Snowglobe City!

I haven't updated in this at all since I got to London!  Wow, I don't even know where to begin!  

London is a wonderous city, everyday I wake up and feel like I live in a snowglobe.  Either that, or a Dickens' novel!

All I've ever heard about London is the bad weather, the everlasting clouds, the gloom and doom.  So when I got here, I was pleasantly surprised! Out of the 2.5 months I've been here, I'd say it has only rained probably a third of the time!  Also the rain is sporadic and light, not like the incessant downpours that last for days in New York.  And it makes your day so much brighter when you spot the sun, because you KNOW when it rains, the next day is going to reward you with a bright, cloudless blue sky :]

It also helps that the air is crisp and fresh, and you feel cleaner just breathing into the wind.  And the SEASONS!  I got to see the beginning of autumn stretch into winter, also known as Christmas season!  Those Brits really LOVE Christmas!  Every city puts up decorations, every store is decked out in red, green, and gold, Christmas lights line the streets, and there are winter festivals and fairs every weekend celebrating families, licorice, mulled wine, and spiced ornaments. It really puts you in the perfect holiday mood :]

The weather does get chilly, but I would say I am now about 90% adapted to the weather.  While I was in New York, 50 was cold.  40 was chilly.  30 was UNBEARABLE.  Now, I'm ok to go jogging in 20 degree weather (high 20's mind you)!  Maybe the cold here isn't as 'cold' as it is in the States?

London is a city on the go.  I thought New Yorkers were quick pedestrians, but Londoners are like walking bullets.  How do they move their legs so quickly?!? It's a mystery!  It's probably because they are all lean and long-legged.  I am averaged height in London, whereas I was perpetually a giant in any setting in the States.  It's nice :] They are also graceful at walking quickly too, not like New Yorkers who ram you with their shoulders, giant shopping bags, or their 8 year olds.

Like any city (besides West Coast cities), Londoners feed off packaged food.  I thought New York was bad, with their deli shops and make-your-own salad ingredients sitting out for days... in London, sandwich-in-a-box rule all meals. Or sushi-in-a-box.  Pret-a-manger, Wasabi, Eat, and Itzu are just a few establishments (technically not restaurants) where you can stuff a sandwich in your mouth before zoning back into bullet mode up the streets.  There are virtually no McDonalds or fast food of the unhealthy kind.  If you stay away from the fried pub food, you will probably generally be healthier than your average Mid-Westerner.  Not that prawn sandwiches drenched in mayo sauce is all that great for you either... All grocery stores sell sandwich boxes or fruit boxes or salad boxes or any other edible in a box, as well.  And I have now been educated in the hierarchy of London markets, from cheapest to fanciest: Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer, and Waitrose. And while it's strange to see someone eating a meal alone in Los Angeles, the majority of people eat their meals alone, with a book or paper in front of them.

Which is another thing I've noticed about London: prevalence of literacy!  I have no idea as to what UK's actual literacy rate is, but from what I've observed, I'd say as a city itself, London's verbal score on the SAT's would probably kick LA's score in the ass. Everywhere you look, from the moment you step on the subway or 'tube' as they call it, people are reading... that's right... newspapers!  This is a sight hard to spot in Los Angeles, and even New York, as you can't really read on the subway when your face is rammed against a guy's red pleather Ecko jacket, and there's mysterious brown liquid on the floor of the train that is slowly dripping onto your shoe. London's underground system is actually kept in a well enough condition that you don't have to feel like you're taking a bath in smog, dirt, 500 viruses, and rat poop every time you get on. You can read a variety of papers, some of which are FREE and high quality... almost everyone does read some sort of publication or other on the tube!

And about the subway system, there are DEFINITELY no rats, and NO trash even though there are also NO trashcans!  How is that possible?!  CCTVs.  CCTVs are video cameras installed EVERYWHERE.  Big brother, anyone?  Well at least you know you're safe (even if you're being watched).  If you get robbed, they will be able to find a taping of it.  Hence, low crime rates! Stringent gun control laws!  NO ONE is able to own a gun, not even cops carry a gun, and it is almost impossible to buy one.  The effectiveness of gun-control is evident in the extremely low murder rates in the UK. ahem *hint hint US*

And don't forget the history, culture, and literature!  Free museums!  Cheap theater!  George Orwell, Virginia Woolfe, Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Agatha Cristie, and of course Shakespeare are just a few of the geniuses who lived and wrote in this city, and about this city! It's displayed everywhere, with coffee shops named Prufrock, pubs named William Blake, restaurants named Byron.  Also, people are really passionate about their drinking here! It's embedded in the culture, and I'm almost positive that alcohol replaces edible dinners at least four times a week for an average Londoner.  People grab drinks after class, after work, after a museum exhibit, before a movie, after a movie, after a jog in the park, catching up with friends, catching up with family... you get the gist!

BUT they still remember their greenspace, as Angelenos seem to have forgotten and have deferred to completely decimating anything remotely green that isn't Griffith Park, with concrete.  Hampstead Heath, Regent's Park, Hyde Park, St. James' Park, and Richmond Park, are just a few of the beauties that London has managed to preserve and allow to flourish.  And it's not like a park in LA terms where huge sections of grass are blocked off and neatly trimmed for little league baseball and soccer games.  In these parks, meadows brim with wild flowers, foliage roams overhead,  ducks and giant swans call the ponds home, and you actually can't see from one end of a walking path to the other.  Luckily for me, I am a 5 minute's jog from Hampstead Heath, one of the largest and most gorgeous parks in London!

And yes, I have gotten lost in there at night jogging on my own, and yes, it is like being trapped in a dark, scary, enchanted forest and I'm pretty sure I ran past a zombie.

And the last (but definitely not least) reason why the UK is superior... PUBLIC HEALTHCARE.

I have fallen in love with this city!  It's pretty easy to love (even though my heater broke for a week and I had to sleep with four sweaters, and plumbing in my apartment could stand an upgrade). It is like a European San Francisco, a mix of the space, sprawl, and higher living standards of Los Angeles, with the buzz, pace, and culture of New York.  And on top of that, scones and British accents!

Lovely :]

El Salvador Dos!

And you thought I wouldn't!  I'm trying to catch up on these travel posts, since I always procrastinate and then forget all about them :]

The 2nd part of our time in El Salvador was spent at La Libertad, which is a port city near the middle of El Salvador, as well as Las Flores, the eastern part of the country also known for good surf waves!  The beach at La Libertad isn't too pretty to look at (note hobo sitting on the bench).  Not sure if I've said this before, but El Salvador is a pretty small country compared to most other ones in Central America, and you can probably travel through it extensively in about a week and a half!  To give you an idea, it is about the same size as New Jersey or New Hampshire... less than 5% the size of California!

We met up with one of Mike's friend who is also from Los Angeles and he came down to El Salvador just to catch the amazing swell!  Mike's friend introduced us to the nicest El Salvadorian you will ever meet, Mauricio in the yellow tank, who is the most considerate, kindest, happiest soul... and an AMAZING surfer as well!

In Las Flores, we stayed at a place called La Tortuga Verde, which was an eco-lodge / turtle sanctuary!  The owner saves a lot of wild animals, including the billions of dogs scattered around the streets of El Salvador, stray pelicans that are hurt, as well as grown turtles.  He also buys turtle eggs from people who steal and sell them, and helps the baby turtles hatch, and then releases them!  Very cool :)

Look at how tiny these newborn turtles are!!! I tried to include the coffee cup in the picture for comparison!  I'm not a fanatic of turtles, but newborn baby turtles?!?! Come on, it could even melt the heart of a cyborg :)

The owner of the eco-lodge, Tom, happens to be an American who runs his own television station in El Salvador.  This meant he spent a lot of time filming his animal-saving escapades.  One morning, he even took a couple of us around on his boat and gave us a tour of all the private islands and bays in this one secluded area. The intention was to catch some waves, but we ended up at this bay where waves were non-existent... so we spent the day swimming!

There was no one else at the bay except one single restaurant with one person working there.

We also went kayaking down a river with crocodiles... luckily for us they sleep in the day time!  We did feel one swim right under our kayak though... scary!!!

We were able to arrange for a boat ride to Nicaragua, rather than the usual strenuous bus route in a "chicken bus" or trambilla, just like the one that rammed into our rental truck, so named because they are also used to transport live animals.  They look like large, colorfully decorated hummer buses!  Buses are particularly a hassle because to get to Nicaragua by bus, it usually involves a stop through a small strip of Honduras, which means more time wasted a Customs.

Going by boat, though, was not much better.  First we had to wade through a port covered in sludge and mud, trash and sewage amongst other things I'd rather not think about... with all our luggage in tow.  We traveled with a French couple we met at La Tortuga Verde, Alex and Gwenn, who were WONDERFUL and extremely experienced backpackers.  They make me look like an amateur!

Alex was the only one brave enough to not get off the cart... he waded through the mud barefoot and said it was definitely one of the most disgusting things he's done in his lifetime.  The man dragging us literally has the worst job in the universe... the mud and gunk doesn't look that bad here but further out it goes up to your waist... YUCK!!!

We then rode on a delivery boat that turned out to be carrying cargo to a remote island near nicaragua.  The people living on this island had NOTHING.  Not even fresh drinking water, which had to be delivered by this boat.  And in exchange, our boat got to have fresh, giant dead fish dumped into the sitting area.  YAYE!

We finally got to Nicaragua after about a 5-6 hour journey, which isn't bad at all by backpacking standards, and got to our hostel about 3 hours later.  Nicaragua is filled with adventures, surprisingly even more so than El Salvador!  It's one of those magical places that I know I will return to and continue to explore over and over again... 

but that's a post for another day!  

GOOD BYE, EL SALVADOR!  GOOD BYE, COWS ON THE BEACH!

El Salvador!

This summer has been filled with trips and excursions, and countless opportunities for traveling!  I've been hopping around so much that I am ashamed to say, it took me a while to remember everywhere I've been for the past 3 months!

The most memorable, momentous, and remarkable trip I've taken this year is definitely the two weeks in El Salvador and Nicaragua.  I hadn't planned too much for this trip because of all the other things that were happening throughout the summer.  My expectations also weren't especially high because I had originally wanted to go to South America instead of Central America (it will happen one day!), but timing and funds didn't allow for that so Mike got his dream beach/surf vacation.

It turns out, though, Central America has some of the most beautiful and wondrous sights I've ever imagined possible in my life!  I thought this trip would be too similar to Costa Rica, but it was better in almost every way!  El Salvador is literally Costa Rica 10 years ago... pristine beaches, minimal tourists, almost no sign of mass commercialism anywhere!  Perfection.

Cows, horses, dogs, and chickens running out onto the road while you are driving, almost no street lamps on the roads, fresh and free range chicken and beef, pure fruit juice... country living!

Along with some crazy things happening, like having our rental truck rammed into by a giant public bus in El Salvador, and Mike's surf board snapping in half from a huge wave while surfing, we also met some really amazing people throughout the entire 2 weeks :]

I will probably have to split up everything that happened into three different posts, just to give merit to all the amazing things that happened!

For the first 4 days we drove up and down the El Salvador coastline and checked out almost every single beach.  The first night we arrived we stayed at Playa Sunzal, which has one of the best surfs purportedly in all of El Salvador!  It was perfect for me and Mike because there was a point break where the waves were larger and rougher, and beach breaks which are milder for me to practice on!

Playa Sunzal is actually slightly ugly and touristy (well toursity for El Salvador), one of the least physically appealing beaches we came across... it is surfer heaven though, because all the surf bros come here to catch some consistent waves and then listen to reggae in bars catered to surfer bros :]

One of the BEST KEPT SECRETS of El Salvador is Mizata Point Resort.  Mizata Point is heaven, and so far the resort is the only place to stay in the area because El Salvador is so undeveloped.  It was only built in April and almost nobody knows about it yet, which means the beach is basically YOURS while you are here.

The man who owns this place is George, and he is originally from San Diego.  He traveled all throughout Central America and decided to build here, and used to work in construction and was a landscape architect, and designed and over saw the entire construction process himself!

Him and his wife and two kids live here, and they cook their guests dinners and sometimes other meals, and it is DELICIOUS!!! this place is one of the few in El Salvador with running hot water. and George is seriously one of the kindest people we met throughout the entire trip.  He is so warm and friendly, and genuinely wants his guests to feel welcomed!

Mike broke his surf board surfing at Mizata Point. When I first saw his board I thought it had slammed into a rock and snapped, but it was actually the impact of a ginormous wave that crushed it!  I didn't even know waves could do that!  A lot of surfers were in El Salvador at the time because supposedly one of the biggest swells in 5-10 years was coming, and the waves were going to be SO SICK DUDE. I don't really get the whole surfing thing. As long as I can see more giant turtles and not drown in 4 ft of water, I'm good :) 

We befriended the security guard because we came back so late every night and he had to open the gates for us. Basically everything closes when the sun sets. He carries around a giant machete and a rifle (no joke) every night even though he is the most timid and soft-spoken man in the world :) I can't imagine him using that thing.  It is more of a deterrent, almost every household and security guard for any type of establishment carries a machete and a gun!

We also befriended this guy who works on George's property, his name is Chico and he does everything imaginable!  He looks slightly shady here in this picture like he is going to steal your wallet, but he is EXTREMELY friendly and considerate!  He went surfing with Mike almost every day, and is an AMAZING surfer and swimmer!

One night he even woke us up at midnight so that we could see a turtle come onto the beach to lay its eggs! Him and a bunch of his friends were waiting for the turtle to lay its eggs so that they could steal it and sell it (sad reality).  People eat them as an aphrodisiac, but lately turtle reserves across El Salvador have been buying up turtle eggs for more than they're worth on the market, in order to save them and release them back into the ocean. Chico's friends were planning to sell them to the reserves anyway, so all is well in the world! There were barnacles growing on this giant grandma turtle!

We also went on another hike to Coatepeque Caldera, an active volcano! We weren't able to walk right up to the crater and look down, but we got to do that in Nicaragua :)

Along the hike up, we stood under the spot where two gigantic trees of completely differing species entwine each other at the top.  The story behind it is that if a couple stands under the trees and they are not truly in love, they will not survive..... yikes!

Afterwards we went swimming in Lake Coatepeque, an AMAZING volcanic lake formed by Coatepeque Caldera with hot springs all around it. It started raining and there was lightning all around the volcano... it was GORGEOUS :) Naturally we went swimming AFTER the lightning stopped... We were only able to access the lake because we ate at the only public restaurant there, otherwise all the land around it is privately owned.  

The water was around 80 degrees, which was slightly colder than the ocean in El Salvador, and that's extremely warm for Angelenos but Chico was FREEZING! Hilarious :)

On a different day, we also went hiking in Parque Nacional El Imposible, and met this amazing El Salvadorian couple that we ended up having dinner with!  They spoke English extremely well, which is rare for El Salvadorians, and the husband is a writer and translator, and his wife works for USAID!  Their work sounds so fascinating, and they were absolutely lovely and wonderful! All the parks and volcanoes in El Salvador require guides because they are so unexplored and untouched, and sometimes the guides even need to use their machetes to pave the path!  Our guide carried a machete the whole way!

We didn't see any pumas but we did see this giant dung beetle, and a flesh eating plant! As well as lots and lots of vultures and hawks.

That was the first 4 days of our vacation. The rest is yet to come :] 

Me encanta El Salvador!!!

PURA VIDA!

So I am almost 2 months late in posting this, but that is what happens when you are living life and it decides not to give you any down time.

Costa Rica was a bit touristy of a choice for me for a spring break destination, but I wanted rainforests and Mike wanted beaches, so we compromised!  Where I really wanted to be at was SOUTH AMERICA!  But I guess I will allocate at least a couple months for an epic-ness like that in the future!

And actually, Costa Rica turned out to be pretty epic!

I learned how to surf! Our surfing instructor was amazing!!! I didn't even know how to swim and yet he somehow managed to teach me how to stand up on the board (before Mike MUAHAHHA).  He was from France and said he moved here because he loved the people and the "Pura vida" life style!  That approach to life is really amazing and respectable :] but personally, I think it also crosses too closely to a fine line that could evolve into "I'm just enjoying my beer on the beach with the gorgeous sunset and... woah! I guess I've been sitting here on the same hammock for the past 8 years, how'd that happen?! Oh well *sips beer*'  That approach was all too common while backpacking through Southeast Asia.

We ate A TON of fresh fruit, every single day!  Mangoes in Costa Rica are RIDICULOUS.  The local fruit there tastes like sweet, sweet crack.  Like how local apples taste from New York! And I'm pretty sure I ate an entire gigantic watermelon all by myself for lunch one day.  Maybe multiple meals.

We also canoed down a river with a guide, who had eyes of a hawk and pointed out the craziest animals along the river to us! Like Spider Monkeys and Howler Monkeys and a whole bunch of different birds... apparently Costa Rica has one of the most diverse species of birds in the world!  I even saw a Macaw!!! And a bunch of vultures eating a dead caiman!

Tons of beaches, Arenal Volcano, Baldi hot springs (AHHH-mazing!!! if you don't mind bathing in water that 500 other ppl have been in), cloud reserves, and sky bridges were soooo amazing... I've always wanted to visit a rainforest ever since playing Amazon Trail, and after this trip it just makes we want to get lost in the Amazon forever and ever and trade cacao with some natives for malaria medicine :]

I'm too lazy to type out all the details but it was such a fun trip!  Costa Rica is the perfect place if you want a one stop shop for all the outdoors-y stuff you could want in a vacation!

 PURVA VIDA!

It's nearing my last month in New York

Will I ever live here again?  I truly hope so.

New York is absolutely drop dead gorgeous.  It's an experience, one of the most beautiful ones I've ever been lucky enough to go through.  Full of odd ends, cacophonous sounds, grimy sights, and overload of senses that somehow manages to captivate and overwhelm you at the same time... and just when you think the claustrophobia is going to drive you insane, winter rolls around and Christmas lights, holiday markets, and tourists sipping hot apple cider, draws you in and makes you feel like you're living in a snow globe.  And when springtime brings cherry blossoms into full bloom, you might even overlook the rats crawling around the disgusting, rickety MTA.

Honestly, it still amazes me that Times Square hasn't exploded from a huge power outage.

My time in New York was shorter than I thought it would be.  In fact, I will not even have been here for a full year.  I feel like I was just beginning to make my dent here, find my comfort zone, set up camp.  My daily coffee at the nearby market, my weekly runs through Central Park and Riverside Park, my frequent stops to Columbia's farmer's markets, my favorite study spots around campus, the freshest deli within walking distance... barely established before I have to leave it all.

Since I first stepped foot in NYC almost 3 years ago after graduating from UCLA, I knew I would live here someday.  The smells, sounds, lights, chaos, people, dynamism... unreal.  I fell in love.  There is literally no other city like this on the planet.

Some days when I walk around this city and look up at towering, gleaming buildings jutting against the sky and the determined, rapid strides of true New Yorkers, I feel like I've got the streets, the rhythms, the movements ingrained in my bloodstream.  I was born to live here.  Other times when the days are long and I'm packed in a subway train next to seemingly emotionless urban drones, I reminisce about the warm ocean breeze and laid back coffee shops in LA, and this thing I used to know called "personal space" and "people not ramming into you every 5 steps".

Next year I'll be in London.  London is a city I've always loved and appreciated, but never imagined I would live in one day.  New York is fast and dirty and tough and quick, with rough edges that are so familiar to me.  London is a piece of delicate china, with 'look but don't touch' written all over it, ringing bells of tea time and dandys and pocket watches and finger-sandwiches.  Oh and, popped collars.

When I looked into the future a few years ago, I saw skyscrapers and smog, and the Brooklyn Bridge pressed against the Manhattan skyline.  I thought I would be in New York for at least the next 3 to 4 years.  With that plan uprooted, now when I look into the future, I'm not really sure exactly what I see.  It could be Piccadilly Circus. It could also be me eating a Bratwurst during Oktoberfest in Germany. It could be doing fieldwork in Madagascar.  It could be looking over sand dunes in Morocco.  It could be anything... it could be everything!

My time at SIPA has taught me not to limit my sights, not to settle on any horizon, and not to become too comfortable with a single plan, because those can easily be overturned.  While leaving New York is certainly slightly saddening, I'm excited to make my mark in a new place, a new circumstance, create a new picture for the future with everything I've learned here.  There was a time when I thought the world was at my fingertips, and since SIPA, that world has exploded ten-fold.  In fact, I'm pretty sure our atlas couldn't possibly have mapped everything in this world.

I'm not sure where I'll be 2 years from now... and 5 years from now?  Unfathomable.  I was recently asked that question during an interview. I was completely stumped and made something indiscernible up... I still can't recall exactly what I said, and I don't attempt to prepare an answer for that question if I ever get asked that in the future.  It takes 5 years to answer a question like that!

I can make plans, set sights, settle down... but regardless, life will ignore it all and open doors to the most unlikely places.  If I get too comfortable in one spot, I might just have my head buried when that doorway opens up.

That door can lead to places I can't even imagine.  It can be good, it can be bad... it will definitely be unexpected, and it may even be life changing.

And isn't that the best part?