My attempt to do justice to the events of the past week: Part 1

Whew. Time and events and landscapes keep on whizzing by at an amazing velocity without giving me time to document anything. I scramble after them armed with my pen and my paparazzi camera, but it’s too late. They’ve been replaced with new, fresher, and crispier memories.

My last substantial blog entry was a week ago; we have some catching up to do!

We ended up staying in Berkeley for three glorious days mingling with friends from various past lives. After acquainting ourselves with College Ave, Telegraph Rd, Shattuck Ave and the appropriate crossroads, we were ready to tackle the BART. We cruised on the Richmond-Milbrae red line to Embaradero. Immediately lost upon surfacing to street level, we encountered a walking, metallic robot. Giggling, we followed the waterfront. Encountering nothing of interest along that route, we braved the inland wind gusts and the SanFranciscian moody weather. Snuck up on Katie Mellman at Union Square, 007 style. Found a bar with crispy sweet potato fries and happy hour domestics (like Heineken…?) and mused while observing the locals chase after one another with long chains and stroll in front of lightflashing hornblaring firetrucks. With our newfound BART expertise, we traveled to B Lo’s house for Sara RB’s birthday fiesta. Sara had no idea we were coming, but we came prepared with a six-pack and plenty of catching up material. As the night raged, Oberlin students packed the kitchen where we feasted on Cuba’s rice, beans, plantains, chicken, and vegans. Louisa was so kind to drive us all the way back to our buenísima vista apartment on the twisty-road hill.


Very few hours later we were on route to the airport to pick up Nicky and Jon. It was the fourth of July, so a bbq was in my mind. Grilled up a gourmet meal at Mellman’s before heading to the marina. We were still pretty far from the waterfront when the fireworks started, so we started running. Out of breath, I searched and found Harmony "on-pulay" Hazard amidst the crowd of hundreds. Quick catch up with my highschool friend before returning to “The Nest,” where Nate and I took up residence on the floor, surrendering the bed to the travelweary Nicky and Jon.

Saying goodbye to the beautiful Berkeley, we were on the road by 9am, heading south. Our sagging car bounced along, past local fruit stands and colorful license plates. Joshua trees and giant bubbles of rock, here we come!