Oh Crap

Yesterday, I was a communication major.

Today, I'm a biochemistry major.

"Just" a Hike

       

(At the edge of the lagoon)

I'm officially in Santa Barbara for school now! Technically, move-in is tomorrow, so I'm just chilling in a hotel typing up a blog post on some pretty sweet free wifi, but well, Santa Barbara is going to be home for the next (at least) 4 years. I'm pretty lucky I chose the most beautiful UC campus.

There is so much flora surrounding the school. Paths meander along the edges of campus, wandering along the edges of the sea cliffs. Gorgeous blooms of pink, yellow, and purple dot the landscape, and bright greens occasionally appear amidst the drab brown landscape. Although the cliffs aren't necessarily high, I still felt tendrils of apprehension wrapping around my stomach when I looked over the edge, because it seemed like it would be so easy to fall. But the water, lapping at the shore some ten feet below, seemed calm and serene.

I walked a few of the paths today, wandering along the edges of the lagoon, and then following the edge of the cliffs.  As I hiked, I kept snapping photo after photo of the ocean, of interesting trees and of beautiful flowers, none of which I know the names of. Of course, I enjoyed the weather, sunny with a few scattered clouds. It was only in the mid 70's, which was a welcome respite from the weeks of 100+ degree weather from San Marino! Santa Barbara being 30 degrees is reason enough to stay here, because, well... summers in the LA county are just B-R-U-T-A-L.

Also, I was pretty surprised at the amount of "fauna" in SB. I saw flocks of birds, five or six lizards, and bugs of all types... as well as 68 pokemon today (ugh I know, I caught on to the craze...). Hahaha okay, but in all seriousness, it was cool to see people out on the beaches, playing in the ocean with their dogs and what not. It makes me so excited to come to school here.

(I'm just posting a few photos I took today on my hike...)

Something I thought was super cool was the stone labyrinth. There was a little informational sign near it, saying that there was no wrong way to walk the labyrinth, and that the entire distance of the maze was 0.6 miles.  I walked it (took me around 10 minutes) and once I was done, I had to take a moment to appreciate how much work went into the labyrinth... people had to bring the stones up, line them up in a maze, and then walk and measure how long it took to walk. And I was tired from just walking the maze... it definitely made me think. And I think this will be one of my favorite places to spend time this summer, and for the next few years.

(The labyrinth!)

I know I said I didn't feel ready to move on, and I still stand by that. But the beauty of the campus definitely quells the homesickness, and I guess I feel a little more ready.

Not Ready to Move On

I'm going to Santa Barbara tomorrow.

I'm not ready. There's so much I haven't finished... and I don't mean packing.

Because, well, look:

(Mountain of "stuff")

There is no way I didn't pack enough...haha. I have boxes of things, and new shoes, and sheets, and pillows and notebooks and just a lot of stuff.

I just don't think I finished everything I wanted to do. I've been ready to leave San Marino for a few years now, or so I thought. Because, well...tomorrow is the beginning of a new adventure. I'm going to Santa Barbara for orientation, for the freshman summer start program, and for a few months, with a couple weeks of break in between.

I'm alternating between excitement and terror... I'm excited, I really am. but it's just that San Marino was hard for me to get through... and I hope Santa Barbara won't be the same. Somehow, though, San Marino was "home." And when I leave, I'll be leaving behind some wonderful people, memories, and places. I'll miss so many people so much, and it's hard to imagine leaving. I'm not ready to move on.

But I don't have a choice - I leave tomorrow and it's going to be fun, I know. I'll be going to school by the beach, and I fell in love with the campus back in March or April, so having to spend a few weeks/months/years somewhere I love doesn't really seem that bad. So I'll be okay.

But why is it so hard to convince myself?

Sew What?

If you checked out my senior project blog, you'll sort of know of what happened during the second half of my senior year. Long story short, my left arm had a large bone growth: a benign bone tumor. However, it was large enough to start impeding on my radial and ulnar nerves, as well as a handful of other fairly notable ones, which caused my entire left arm to lose function.

Around the same time, I was doing my senior project, which was quilting. And well, it's hard to sew one-handed. I detailed a lot of my frustration on that other blog, so if you're really that interested (hey, no judgement here), go check it out by that link above.

Well, I'm leaving to go to Santa Barbara for college in a couple days (WOOT WOOT GO GAUCHOS). And I just wanted to prove to myself that my arm is at least 80%. I may not be able to use it quite as well as before, but I was able to sew a little pouch out of some pretty pink flowery fabric.

Sewing is still as difficult as I remember... so nothing has really changed. :)

Mykonos, Greece

Why is Europe like a giant frying pan?

Because Greece is at the bottom!!! :)
--

Greece is HOT! We took the day off from our actual duties and took a visit to Delos, an island known for being Apollo's birthplace. It was absolutely magical! Though there were a lot of spiky plants that scraped up my legs... and again, it was really hot. We were only able to explore for 2 hours (there really is no shade on the island) before we were all hot and tired and ready to return to Mykonos to explore.

(Delos Island, Greece)

So then we hit up Mykonos. And I don't know how to describe how beautiful the city was, so just take a look below for yourself. Greece just has a certain charm, I guess, and is irresistable. Looking at the photos makes me want to go back. It really is just that pretty.

Mykonos was designed in a way that was supposed to be confusing, so that pirates would get all confused when chasing people who lived there. But it really wasn't that big so it's hard to get truly lost, and was super duper enjoyable to walk around. My feet hurt a lot after... :)

(Mykonos, Greece)

Also, there are tons of stray cats! Seeing that I want to be a cat when I grow up, this was a nice thing to find. The cats, for the most part, didn't seem to be starving. I saw a lot of cat food around, and absolutely no cat poop... Mykonos takes care of their strays, I guess. I have at least 100 photos of cats in Greece alone... here are just a few highlights...

                  

I assume these photos don't need captions. Cats are so cute... and there were so many! Cat heaven.

Oh yeah, Mykonos has these five windmills on a hill. Not sure what those were about, but oh well. They were really picturesque and just added to the overall beauty of the city. So...yeah. Mykonos was really fun and I absolutely loved it!




Must Do:
- Get a gyro at Jimmy's
- Check out Amnesia
- Check out the beaches... the water is so so clear
- Take a ton of photos of the city

Istanbul, Turkey

Turkey! Seriously one of the coolest places I've ever been to.

(Hagia Sofia)

The mosques here are just spectacular. The bazaars are a bit bizarre, but really fun and busy. The people here are super nice (it isn't weird for someone you just met on the streets to invite you home for lunch or dinner) and there are so many sights to see, people to meet, and stray dogs and cats to pet...if you dare. I didn't really.

Turkey has the Turkish Lira, which is really quite a pretty word. Lira is totally something I'd name a potential future daughter. I could tell her that she's so valuable to me, I named her for money, except one lira is about 30 cents here... so perhaps 1000000000 lira would be a better name... hahaha.

(Probably a million dollars worth
of handwoven carpets.)

 We also got to stop by a carpet warehouse where they got us cold refreshing drinks and tried to sell us carpets. I asked about one that was 8.5 inches by 11 inches (the size of a standard sheet of paper in the US) and was told that it cost $725 (a bargain!!!) and was the result of a month and a half of work by a master carpet maker, and that it contained over 200,000 knots.

A little out of my price range, but definitely very pretty. The carpets were super intricate, and looked like a pain in the behind to make. What astounded me was the sheer quantity of carpets in the warehouse... years and years of hard work.

Just pure craziness, I tell you... hahaha.

We also visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, the Spice Bazaar, the Grand Cistern, and tons of other really neat places.

At the Spice Bazaar, we learned how to tell real saffron from fake saffron (real saffron in cold water turns urine yellow. Fake saffron turns barely yellow... sorry for the mental image!) There were bins of dried fruits, which were gorgeous because of all the colors!

(Dried fruit!)

We brought home some turkish delight, some tea, and a few trinkets. Turkey is just so so beautiful, and impossible not to love.

Another thing Turkey is known for are their turkish towels. They're expensive here in the US but super cheap in Turkey - anywhere from 5 lira (~$1.50) to 15 lira (~$5.00). I purchased two, and they're my new favorite thing!

(Blue Mosque lights)

When we were there, there was some sort of celebration and thousands of people were gathered in the area between and around Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, spending time with family and feasting after a fast. Lights were playing on the Blue Mosque and boy, was it gorgeous... I loved every moment of it.

Unfortunately, a couple days after we left, tensions started rising in Turkey, and I'm sure we've all heard the news (and more news... :( ). Prayers to Turkey - although I'm grateful that we got out of there in the nick of time... I'm devastated for those that didn't make it, or/and are still stuck in Turkey, terrified for their lives. It's really truly awful.

Let's Go to Europe For a Month!

I'll be heading off to Europe for just over a month (at least that's the plan...)

I'll be touching down in Istanbul, and then slowly making my way across the Mediterranean. Along the way, I'll be visiting Greece, Malta, Italy, France, Monaco, Morocco, and Spain. I think it'll be really really fun!

After Europe, I plan to fly to Taiwan and spend some time with family, but that can change depending on health issues and typhoons. Seeing that I start college July 26th (technically August 1st, but then I need to move in and do orientation, so I leave July 26th), I need to get my stuff done.

If things go according to plan, I'll be home on July 23rd. If things fail spectacularly, I'll either be home July 13th, or never... definitely hoping it isn't the latter. Bad jokes aside, it really is looking like the 13th. The last time I went to Taiwan, I got home three days later. I don't have the three days to spare this year.

But anyway, we're heading off to the airport soon. I'll try to post selfies and what not, but won't be able to post photos of the kids. It's apparently illegal or something, so photos of me will have to suffice. :)