Welcome Back to Village Life

I am home. Back in England, back in Orston. When I arrived it was raining, unsurprisingly, but there was so much rain that my village actually flooded! I closed my eyes and tried to remember what the Californian sun felt like!

It is weird being back. I am so excited to see all my friends and family but trying to fit back into this life is going to take some time I think. There was a moment when I was standing in my bedroom, trying to unpack (a task that took me way longer than it should!) and I was just looking around unable to remember where my stuff went! Other habits came back straight away like having to yank the bathroom door really hard to get out as it has a tendency to lock you in. Driving has been also been interesting; definitely turned the wrong side of a bollard and continued to drive in the wrong lane for a while! Oh well, quiet village lanes mean this wasn't too dangerous!

My last few days in Seattle were great. I got to spend some time on my brother-in-law's parent's boat which they had moored up in the Puget Sound for 4th July. We played Bananagrams and ate cream teas randomly! Also ate gorgeous clam chowder in Pike Place Market! 

My year abroad was absolutely amazing. I am so happy that I got to experience life in another country, meet some great new friends, see such beautiful places, and try things that I never would have done otherwise! I have been all over the country from Seattle to LA to Nashville, and that barely even scratches the surface of America. Now that I am home, people are asking me what my favourite thing was, and it is so hard to narrow down. I would say that it is between the white water rafting, and  just the general lifestyle; the outdoors, relaxed, care-free, sunny! It sounds so cliche to say it but America does feel like the land of opportunity and freedom. The sky feels higher there which I know is not possible but somehow...it just does. I have said for a long time now that I want to live in America and this year was either going to make or break that idea. It definitely made it! I do now appreciate how hard it is to leave everyone and it was really hard for the first few months, and when you were feeling down, but you do create a new life for yourself. I am going to live there one day, I just have to make sure I am rich enough to come back often! 

Oh and during the year I was trying to see all the different license plates. Out of 50 states, I saw 44. But I mean, who is going to have driven from Delaware all the way to Santa Cruz? There is also only like 50 people in the entire state anyway.
Thanks for sticking with me and reading this blog for the past year! I have loved writing it and am now going to print it out and make it into a scrapbook (well, that is the plan anyway!). I also need to find something to do on Sundays now that this is done with!

Preparing For A Shock

Since my last post I have flown to Seattle, drove to Portland, drove to Skamania Lodge, back to Portland, and then finally back up to Seattle! At one point I had been in four states in a 48 hour period. Phew. I am enjoying pretty much doing nothing in Seattle with my sister and brother-in-law!

Last weekend I was at Skamania Lodge, which is a beautiful lodge on the Columbia River Gorge on the border of Washington and Oregon. My brother-in-law's family have a reunion there once a year and this was my first time going. Again, another beautiful place. Trees, the river, the lodge with all it's wooden features, sculptures and big stone fireplaces. It was a shame that the weather wasn't great. Rain, rain, a bit of sun, then some more rain. It didn't matter too much though. There was a lot to do inside like swimming, relaxing in the hot tub, going to the gym, and with 20 other people in your group, always someone to talk to or play board games with! We all spent a lot of time in the indoor pool; at one point we had pretty much taken it over with the majority of our party playing piggy in the middle and of course, having competitions like who can travel the furthest on a single breath. Why is it that when families get together, there is always some level of competition? Not that I mind of course! We all know how competitive I can get. We did introduce the newest member of the family to swimming. Now this cute 2 month old will surely be a great swimmer when she get's older. She was already kicking her little legs and blowing bubbles in her adorable pink swimsuit!

The first night we were there, after spending the afternoon in the pool, we all gorged ourselves at the dinner buffet. In fact, I am reluctant to use the word 'buffet'. It makes it sound like it was just one big table with cocktail sausages an potato salad. No, this does not describe it well enough. Perhaps the words 'culinary experience' would be more appropriate. There was everything you could possibly want from all kinds of hand carved meats, sushi, pastas, fresh fish, I could go on and on.  We won't even touch the dessert table. Buffet's are dangerous. Really, really dangerous. It is not often that you find yourself walking out thinking "I only had four plates worth, it could have been worse"! I'm glad we spent a lot of time in the pool and the gym! Oh my word the smoked salmon was to die for. Sunday brunch was the same type of thing, and my brother-in-law summed it up perfectly when, at the end of the meal, pushing his plate away, he said "You know you have overdone the buffet when you dunk your last piece of french toast into the creme brulee!" The following evening was thankfully just the average three course meal. This came after photo-shoot time outside with a whole array of different combinations of people; "Ok now the sisters, now the brother with mom, now grandma you jump in and mom you jump out, now just those with dark hair, smile! Now James Bond style". There was no professional photographer, just members of the family who had been coordinating this for the past ten years.

Another great activity that we took part in was the Bird's of Prey talk and exhibit. We saw the end of the show that took place just outside the lodge on the lawn, on the Friday evening, but when we came to watch it on the Saturday, it had been moved to inside the lobby which was a much more cozy setting. I have never been so close to a giant Bald Eagle who was happily decapitating a chick! The photos are of the same birds just on the Friday showing.

Came back to Seattle on the Sunday night and haven't done much since! Well, I got my nails done, something I have been wanting to do for ages after forcing myself to leave them alone. Now I feel all girly! The bro-in-law and I did check out the Experience Music Project which is this giant museum downtown where they have all these cool exhibits about Nirvana, the music in horror movies, and sound labs where you can play all these different instruments. You should have heard us rapping in the vocal booth! Actually, i'm glad you didn't. I'll stick to my piano. Speaking of which, that is one of the first things I am going to do when I get home on Thursday. I can't believe I only have a few days left. I love Seattle, and I love being with my family here, but now that I have left Santa Cruz and California, I feel like I am in a weird limbo. Everyone has been telling me how much of a shock it will be going back home and i'm not sure how to prepare for that. Coming back from a three week holiday to America get's me all confused with the cars on the other side of the road, and the money etc! It feels weird that I will be seeing my friends and family in just a few days, and this sounds strange, but I feel nervous about it! Oh of course I am excited too, I just know it will be strange to begin with. I think I am going to open with "LOOK AT MY TAN!" Or what is left of it...damn Seattle and the rain. It is starting to fade. Is it weird to take pictures of your own back as evidence? That may just get awkward.

I will leave you with both the notion that this is the last post that I will make while in America. I want to do another one when I am at home so I doubt this is the last! I am also mentally preparing myself for the epic journey from here to home, via Iceland of course.
 Finally, my bro-in-law and sus gafas de sol. Sadly he did not have them on while we were rapping.

A Bit of a Water Baby!

Leaving Santa Cruz was very hard to do. Packing was a long, annoying task, and there was a lot of stuff that I had to get rid of! How did I accumulate so much in such a short space of time?
Sunday was my friends graduation, so in between packing and cleaning, me and the roommate went down to watch her walk and receive her diploma. Afterwards, her parents invited me to join them and their friends and family for a celebration meal which I happily accepted! We had planned on packing up the car and driving to Sacramento to meet our two friends to go to Tahoe the next morning. Didn't quite work out! We ended up not leaving campus until around 11pm so we ended up staying at the motel that her parents were at and got up the next morning at 6.30am to drive to Sacramento!

We arrived at Lake Tahoe, on the North Shore which is close to the border of Nevada, at about 2pm, unpacked the car and the infinite supply of food (that would have fed eight people for seven days, not four people for three) into my friend's uncle's cabin and rushed to the lake. It was just so gorgeous, though a bit windy! We walked down a pier and put our feet in. Then promptly took them back out as the water was freezing. Like heart stopping freezing! we hung out on the dock for a while in the sun, getting sufficiently burnt, and then headed back to the cabin for a BBQ, smores, drinks, and Parchisi!  A lot of games were played this trip.

Tuesday morning we went swimming in the communal pool for all the cabins in that particular area. I just love the water. We spent a good hour or so there before heading back, eating again, and watching the England game that the lone guy on our trip desperately wanted to do, with a beer in hand. We decided to go for a bit of a hike up the Tahoe Rim Trail, however this epically failed as we were being dive bombed by mosquito's and I was being eaten alive. We decided it was because foreign blood is a delicacy in these parts! We ended up just walking through the cute little town and along the shore, which were thankfully mosquito free.

Wednesday was definitely the best day. Again, we got up and went swimming where two of us perfected our dives and trick routines with rubber rings, while playing 'Monkey in the Middle'. I tried arguing that it was 'Piggy in the Middle' but was laughed out of the pool. After lunch we went back down to the dock area and spent the next few hours jumping off of it and into the freezing water! It was pretty exhilarating, and after a while, our bodies were so numb that you didn't feel the cold so much. Luckily the water was completely calm and the weather was boiling hot. We took plenty of photos and videos of course. You should see the tan lines on my back; I have a proper razorback from all the time I have been spending in the water this year, and after a bit of burning on this trip, I am going to be even darker! I just hope it lasts for the next two weeks so I can show it off to people at home who believe I would never be anything more than paper white.

After we had sun-dried we travelled to Squaw Valley, the Olympic Village which was where the Winter Olympic were held in I believe 1960. Gorgeous place but expensive to live. We looked. We then went back into town and had some dinner at a place called Rosie's, and then we border hopped into Nevada! I can now cross another state off of my list! We went to a couple of casino's where my ID worked just fine (21 age limit and all that), and I was very proud of getting my 21 and over wrist band at the Hyatt Casino! A secutiry guy even came up to me and when he saw that I had already been carded said "Wow, you look so young", to which I replied, "Well thank you!". The great thing about these casino's is that you get free drinks all the time. They just come round while you are sitting at the slot machines or tables and ask what you want! This made up for the fact that I sucked badly at all the slot machines and lost all my money! One of my friends came our $2 richer than when he went in! Winning.

This trip to Lake Tahoe was such a great way of spending my last few days in California and with some of my friends that I have made here in America. I hadn't thought I would make such good friends with only being here for just less than a year. I am going to miss them a lot and I am very excited that one of them is spending the year in Berlin starting in August! I am currently sitting in Sacramento airport where they dropped me off on the way back for my flight to Seattle. I won't lie, my eyes were a bit watery! Though now that I am leaving California, and will be home in less than two weeks, I can really get excited about seeing my friends and family that I have missed so much! For now, onwards and literally upwards to Seattle, then tomorrow down to Skamania Lodge. More swimming, more lakes, more water. WATER BABY.

You Blink And You Miss It

Well, that is it. My time at UCSC has finished. I can't quite believe it actually. In some ways it has just flown by but at the same time I feel like I have been here forever.
My sister has been here since Wednesday which has kept me occupied and not thinking about the fact that I have to leave. But today she went home and when I got back to the apartment to start packing, a wave of melancholy hit me and I have been feeling down ever since! I love UCSC, I love Santa Cruz, I love California, I love America. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to see my friends and family, I have missed them so much and I wish I could have shared this experience with them. However, this year has just reinforced the feeling that I already had before I came here; I want to live here permanently! Now I need to get working on that! I'm not leaving America right away, I have about 3 weeks left so I am going to leave my year abroad epilogue till I actually leave...

Finals were over and done with by 11am on Monday, and I was at the beach with a friend not too long after that! It was gorgeous and sooo relaxing. Just what I needed after all the work that had just been done! In order to get a two day extension on my housing contract I had to do some volunteering on campus so Tuesday saw me picking through recycling bins with the 'Zero Waste' team. Mainly we just stood around in the sun and chatted!

On Wednesday my sister flew down from Seattle to spend a few days seeing the sights of Santa Cruz! It was a great excuse for me to do all the things that I loved one more time before I left. The first thing we did was stop at Burger and get food! Everything involves food I have found. After we gorged ourselves, we did a bit of a walking tour of campus, then went swimming where I was teaching her flip turns, surface dives, and showing off my butterfly (which turns into 'wounded waterbeetle,' as my coach calls it, after about 50 yds!). I have become a real waterbaby since being here and can't wait to get back into it when I am home. If anyone knows of a diving team, as in springboard, not scuba, let me know! That night, my sister got to re-live her undergrad days at the dining hall;)

Thursday I had my final physio appointment, and I got a t-shirt for 'graduating'! Again, going to miss that place and the people. I need to find a PT just like it. The rest of the day included walking on the wharf, checking out the sea lion pups, eating a ton of nuts from Nut Kreations, sushi at I Love Sushi, and a party over at the guys house where we played numerous rounds of flip cup, chandeliers, and then rock band!

Friday was the best day...another kayaking adventure in the Bay. Started the tour by nearly going headfirst into the ocean as I tried to get in. Embarrassing. The sea lions were very active and were leaping around all over the place which was a bit terrifying at times as I was fully prepared for them to leap onto the kayak! Lots of Sea Otters and their pups too:) So unbelievably cute. But then what baby animal isn't? It was a private tour and the woman who took us out was very nice, though when she told us she had three jobs, and we said "Oh but this must be your favourite", completely out of left field she said no, hre job at a sex shop was. Fair enough! Don't quite know how to respond when someone says that! The evening was spent at the beach, playing frisbee, building sand castles, taking photos, and watching the surfers do their thing.

This weekend is graduation weekend so there are a ton of people on campus! So Saturday morning we got up pretty early and headed down to the Arboretum before all the buses got too busy. Plenty of flowers, hummingbirds, lizards, and even a rabbit, kept us occupied for an hour or two, while we quickly fried to a crisp in the 90 degree weather! Air conditioned buses are the greatest invention ever. That, and ice water. My sister went back to Seattle that afternoon and I returned to campus to start the daunting task of trying to fit my life into two suitcases again. I have waaayyy too much stuff. I am holding a yard/garage sale in my bedroom as we speak.

It was a great final week at UCSC. God I am going to miss this place. But for now, onwards and literally upwards to Sacramento for a night on our way to a friends cabin in Lake Tahoe! Then to Seattle, then down to Skamania Lodge for a family reunion weekend with my bro-in-law's family, then back up to Seattle, then home! I'm glad I did the recycling session this week; I feel I need to give back to the environment as my carbon foot print is going to be pretty hefty.

The Final Finals

I'm not sure if there is much point with this post. All I have been doing this week is studying, studying, studying. However I didn't want to miss a week of blogging!

So, yeh. That has been about it. Me and the library have become very good friends over the past few weeks. Also me and the girl who works at Joe's seeing as the other day I walked in and before I even opened my mouth she said "medium soda right?"....what can I say, I have flex's to use and a refreshing diet coke helps when trying to work in the heat! Gorgeous weather as per usual, which makes studying extra hard as the beach is RIGHT THERE. All I want to do is be on a beach with a book and a drink.

Tomorrow I have my Spanish final,  and after that I will never be leaning Spanish again! Well, at least not at Warwick. Their language centre sucks. It has amazed me how much better I have become in such a short amount of time. I had Spanish lessons for two years at Warwick and I have learned more here in the past 9 months than I ever did there. To the point where sometimes, I will say a word in Spanish instead of English, completely by accident. Also I text two of my friends solely in Spanish! I'm going to need to get me a Spanish friend when I get home.

In one week's time it will be my final day at UCSC. I can't believe how quick this year abroad has gone. I want to go home to see friends and family, of course, but I just love California! If i had it my way, I would move everyone here.

Well, that was boring but at least it was a post! My sister is coming on Wednesday to spend a few days taking in the sites of Santa Cruz and I am very excited! So expect a long post next week! I shall leave you with a couple of picture of the local wildlife I have taken over the past few days. BAMBI!

Fallen for Yosemite

Only one more week left of classes, then finals week and then that is it. Finished. Oh my lord. As always I am drowning in essays and exam preparation and thinking about packing all of my stuff up which seems to have tripled in volume since I arrived! No idea how I am going to cart all that out of here!

Monday was Memorial Day which was great because we got a day off but it also sucked because there was nothing open on campus (library, coffee shops, anything), and also there were no city buses to take you downtown. So I was pretty much stuck all day in my apartment. I tried really hard to do work but not much got done! That evening one of my friends came to pick me up and we went and bought sushi and sat out on the cliffs overlooking the ocean while eating our dinner. It was very relaxing:)

Had a Spanish exam on Wednesday which didn't go too bad so I have some hopes for that one! I felt like I deserved a good break, even if it was just going to be for 36 hours. At 9pm that evening, two girls who I didn't know, came to pick me up and we drove to our friends house who lives in Turlock, about 2 1/2 hours away. We stayed the night and got up the next morning at 6.30am, fed a lovely breakfast by her mum, and then we hit the road to go to Yosemite!! Took another 2 hours to get there but it was so worth it! Just an absolutely gorgeous place. One of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen actually. Sheer granite mountains, waterfalls, huge redwoods and pine trees. My friend had parking passes which meant our day was completely free! Winning.
We started out going to the Bridalveil Falls which was just a taster of what was to come! Next we drove over to the Mist Trail to take a hike up to Vernal Falls (317ft high!!), Emerald Pool and the Nevada Falls (we didn't make it to the latter but we did see it from afar!). It was such a steep, steep hike. My knees were screaming at me the whole way. I knew that they were going to be an issue before I decided to go on the trip but I didn't want to miss out because of them! The hike is only a few miles but it winds all the way up, and the last half is like the staircase to heaven. Except the stairs are really big, made out of granite, and pretty uneven! As the name suggests, the closer we got to Vernal Falls, the wetter we got because the mist spray coming off of the waterfall was so intense! It may just be me, but does anyone else have a really weird urge to jump when you are right on the edge of a big drop? No. Hmm.

After we made it to the top, we had a picnic lunch and just hung round, trying not to be harassed by ground squirrels that are seriously tame. I could have picked one up if I wanted to. After our descent back down we went to stake out the visitor centre and take a peek inside the famous, and extremely posh hotel, the Ahwahnee, where prices start at $500 for one night. We just got some free water and left because it was obvious we didn't belong there! Gives me something to aim for in the future; earn enough money to be able to afford upper-class camping in Yosemite. Other stops along the way included the riding stables that I desperately wanted to do but we didn't have time and it was pretty expensive. Next time, that is a must.

On our way out of the park we happened across Yosemite Falls, the most famous waterfall in America because it is the highest in North America. And let me tell you, it is flippin' huge! We swung the car around to get a better view, only to come face to face with Half Dome, the next most famous view of Yosemite! It was just perfect. The sun was at just the right height which made the landscape look even more dramatic. The weather on our trip was perfect as well, it was 95 degrees! This could have felt hotter but on the trails you are in the shade of the trees a lot and the mist from the waterfalls kept you cool while you were hiking. An air-conditioned car also helped.

The only negative thing I have to say about Yosemite is just how many people are there. We were there on a Thursday and the Mist trail was pretty full. It wasn't a wilderness walk, you were surrounded by people. When we stopped to look at Half Dome and Yosemite Falls, though you can't see it from the photos, we are stood by a really busy road with tour buses and cars going past! I understand why it is like that, and it didn't bother me, I just like to see nature in nature if you know what I mean!
We left Yosemite and got back to Turlock at around 8pm, so we stopped at the Taco Truck to get burritos and tacos. A very American experience, well a Californian experience, pulling up in a car park where there are a row of Mexican trucks lined up selling food! I'm still not a big fan of Mexican food but it was pretty good. Got back to UCSC close to midnight after an amazing 24 hours, very tired, and in need of a shower. I love America.

Finding Nemo. Finally.

I finally made it to Monterey Bay Aquarium! I have been dying to go there ever since I arrived in California last September. I was like a little kid, impatiently fidgeting in the back seat of the car the whole way there. We stopped along the way at a roadside market to pick up some cheap strawberries, cherries and tiny bananas as we knew the food was going to be super expensive at the Aquarium.

We needn't have worried. Whole Foods were having some kind of exposition that weekend so there were stalls all over the Aquarium giving out free samples of salted caramel ice cream, health drinks, kale chips, cheese, hummus, chocolate, all kinds of organic food! We ate well. I also got a $5 gift card for Whole Foods by answering a question on sustainable fishing in a competition! I felt very proud of myself.

The Aquarium has some of the most amazing exhibits. They have a 'Deep Sea' exhibit with sharks, tuna, big turtles, and rays, also a seahorse exhibit which I think was my favorite, two Jellyfish exhibits, one done in a 1970s retro style with quotes by Jimi Hendrix on the walls! They have the most crazy looking jellyfish I have ever seen. Some were shaped like tiny umbrellas from Mary Poppins, while others had flashing lights on the tentacles or would just pulse on the sand. Pictures speak a thousand words so I think this post will just be an array of fish pictures! Yes, the second picture is indeed a seahorse. Did you know that seahorses have this long, romantic, mating waltz that they do to impress each other? It looks like one of the dances off of Strictly Come Dancing/ Dancing with the Stars.

The number of kids I heard screaming "Look it's Crush!!" (from Finding Nemo) as a giant turtle swam past the window to the tank was pretty ridiculous. Though, I do love that movie and i'm sure if I was younger I would be screaming the same thing! Many small children creating havoc, and parents who have the worst parenting skills trying to wrangle them made for great entertainment at lunchtime. Again, I feel like my dad.

It was such a perfect day. We got in for free thanks to one of my friends being a member and having guest passes (that saves $40!), free food, gift vouchers, beautiful weather, perfect view of the feeding of the sea otters, I just love marine life. Monterey city itself is very cute and we spent some time walking down Cannery Row looking in all the shops and debating getting a Rocky Road caramel apple. We didn't on account of being so full from all the samples we had consumed!

Apart from that, this week has been all about the studying. It was the final college night on Wednesday though which was West African themed so we gorged ourselves on chicken, sweet potatoes, chocolate dipped strawberries  and peanut butter cookies, while listening to a West African band and playing Mancala. I am too competitive, and a little bit of a sore loser I am ashamed to say. However my skills at the drinking game, Chandelier, are rapidly improving.

This week I am hopefully going to Yosemite with some friends for a very quick visit! Some guy on a UCSC rec trip got lost there over the weekend. They came back without him on the Sunday, but the helicopters found him on Monday. 48hours alone in a wilderness where bears are pretty common. I am going to be sticking firmly to the trails.
Ok, I have to get back to my 25  paper on American Muslim women and their love lives. Yep. You heard. I find it very depressing that it is Memorial Weekend (Monday off!) and my plans are me, my laptop, coffee and the library.