Lost in La Jolla (California Part Three)

Hello guys. I have not forgotten, abandoned, or left you.
I've recently moved... ish. And the internet doesn't really work here.

I am not so pleased about that. Internet is a thing I require.
Anyways... back to what I was working on like a month ago....

This is my last California post, and then I will go back to normal, well "normal," posts.
These won't be quite as detailed since it's been so long.

Part One
Part Two

Day Six

Today, we went to the church that my aunt and uncle usually go to. It's a unity church in San Diego, The Unity Center. It was nice but soo big compared to what I'm used to. We didn't stay very long, but everyone seemed really nice. Also, the topic was about changing your brain to change your life. So, it was right in the field that I want to study, neuropsychology. The main book she, the minister, talked about was one I had read over the summer.

After that we went to La Jolla. Oh La Jolla. With taco shops and tanned surfers walking around, it is about as stereotypical California as any place could be. I think I want to move there. It's awesome. And so beautiful.

On the way home from church my uncle asked me if I wanted to see the seals. Of course I wanted to see the seals. I didn't have sunscreen, but I figured a few minutes in the sun would be okay. We parked and he told me it was a little bit of a walk. So we walked. And we walked. And then a little bit more. My uncle realized he had parked a little bit too far down the beach. But, we had already walked all that way, so we might as well keep going, right? This was our mindset for over three miles of beach until we finally, finally, came to where the seals were.

So that was interesting for all of three minutes.

Then, we had to walk back. We were both dehydrated and tired. We walked forever. Then we decided that surely the car was somewhere around here. Nope. I kept recognizing things, but we could not find the car. We walked up and down streets. I remembered taking a video when we first had gotten there, we watched it over and over trying to look for landmarks. Nothing. And of course, my phone was dead. If I had been alone I would have probably just lied down somewhere and not gotten back up. But my uncle remained hopeful. My ideas were along the lines of tell someone to call the police to drive us around or something. He kept saying maybe we walked too far... maybe we didn't walk far enough. After awhile I had completely given up. Everything started to look the same. We did, eventually (obviously), find our way back. Where the car was parked you could see two street signs. Both of them were the street names I recognized. I considered that a success on my part. However, since they ran parallel to the beach, it was a little less than helpful.

I have decided one of the magical things about La Jolla is that pictures, even on a crappy phone, turn out really well. I only took a few pictures and because it was so sunny I couldn't see them as I was taking them, but in my opinion, they came out quite nice.

looks like a postcard

That night for dinner, Charlotte and her boyfriend came over and made pasta. Well, cooked pasta, no one made pasta. One thing that drove me absolutely crazy the whole time I was in San Diego was that they all seem so obsessed over weight. Of themselves, not the food. Every time they eat they talk about the calories. Every time they do anything they talk about "burning off that taco" or whatever. Maybe because I grew up in a more food-loving less food-shaming environment it just seems weird to me? I don't know. That's not how we talk in my house.

Day Seven

Today my dad and I hit basically all the beaches. We went to Dog Beach, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and of course La Jolla again. I, reluctantly, showed my father the seals.

The other main details I remember from this day is being in horrible pain from salt/sand friction. I probably should not have gone in the water. So, my daddy bought me some nice, expensive board shorts, instead of the ones I grabbed one time when I didn't have a swimsuit for like $3. He also let me use his rash guard (which he then let me keep after I moved back up to Columbia... I like it lots except I look unreasonably fat in it).

I have something in my notes from this day that says "no sleep." I have absolutely no idea what I meant by this. It was probably something important since the only other thing I had written were the names of the beaches, but, oh well.

NO SLEEP. I made it important.

Day Eight

Today we went to all the beaches again. Well, not all of them. A lot of them. We rented bikes to bike Mission Beach's boardwalk. That alone was an experience. I had not been on a bike since I learned at seven. I may have biked into several both animate and inanimate objects. Including several other bikers. And also some walls. Oops. Anyways....

My dad decided to thank everyone for putting up with us by taking everyone to dinner. Now despite how going to California sounds, we are pretty broke. And we also like ice cream. So, he decided to go to a burger place (they had vegetarian options as well) near a Ghirardelli parlor. Ella's face when she heard this was hysterical. Like "ug, so cheap" in an expression. I thought their veggie burger wasn't bad though, even though it did fall apart (this "cheap" place still came out to over $70).

On the way to the Ghirardelli parlor my father announced that we would find the perfect parking spot. Everyone laughed. I said, "I dunno, he's pretty good." They laughed more. We got stuck turning left behind someone who did not know how to drive and would not pull up or turn after it switched from yellow to red. So, since we were next to the street the parlor was on, most of us got out, and my dad and my uncle stayed in the car to park. We walked up the the parlor right when my dad pulled into the parking spot right outside the door. Everyone was flabbergasted and talked about how they needed those skills. My dad told Mia she had to start young and put her intentions out there so she could get what she wanted to (I had four commas in that sentence, I decided there were too many and took them all away). When she scoffed, my father told her to try it. She closed her eyes, held her hands up and said "I want chocolate." He had a piece in his pocket and set it in her hands. The look on her face was a priceless end to the vacation. Charlotte glared at him because calories and sugar. But we thought it was pretty awesome.

That night we got on a red eye and flew back to Charleston.

Back to the weather... during the day it's sunny and 70*. People complain about how hot it is (yeah, I know). At night it gets dark. Usually there's a breeze, and the temperature is still 70*. Then, everyone talks about how chilly it is. How can you be so unused to temperature change? Or in this case, sunlight/nighttime. The temperature stayed the same!

Other strange facts... people here don't know what palmetto bugs are. Ella didn't even know what a roach was. I said "you've never seen a roach?" and my dad said, "sure she has, a roach. cockroach," but she still didn't seem to know what I meant. Wouldn't that be nice? To not know what a roach is? ALSO there's no fire ants. The only ants that are here are those tiny black sugar ants (what I call them anyways). One day I walked all around and lay in the grass and everything and I did not get one single bug bite. Odd.

And, everyone's so obsessed with cleaning here (in the house). A few times we've left in a hurry or forgotten to clean up and it's always spotless when we get back. Then my uncle will make some comment about a mess. I feel like if my... anyone... did that I would leave it for them to clean. I was expecting to clean it up when I got back. Hm.

I wish I saw some of these - maybe they're just in the north

I'll be back people. The next time I have internet for an extended amount of time.

I Know I'm Home When... (California Part Two)

For more about my trip, see part one.

told you it's freeway

what people think it looks like here

what it actually looks like

and this

Day Four

Mia and I spent all morning together hanging out. Well she watched Disney channel and played on her iPhone. I stayed on the computer in the room with her. I am so tired of Disney channel. The shows are kind of horrible. They're supposed to be funny. They're supposed to be sitcoms (I think, due to the laugh track). But really all they do is laugh at people. They tease people who are not smart. They tease people who are smart. And they make fun of anyone who isn't in style or is different in any way. They call people "weird" and "special" and put people down over and over... and then laugh at it! Maybe I'll try writing them a letter (like that would do anything). They have commercials saying just be yourself and people will like you. But all of their shows put down anyone who doesn't conform. As I'm writing this, she's here watching it again, and I just heard "and that's why no one likes you." It's a horrible influence. I can't stand it.

Fun [sobering] fact - most laugh tracks were recorded by adults in the 50s. That means that everyone, or nearly everyone, you hear laughing is already dead.

I also taught her how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I can't believe she didn't know. I don't think she's cooked before. She's kind of spoiled. She threw bread down into a pan with hot oil, sending it everywhere. Then she freaked out and danced around while I told her she needed to put the cheese in NOW or it would burn ("I hate to break it to you, but you're not a normal kid" track: "awww"). Then, dropping cheese from a really high height she whined about the oil and how the bread was burnt. She refused to flip it, and had me do it. Sigh. I don't think I was like that when I was 12.

Later we went to her house. I think her step dad (her mom and him aren't married, but they don't want to deal with remarrying, but they are together) is hysterical. She doesn't seem to like him much. They bicker nonstop. I can see how it would get annoying after awhile, but I dunno. He's sort of paranoid about germs - he freaked out about his son going on the porch with no shoes because it was dirty. When I walk across hot or sharp... ground... my dad gets excited because it means I'm tough.

That afternoon we went to Skyzone. It's a trampoline park. I landed a few front flips, which was exciting. Afterward, we had to wash our hands twice with hand sanitizer and once with soap before we could eat. And they wonder why the Mia seemed a bit sick - they have no germ tolerance! At dinner, Charlotte's boyfriend broke the serving spoon. We got some good laughs out of that.

And - I come back to driving. People here are crazy! I honestly don't know how cars fit in such small spaces. People change lanes on the freeway with maybe an inch to spare on each side. And everyone is mean. If the lane is ending and you're trying to get over - expect the car preventing you from doing so to speed up - making it more difficult.

right?

Day Five

Today, when Charlotte came to pick Mia up she hadn't showered from the night before. Apparently this is a REALLY BIG DEAL. My parents wouldn't even have asked if I had showered. Her mom asked and when she said she hadn't she told her that that was probably why she was sick. And then she cried a bit. It was all kind of confusing. But, she is only 12. And being over dramatic is what 12-year-olds do. As far as the germs... I dunno. Where I come from sisters french kiss dogs and cats, and people go weeks without showering.

After that mess my uncle and I went to Balboa park. It was pretty and there was so much going on. There was a section where there was a lot of art. And there were a bunch of vendors. It was like a farmer's market without the food. And he said it's like that every day.

We didn't do too much else. We went out to lunch (I've been going out a lot), and when it came to $30, he talked about how cheap it was. He took a nap, and I hung out in my room. At night he said he needed some stuff for his run in the morning. It was about a twenty minute drive each way. We only got $2.50 worth of stuff.... The price of gas has just jumped up to about $4.15 a gallon. I'm pretty sure the gas cost more than what he bought. We also watched a movie called Promised Land with Matt Damon. It sort of had the Indie movie feel to it. It was pretty good though.

I know I haven't been too funny lately. Right now I'm just sharing about my trip before I forget it all. Funny stories will be back soon. If you can't wait, you can reread part one of the story I haven't finished yet.
Or go back and read some of my other stories.

Coming soon... part three.

*All of these pictures were stolen off the internet.

Clinton Advises Weiner (California Part One)

Day One (Travel)

My first flight was really short. Charleston to Washington DC. The lady I sat next to didn't say a single word to me. She did homework or something. Not much to report there....

The DC airport, Washington-Dullus, was huge! Like, I came in gate A1. I checked the board, okay, gate C17. That shouldn't be too far, right? WRONG. I kept following the signs to get to the C gates, and after awhile I was at gate A34... what the hell? I had to get on a train to get to the right gate. That just seems crazy. I thought our airport was big. It goes from A1 to A5....

Also, in DC  there was 4G!!! It's faster than wi-fi! Damn, I wish they had 4G in South Carolina.

Anyways, I called my mom, got some Starbucks, and got on the plane.
I promptly showed everyone what a klutz I am. I couldn't really figure out how to get my overhead bag up without spilling coffee everywhere. Basically I almost made a huge mess and the person next to me had to help. And of course I held up everyone trying to get on the plane. Because I am graceful. Even without my Starbucks, when I got off the plane, I had some problems too. Holding up the whole plane again. Good times good times.

The girl next to me was from France and spoke very little English. The guy next to me smelled bad. However, overall the flights were as good as anyone could have hoped. Very smooth, quiet, and nice. I decided that I liked ginger ale over ice. Flying in during the sunset was awesome. We were flying lower and all the clouds were pink. It was so pretty. I wish I had taken a picture. It was gorgeous.

Also, I decided I want to ride shotgun in those planes that do tricks. I can't be a pilot because of my vision and psychiatric conditions. Also, I want to go skydiving (if I'm allowed). Will anyone come with?

Then, my aunt picked up me and my dad at the airport. We booked our flights separately so our flights up were different. We're leaving on the same red-eye though. Once we started driving it seemed so weird. The streets were so big. There were four lanes on each side. Or more. They said if you drive at the wrong time it can takes hours and hours to go just a few miles.

Then after we got to my aunt's house I had a lovely breakdown. In which I cried about not knowing what to do for about two hours to my dad and my aunt (my uncle heard it start and left). So that was fun.

The time zone here feels normal. We stayed up until about twelveish, and it actually felt like how twelve is supposed to feel. So that was cool.

Day Two

First of all - the weather.
It's amazing here. They don't use air conditioning or heating. And, they have solar panels, so they actually feed back 100-200 watts a month into the grid. It's all breezy and nice. They leave doors and windows open, and it's actually cooler outside. It's kind of hard to imagine. They sort of live in the ghetto though, so I walked around for a few minutes but stopped because I felt like someone was going to grab me. When we're up on the hill we can see Mexico from here.

I slept on and off in the morning. My cousin once removed was here, and I was on the computer while she did school work for fun. I like that.

I guess I'll give a few fake names here. My cousin once removed is now named Mia. My cousin (who's her mom) is named Charlotte. And my cousin who lives here is Ella.

One thing about my aunt is that she doesn't know how to talk. She can only yell. And that is an understatement. When she whispers she is still talking louder than any normal person talks. And it's contagious. We start out talking in normal voices with her yelling. And then we just escalate until everyone is yelling at everyone else. It was funny when she stopped talking because there was "no one listening." My dad said, "I'm in the same house as you - how can I not be listening?" Mia and I laughed and laughed. I guess no one else says that to her? Except for her brother. And she talks to herself out loud when she does anything. Nonstop. I thought I was bad. I try to contain it if I'm around other people.

We went to Coronado beach with Ella (she runs), and my dad and I walked around a lot. The water was really far away from shore. Also there were like no shells. I don't even know how that's possible. My dad says they might sift it, for the rich people who live in Coronado. We saw a few houses that were worth at least $30 million. Yeah.
Then we walked around the stores a little and stuff. And went to Starbucks, of course. Ella got a free coffee from the guy behind the counter. My dad asked if she got a number, but she said she thought he was gay.

Another thing that happened this day was that my therapist (who I adore) sent me a message telling me she took another job. I've taken it kind of hard. And I didn't want to have to deal with it while I'm on vacation. I took xanax several times to sort of push it away.

Day Three

Today I hung out with Mia a lot. All day actually. She was there when I woke up (Charlotte uses this house as a babysitter, she can stay home alone, but she's very accident prone and still pretty young) and decided to spend the night. My dad took me to Vons to get toothpaste and peanut butter.
Then we went to Starbucks. Earlier that day he was getting on me for taking sips out of his cup, saying he wasn't going to have any the whole time he was away. And we went right after. And he put his cup in the fridge. He has such a problem with that even Mia makes fun of him for it. My mom hates it. He only buys ventis because soymilk is $.60 extra in a tall cup or a venti cup. But he gets them at least once a day, saying he'll drink it for several days. And then he puts them in the fridge. At home we usually have five or six cups lined up in the fridge.
Anyways, after he left, Ella and I went to Trader Joe's (and Target, and a hair store, and Wendy's) so I could pick up food for myself for the weekend. She left that night and my uncle had to work a lot. My aunt left for Florida the day before, too. Everyone comes back Sunday.

I went out to eat at Coronado Brewing Company with my uncle, Mia, Ella, and Charlotte. I got a calzone, it was very yummy. At one point Mia just cracked up. It was because she remembered what my dad had said to my aunt. It's good knowing other people do that too! Usually I laugh about things way after they happen. But no one else seems to.
Then Mia and I hung out. She's 12, but she acts a lot older. I never remember until I swear at stuff (or she turns on the TV - Disney channel, bleh) and she gets like really quiet and freaks out. Like, even saying "ffff" is soooo bad to her. And it's just different. I'm not used to being around people where you have to watch what you say. And I keep forgetting she's only 12.

Since I've been here everyone has come to me with all their technology problems. My dad bought my uncle a new computer because he gave us a car awhile back. I was put in charge of setting it up and moving information and teaching everyone how to use it. It's a Windows 8, which I had never used before - but technology comes naturally to me. Now I have my aunt in Florida calling me about wi-fi problems, and Charlotte talking about me fixing Mia's laptop screen. Sigh. Mia doesn't even like using a computer. She likes her iPhone. I don't really get it, but we're all different.

Also, I think I came more to turns with my therapist leaving. I am still devastated. But having close friends to talk to really helps.

cactus sex

Come back later for part two!

Edit: I forgot to explain the title of this post! Haha. In the airports the news is always on. And that was the headline I kept seeing.