| | I have been living in San Diego for around 4 months now, and have begun hammering at my PHD. In fact, I am now a resident (citizen) of the REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA, a state governed by yes, the terminator. In fact, as the post title suggests, I find the vibe exuded in any chili peppers album, particularly Californication, to be eerily like the life I observe around me. Yes it's that good, and that bad.
California is MUCH different than the east coast, in many ways more different than some countries (for example, canada and the US). Here's a picture of my dorms (I live on Campus) at the University of California, San Diego. Note that the leaves are still changing on this tree and it has half its leaves left. - I just took this picture today- in January. Autumn is still here and spring is around the corner. Also note the volleyball net in front of my front door...very nice.
sorry this pic isn't tilted right...
A nice view of the valley below; San diego has quite a nice set of valleys.
The dorm has a nice view of the valley below; San diego has quite a nice set of valleys. Here's sunset @ the localest social beach.
La Jolla Cove- down the hill from my university.
Most notably, everything is car-centered. this was also the case in texas and in other western states. Despite a lot of rhetoric about environmentalism (including the states progressive environmental emissions trading, for example) many californians still seem to nave little knowledge of pollution reduction or recycling.
Also notably is a vague hippie air, which manifests itself in euclyptis trees, copies of Weed World at the newsstand, a generally very relaxed vibe, etc. However, I fail to see many vegetarian food options or environmentally friendly practices; and conversely I see an abundance of consumerism that at least parallels if not exceeds the east coast.
Most notably is the weather. Yes I still wear sandals half the time now in January; some people still wear shorts; I certainly still run in a t-shirt and when the sun comes out, which is basically every day, winter sunburn can be a problem...it happened to me just 3 days ago...
The sea breeze make it indeed paradisiac, its winter and smells like hawaii. The water is cold, but you can see the ocean from my department, and so anytime work gets to be too much a walk outside into fresh air and sunshine is a great retreat.
Being a desert on the edge of the ocean means the mediterranean climate meats a sort of tropical vibe with cool nights...its pretty ideal.
Here are a few pics of my university, and city. This spaceship like thing on my campus is geisel library. theodore Geisel is Dr Seuss. There are seuss statues (including a cat in the hat), reading rooms, etc as seuss and is wife were big donors to the university and lived just down the road...they decided not to give to Dartmouth, his alma mater, as dartmouth told him to stop doing so much cartooning- which is why he took the pen name seuss to disguise himself...and barely graduated to then create green eggs and ham.
Mexico is also just a 20 minute drive away so its easy to stop on in...at least until passports are required to come back, which is supposed to be implemented soon. I have been twice from San Diego, which along with 2 trips from Rice and my trip this summer with Liz to the Caribbean Yucatan and Chiapas, means I've seen a fair amount of Mexico. My spanish is barely passable but gets the job done...
the last chance you have to go back...
pic: sunset from Rosarito, mexico
I also had a chance to visit san francisco and berkeley (as well as LA once more), which have a slightly less vapid atmosphere than SoCal, (SoCal is LA and its trillion suburbs and San diego county), is noted for its plastic surgeries and Right political leanings while NorCal, i.e. the San Francisco bay area, supposedly has a left leaning vibe.
I found this to be true to a small degree on my 4-day visit there; indeed in berkeley there are a bunch of hippies in trees protesting and that sort of thing, and more bookshops, thrift shops, etc. I think that SoCal is more materialistic than NOrCal is non-materialistic...i.e. the emphasis on appearance on appearance and money in the south here is bad, and its average in the bay... nothing beats the midwest for down-to earth...thrift store t-shirts still cost 15 bucks in berkeley...and theres a 7-storey shopping mall in san francisco.
My casual grubby style is indeed more en vogue in NorCal than SoCal ( and moreso in SoCal than the East coast, of course) . So here I rock it by the UC sign- this is at UC-berkeley, the first university of california...now there are 10 or so UC's...a beanie or north face coat are not necessary at UC- san diego
but prices are high in San Francisco and there is a very commerical air about the place, perhaps like any big city, but I though it to be perhaps a little worse even, especially given my expectations about a green/ left leaning establishment...nonetheless, its a nice, cold place. San diego may have less personality but it also has more sun and less wind, esp in december!
Saheel is training for a Marathon so we went on a run across the golden gate bridge ( see background) and back.
Interesting Graffiti in Los Angeles. Real grit. I love america's 3 biggest cities (LA, NY, Chicago) more than San francisco, but all of them have their charms. San francisco is probably the prettiest but since I saw if from a context of already living in California, some of the luster wasn't as impressive...
Went on a hike in muir woods to see some coastal redwoods, the tallest creatures on the planet.
  
These are pics from golden gate park, san francisco's even bigger version of Central Park. These in particular are the japanese tea garden. yes my pose is offensive in that pic. much lake many of my posts, sorry...
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| | Posted 1/7/2008 3:57 PM - 212 views - 1 comments
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