Suns Out, Guns Out

Sunday, last day to explore SD so I decided to go to Coronado, due to it's beauty, repertoire, and to of course scratch it off my list. This is better known as "Rich People Island".  Beach clothes on, burrito in hand, I was ready to go!  After scoring parking, I walked around town to get a sense. You know you have reached military Coronado when you see this on a house:

What better way to get acquainted than to check out the Visitors Center & Museum?  Plus, I had no idea how to get to the beach and I didn't want to look like a tourist.  Interesting stuff in there, I believe to the bottom right you will see the first version of foodstamps (almost a historic Mecca for AmeriCorps VISTAs)

Most of the items in here were from the military during WWII and I talked to an older Gentlemen from Wisconsin who said he remembers a bit of this time period (he was 6 during WWII). We had a good conversation about wars, military, and my job and then parted ways.  I strutted on down to the beach in excitement and upon arriving realized I had no suit on.  I found the bathroomn - ok we are in business.  This bathroom was dirty, but not nearly as bad as the bathrooms at Pacific Beach - with an inch of pee and toilet paper water on the floor, which I then dumped the contents of my clutch wallet into. And left my flip flops in.

Beautiful Coronado Beach - Rest of Island in the distance

Reading about Surfing Mishaps & Sharks

Rules, we don't need no stinking RULES!

Damn, Military Islands are strict, can you see this sign?  No smoking, vehicles prohibited, no alcohol beverages, no glass containers, no dogs, no nudity, no kite flying (REALLY?). Warning Stingrays and Tsunami hazard zone. So basically, no fun and scared as shit.  Good to go.

Here is where I allowed my vain self to get the better half of me and in turn I paid dearly. Laying in the slightly overcast beach I thought, maybe I will get some sun before putting on sunscreen (mistake #1) I mean my arms are actually tan just from getting burned in LA traffic sun, so maybe if I get a short burn out here it will turn into a tan as well (mistake #2).  It was overcast for about 5 minutes and then the massive ball of flame came out. I thought, 'Good, don't have to wait as long before I put on sunscreen'.  Ate my burritto which definitely had sand in it from the wind, along with my towel which was buried, all my clothes on the beach, and all over my body.  I didn't know you could have sand trapped in your scalp, but there it was.  Then - - - I fell asleep. Yes in the California sun with only a bit of sunscreen on my legs.  I woke up to heat.  I didn't notice red yet so I assumed I was in the clear (mistake #3)

Coronado Beach Sand - Glitter on the floor

Can this be my "Every Day"?

The sand near the water on Coranodo Beach looks like glitter and gold!  It legitimately has a gold color all over.   To get a better view I think you need to come see it for yourself (hint hint).

Life's short, make art & let it be seen

Friday they tried to trap me in the office in front of my computer, but I escaped by assisting in a kayaking trip (actually my direct supervisor suggested it) Sorry - gotta cut the kids out of pics, don't think I have permission to use them.

Learning the ways of the paddle

Kayaking to Tidelands Park for lunch - Coronado

San Diego - Coronado Bay Bridge: 2 mile bridge ascends curving 80 degrees toward San Diego

We kayaked out and under the bridge to the Park, ate lunch, paddled back (enjoyed reading the ridiculous things people name their boats) and then soaked up the sun.  I feel a little more prepared for the kayaking adventures with the military youth, although, I am surprised at how people can be confused about how to turn a kayak. If you want to go left, paddle left. If you want to stop or slow down, paddle backward. How is this confusing?  Also learned that my communication with the kids needs to be better - when they can actually understand my thick Midwest accent. It's weird, it's like once I get around a group of Cali kids, my accent gets thicker. "Oh my GAWD" and "Oh YEA?" which was pointed out by Instructor Ben.

First weekend off from work - Get out and see Saint Diago.

I would like to note that gas here can go to hell - now that that's out of the way, I packed up beach clothes and headed to North Park.  North Park is an artsy fartsy neighborhood of San Diego. Downtown North Park contains the Ray Street Arts District, which holds a gallery walk the second Saturday of every month (check it out). Here's some of the street art you will see on Ray: 

Stopped in at Cirello Gallery on Ray Street, which I recommend to anyone who is awesome (if you're not epic, then don't go). Matt there is pretty boss and willing to talk about any artwork and make suggestions. He makes the jewelry and owns the shop and I was drawn right into Sarah Stieber's artwork. Let's be honest, it's because it looks like a mural which in my mind is a more artistic and refined version of graffiti (neo-expressionism, baby!).  She's from, I believe, Philly - of course - and since she's from the East Coast, I already like her, and her artwork is, well, for lack of a better descriptive word, incredible. She's only 22 years old - impressive!

Crazy Dreams

Pace & Love

Pupusas - Better than a Burrito!

Monday was my day off after Surf Training and since I don't know much of San Diego, I decided to start with some tourist attractions.  I checked out a possible housing option - which turned into a No. I refuse to pay $600 for such a small room, although the surf rack above the closet was swaying me towards a yes.

Looking for parking was an adventure in itself as always. I went to Balboa Park and walked the cactus garden and the rose garden, it was planted in 1935. I love desertesque scenes so this was a wonderful way to spend the day.

After this nice little stroll I headed over to the museums and found this cute area for art.

All over were gorgeous, adorable tuny shops with paintings, pottery, jewelry, glass blowing, and even classes to learn how to do these things.  I especially liked the bright colors and small adobe hut-like studios.  I think found a nice sunny spot in the park, ate my lunch, and took a 30 minutes nap.  Sleeping outside not far from the bus stop was probably not the most attractive thing I've ever done, but I felt like a whole new person when I was done!  TOTALLY WORTH IT, didn't get much sun though.

During the week we also took Matt out for his "Congratulations on Graduating and thanks for being an intern" lunch at a little Salvadorian place called El Salvador Pupuseria Y Restaurante and had a delicious and CHEAP meal!  Plantano frito con frijoles y Crema for an appetizer and I chose the vegetarian pupusas which is zuchinni, mushroom, cheese potato, etc and you eat it with pickled cabbage. Don't knock it til you've tried it, the hot sauce is a bit spicy, but necessary (this is coming from a person that eats hot sauce on most everything). I would recommend this to any friends wanting to come out and visit..me...(HINT HINT) it only costs about $2.50 for a pupusas.

The rest of the week I pretty much just house hunted and worked - Today more house hunting, checking out Pacific Beach, searching for the perfect fish taco. Wish me luck!

YOLO, Brah!

"When I hit the club, it's like I gotta catch a wave
Boogie board shorty, got me surfin off the stage
Paper towel money, man I'm all about my count
And I'm screaming 'cowabunga' while y'all boys wiping out
I'm swaggin, I'm surfin - I'm swaggin, I'm Surfin"

I thought that would be a good opener to talk about my surfing expedition this last weekend. After a night out with Hanna (thanks for visiting! Burritos, Harbors, Aussies, English Men, and beer = good combination) I had an early morning start with the team. Packed up the car, talked about what would be happening, and headed out to Del Mar Beach. The sand there is a mixture of what appears to be black forest and glimmering glass - beautiful. After we set up our stations I dug my toes into the sand to stay warm and listened to my instructions.

How to carry your board - check. How to paddle out and pop up - check. How to prevent your board from giving you a black eye - check. How to avoid gettin tagged by stingrays - um, I'm sorry, what? Yes folks - there is a section at Del Mar Beach, affectionately named "Stingray Bay" because that is where they all congregate and of course, prey on innocent, fun loving surfers with their barbed tails! To avoid these little guys, you do the Stingray Shuffle (google it) basically you just drag your feet as you walk through the water so that your foot goes UNDER any stingrays rather than on top, alarming them to stab you with their evil sword like tail! I shuffled so much it was taking me forever to get around that ocean, but I should note that I didn't get stung at all  while I was out there all day (knock on wood) and three people in my group got tagged by stingrays! La Jolla is REALLY bad with stingrays. Nothing you can do to prevent the jellyfish though.

I made it out there BOTH days to surf though! First day I was sick to my stomach, but still trying to hit those waves and stood up right away. Next day, I felt great, ate tons of salt water and took quite a while to get up on my board with some of those massive waves. Frustrating, but at least it cleaned out all my nasal passages from my month long sinus infection. Who needs a netipot? I got the ocean!

After the first day of surfing, we set up camp and got ready to celebrate CINCO DE MAYO! Authentic Mexican food (for real, cuz Mario and Juan corrected me on how to properly make Guacamole). Rice, beans, and spicy tacos! Obviously, Gavin approves. So much good food, I almost ate half that bowl of guac myself even though I felt ill.                                                           

Of course, we couldn't end this special holiday without a candy and toy filled pinata, thanks to Yvonne! Also, thanks for letting us use your umbrella stand stick. Sorry, we destroyed it. Someone really wanted to break the pinata and instead they cracked that stand in half on the tree!

Lastly, S'mores, but not ANY s'mores, Peanut Butter, Banana, nutella s'mores! Welcome to heaven, you now have diabetes! Thanks Gregorio, you truly are an outdoor food master!

KJ even played some great music and sang - I don't know too many other things that I like better than a campfire and someone who can play the guitar!  The next day we headed out, did the same set up and taught the volunteers how to surf and how to push the kids into the waves so they can help out on our trips!  I have 6 Surfing Trips, including an overnight surf trip with the military youth I will be working with, so eventually, I plan to get stung, but I also plan to get GREAT at surfing.  Final decision, I'm going SoCal Beach theme. That salt water and sun is bleaching out my fake red hair that everyone thinks is s natural, so I think I will be going back to my natural blond.

We headed back to the office, debriefed, I zoomed to the hostel - talked to some friends, and took a much needed shower.  I enjoyed talking to people at the hostel (few guys from Aussie and some kid from NorCal) about surfing and getting better ideas of what I can do to improve.  All in all, great end to the night. I talked to the Brazilian kids for a while too and hopefully, may be on to a lead for housing.

Spent my Monday off at Balboa Park checking out the botanical gardens and taking a nap in the park under the sun, but that is a story for another time.

All Around Me Are Familiar Faces, Worn Out Places

My FIRST day off of work and I got to spend it with Lauren Chartier and Joey Hedrick, which was pretty primo! I met them in PB and we ate at the Best Burger joint in PB Rocky's Crown Pub .  Nothing will ever compare to an animal-style In&Out burger for me, NOTHING, but this was still good!  I loved the fries. After searching for my credit card, we headed to the hostel where I found it after of course getting the staff to let me in since I locked my keys in my room (I'm a complete mess). I gave them a tour of my hostel and Joey found this little gem immediately in the communal beverage fridge, which he pointed out to us. <3 these people (in case you are wondering, Joey, I watched 3 guys consume them a week later because I think they wanted to be raped)

We didn't have much time since they had to catch a flight so we checked out downtown San Diego where we had some Ghiradelli's (nice call, Joey!), looked at Urban Outfitters where I found 5 books I wanted, and attempted to make it to the water (Lauren, we were only like 3 minutes away from the water when we were at the hostel. My bad, took you the wrong way. Shocker!) I then had them pose with JR because anyone that visits me here gets a picture with my little travel companion/road trip DJ!

Next day at work got to hit up Florida Canyon to plant flowers and trees with the kids as part of their restoration project. Tough day for Joe (my direct supervisor) who got our work van towed and had to spend his morning at the Impound getting it out (stupid Cali Parking Enforcement!) There are two separate groups of 7th&8th graders that work on this canyon in Balboa Park and they meet once a month during the year. It was great to see them so excited to beautify some of their city, although I did have to reel them in a few times and totally called a kid out for messing around.  Those are the flowers the girls planted last year and here are the boys examining some bulbs they dug up. Hilarious, they kept yelling, "It's a potato! It's and onion! I don't know what it is, smash it with the shovel."

The kids even have a kiosk on site with group photos and photos of what they have done and some sheets explaining what their program is and why they do this.