What have I been up to?

Bullet points seem most appropriate for this summary post:

• I almost forgot - we moved! Lake Merritt, in Oakland. I'm carpooling to work and we end up driving to the city every other night for something or another.
• Eric and I went to Mammoth Mountain for a few days of snowboarding during his Spring Break. We stayed at a really awesome hostel (Davison Guest House) which I highly recommend! The snow was great the first day and it was super windy/icy the following day.


• I saw my friend Kjersti, who is finishing up her third year of medical school. She's thinking about going into emergency medicine. Before that, she was thinking about surgery (which is sort of where I'm leaning). And she really enjoyed her psych rotation in Santa Barbara.


• My neice turned 3 years old! I get to see her in May!


• Eric's band, Goodbye Nautilus, played their first show at the Retox Lounge in Portrero Hill. The show was really fun, they had a lot of energy and they sounded really tight.


• I took a motorcycle training class!!!! This was the highlight of April! We had one day in a classroom and 2 days out on the "range", driving motorcycles! I think I picked it up pretty fast. Extremely thrilling. I'm not gunna go out and buy a bike, but it's just something I had wanted to do for a long time. I'm hoping to rent a bike while I'm in Europe.


• I saw Hot Chip at the fillmore! Phil and I danced to the groovy beats of this amazing band.


• Went camping in Santa Cruz. Realized my sleeping bag is too warm! The night of camping was flanked on either side by 2 goodbye nautilus shows!

On the Agenda for May: I have 2 days left of work. I've been scrambling to train my coworkers on a technique that they probably should have learned 6 months ago....but oh well. Jen's hosting a movie night (Reality Bites!) tomorrow and Friday is a work lunch at Red Robin! Eric's made some plans for the weekend, in honor of six years together. It's a surprise! And it better be good because he completely forgot last year. I'm taking my permit test for the motorcycle, and finally flying to Savannah on May 5th.

Here's a visual re-cap:

New apartment (panoramic pic with my new camera!)

Eric rocking out!

Hanging out in Santa Cruz, right by the beach, boyeeeeee!

My Last Week of Work

There's so much to do. I have no idea where to begin.
I guess I began with putting in my two weeks. I bought my ticket to Europe about a month ago.
And then I bought a tent.
And I traded in my sleeping bag for a lighter, more compact version.
I had to buy a new hiking pack because the one I had mysteriously disappeared. Good thing I've been saving money for the past few months.

I found out my friend Jen will be joining me in Spain! It's such a relief to know that I will have a traveling companion. I've never been to Europe and I've certainly never traveled alone anywhere, at least for more than a few days. One very exciting aspect of the trip that we've planned thus far is Radiohead! That's pretty much the only part we have planned out. June 12th, the Daydream Festival in Barcelona. People all around the world can agree on one thing - not war or terrorism or oil or global warming or guns - it's fucking Radiohead. They are amazing.


To break it down, I'm "moving" in with my mom for a few weeks before I head to Europe. She's already got a little list of chores she would like me to complete, but that's okay. I've got to pay my dues, I suppose. I haven't lived "at home" (and I use quotations because I don't consider Savannah my home) with my parent(s) since high school, so it should be an interesting engagement. I really just plan on going to the beach, working out (hopefully), and possibly getting another tattoo.

And then I'm off to New York for a night, and then to Barcelona. Barcelona will be my base camp and Jen and I might venture out to other places, but nothing's been planned. Eric plans on joining us on June 23rd - he has to work up until that point and then he has the whole summer off. If you're curious/jealous/spiteful/angry/happy about why he is afforded such luxury, consider getting a job as a teacher.

Jen will depart from us and then Eric and I will cruise the South of France, the North of Italy, catch a flight to Paris, and then a train to Amsterdam....meandering around said places for however long we deem necessary, until we fly home on July 17th. It's a very exciting trip; the details haven't been ironed out and things might just stay wrinkly until I find myself getting off the plane in Spain.

I have heard from a friend in Barcelona that people are living in places called occupas -basically abandoned houses taken over by a community of people. Rent-free. Sounds nice, but a bit sketch. Though Amalia says her boyfriend and she might consider living in one if they can't get a legitimate apartment in the next month.

I have a feeling it'll all come together. It better. It's not that I want it to be perfect...but I know it will be challenging and relaxing at the same time. I just hope it's a little more of the latter. This is my big summer off before I start medical school. I'm sure I'll be posting from Europe so stay tuned for the details and the wrinkles form and fade.