Two weeks have passed since I got here. Weather: every day it's cloudy with a fine mist falling in the morning, breaking into sun at noon and through the afternoon, and then by evening it's back to the mist. Activities: buying stuff to move myself in (I now love Target), reading, watching tv, running every morning, hearing Amy complain about her mandatory economics boot camp. We also have already hosted one potluck and one beer pong party (the latter took place last night). I had never played or even seen a game of beer pong, so thank God for second graduate degrees to make up for lost opportunities.

Orientation starts on Monday. We have a group meeting with our academic advisor and then hopefully I get to register for classes! The rest of the week looks to be pretty uneventful, except for a 3-hour-long "community-building session" on Tuesday that smacks of icebreakers and pointless getting-to-know-you activities. I guess MIIS is smaller than the average university so there actually is a good chance I'll run into these people again, but still. Please don't make me play games.

And I'm off to slack off another Saturday! Wish me luck.

run run run

Hey everyone, yep that's right, I find myself in beautiful but cloudy Monterey, California.

My new roommate Amy picked me up from the Monterey airport on Saturday and took me to my new house, which is rooooockin'! Haha... it really is a very nice house, especially compared to what I was used to from Spain this year. Spacious kitchen, big living room with space for a couch, two comfy chairs, a bookshelf and a dining table; it even has a fireplace, where we've been having fires regularly since I got here. Amy even bought an axe and has been splitting our wood into kindling. (She's from Michigan.)

Amy has the room at the front of the house; between her room and mine further back is the bathroom (also spacious, with tub :D); then comes the kitchen and finally the back hall and Nick (roommate who should show up in a couple weeks, also from Michigan)'s room at the back of the house. The past few days have been full of errand-running: there's always all kinds of things to buy when you move to a new place. I got nice speakers for my computer :D Finally....

Yesterday we went for a drive along the coastline, and man is it cool. The landscape here is kind of low and scrubby with hills and short gnarled trees that I'm not familiar with, but that burst with bright-coloured flowers. The shore is rocky and full of seaweed, and sea lions sun themselves on the rocks. Gorgeous.

Monterey itself spooked me a little bit the first night I was here. Everything is picture-perfect, spotless and landscaped, with expensive signs marking the various historical landmarks of Monterey (the old jail is across from my house). It's a little bit like a fairytale town. And everyone is freakishly (to borrow Jocelyne's word) nice here. And I mean freakish. Amy and I are hoping our Brita filter gets rid of whatever those people are obviously contaminated with here. ....

This morning I went for a run on the recreational trail that starts out at a picturesque wharf and eventually starts running beside Cannery Row, which is a street that served as the setting for John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannery_Row_(novel)

All in all it's a great place to run, the trail is very well kept up and it's great to run beside the ocean again. I hope the weather will permit further activity!

I've been sleeping on the couch for two nights now but today Amy and I picked up a queen-size mattress and box-spring from a MIIS alumna for my lovely bedroom :) Of course I have no sheets or blankets yet, but...

Tons of stuff to do still with the university. I looked at course schedules tonight and came up with a possible timetable for myself that looks very comfortable indeed - no Fridays for possibly the first time in my university career. Not sure when I'll be able to actually register though... oh so much excitement. Haha.

I don't have a bike yet but once I do and it's sunny out, you better believe I'll be out taking pictures. Can't wait to show you guys this place...

Monterey or bust!

Laura's idiocy of the week: not making sure her papers were in order.

So back when I was in San Sebastian, I got some important papers from MIIS (my new university) proving that I was going to be attending their school in the fall. Admissions letter, scholarship letter, I-20 (proof that I've accepted the offer and can pay for going to school there). Without these documents I can't get into the States to live. So of course I packed these special documents away in a special place. . . and lost them.

The worst part is not that I lost the very important documents, but that I didn't notice until yesterday. I'm leaving tomorrow bright and early in the morning to drive down to Edmonton with my brother and his girlfriend. (We arrive in Edmonton on Saturday and I fly out from there; I should be in Monterey at 5pm or so.) Of course, being in Yellowknife means that it takes two days for any expedited delivery to arrive from the States. So there was no way the documents could arrive here in time for me to leave. Dammmn.

Coincidentally, however, my aunt that lives in Calgary was coming up to Edmonton this weekend, and Calgary just happens to be a major enough city for things to be able to arrive within a day. So. . . a lot of excitement happened yesterday, what with calling the school and asking them pretty please to send my documents to my aunt's address who would meet me in Edmonton on Saturday right before I flew out. My mom was not pleased, I can tell you that.

Lessons learned? Double-check shit. I thought I learned that when I missed the train from San Sebastian to Barcelona to meet my parents and had to arrange through text messages with Perki a flight that evening from Bilbao. . . all because I just didn't double-check the time of the train. Idiot. But I guess I didn't, because here I am again getting myself in a bad situation. (I know Janzen is just going to be rolling her eyes at this one.)

I swear, guys! I try! I don't know how I lose things! I don't know why really, really important things just slip my mind! All I want is to get to Monterey safely, and the good people at MIIS will take care of me from there.

Oh and good news - my future (in two days) roommate Amy found us (me, her and this guy Nick from Michigan) a house a block from campus. I am just going to be glad to have somewhere to dump my stuff. I'm tired of packing and re-packing. . . the time has come for a little rest.

Monterey or bust!