Clam and Get It!

For a shorter week than normal (President's Day was on Monday so a day off to celebrate the birth of George Washington) the weekend has been a very long time coming. This week was a tough one for me for many reasons  be it work, annoying people, health and just general hormones. Facebook and Skype has been greatly appreciated this week as it is the best place to rant and rave to those people unlucky enough to be the ones you can dump your  baggage onto! Thank god for modern technology. I hate having a bad week while on the year abroad, it feels like a waste of time. But as one friend put it, doesn't matter where you are in the world, there are still going to be crappy days!

Pancake Day- definitely not a crappy day! For starters, pancakes are pretty much the best thing ever. They are the perfect vehicle for both sweet and savoury foods and we used them to their full potential on Tuesday. My roommate had a box of Bisquick ready made pancake mix where you just add water. I firmly put my foot down and said that there was no way I was making pancakes with that....it has to be done the proper way! Mine were better. We had the usual lemon and sugar ones, then we had blueberry and chocolate, cheese, sausage, bacon concoctions, nutella, peanut butter, the list is endless. We even had chicken ravioli ones where a ravioli was cooked into the batter (they were not nice).

Friday was a particularly crappy day but an improv comedy show at one of the theatre's on campus definitely put a smile on my face. Usually i'm not a fan of improv shows, there is too much room for error and extreme embarrassment on both the performer's and the audience's side. It is like watching live X Factor auditions in physical pain because of how shockingly awful they are! However there was hardly any of this (besides a few awkward moments from this one girl which both me and my friend inwardly cringed whenever she stepped forward to perform) The theatre is called 'The Barn' basically because it is a converted old barn! It is a lovely space and I kept thinking of my playwright friend at home who I could totally see doing something here!

That night some friends called us to come downtown to the bars but this time, my fake/real ID doesn't work. The bouncer on the door of this really seedy looking place was like "You know, I have never seen this before. I'm not saying that you made it at home, but you could have made it at home. It's just it's a Friday night you know..." I don't know what is so special about a Friday night but to him that was the deciding factor. I really wanted/needed a drink as well! We ended up across the street at a diner called The Saturn Cafe. It wasn't until we were inside that I was told that it was owned and run by a lesbian couple and that they only employee homosexuals to work there. Then it was obvious!  Not just that but in true Santa Cruz style, it was a vegetarian/vegan diner! I opted for the soy vanilla ice-cream which the guy was very sweet and brought free re-fills! Ice-cream is the perfect cure for anything.

Saturday was the annual Clam Chowder Cook Off at the boardwalk which was YUMMY! You pay $9 to get a tasting bowl and spoon and lots of companies and individuals had set up stands along the boardwalk, in amongst the rides and corn dog huts, where you give them a ticket and they ladel in a steaming hot pile of delicious, creamy, wholesome chowder which you slurp merrily away at with some saltine crackers or sourdough bread! You only get to sample 5 but they were all pretty damn good. Some of the teams had brilliant names; Clamma Lamma Ding Dongs, Four Men and a Clam, The Drunken Clam, We Clam Do It etc etc. My personal favourite:

The weather has been gorgeous this week. We even had a class outside on Wednesday because it was so friggin hot! I got sunburnt. Nos surprises there. It isn't supposed to last but it has been great having the sun shining, it makes it harder to be in a bad mood!