Switchfoot

My Backyard

Think. Think and Read.

My dorm room is flooded with light and the maps on my wall are tauntingly illuminated. I have the world at my fingertips and it's easy to get lost in traveler's daydreaming. There are so many countries, so many beautiful, mysterious places I long to see...but for now, these maps will have to suffice.

My roommate and I had a hard workout last night. We spent over an hour on cardio, rowing, and stair-steps and my poor body cried out in protest. I guess it really took it out of me though, because without even trying, I slept in until 10am. It felt divine. I know that once school starts my life will be an insane swirl of lectures, readings, papers, and thinking, so having this week to sleep and bask in the sunlight is wonderful.

For the first time in weeks and weeks, I have nothing to do. There's nowhere to be, no-one to report to, nothing critical I have to attend to, no work, no deadlines, no immediate responsibilities. It's a strange feeling, but I love the peace and stillness. The utter quiet of my day. I can sit and think, breathe in the ocean air, read, write, explore, think...and my soul feels refreshed. I needed this. I needed to just stop and let the world revolve without me for a couple days.

I picked up my books yesterday; 12 books in 10 weeks. I can do this, right? They're thick, heavy, and filled with new ideas and perspectives. I was skimming through them last night before bed and was delighted with how fascinating and varied they are..."Haiti; After the Earthquake", "Tropic of Chaos", "Playing with Fire; Feminist Thought and Action through Seven Lives in India", "The Nazi Doctors", "Hitler's Willing Executioners". These books will be intriguing and difficult, especially the ones for my Holocaust/Genocide class. They're heavy. Full of anguish. Intense. I'm super thankful my surfing class is immediately after that class; I'll need to get out on the waves to think and recover.

I'm going to curl up and read. And read. And think and read.

I really love this.

SD Happiness

I love San Diego. I love being here. I love the weather. I love the sunshine and beach air. I *don't* like not having my Sac people here. But I'm 100% in love with SD.

Today has been beautiful, in every sense of the word. The ocean breeze is gentle as it tousles my hair and I can't help but smiling as I walk around campus. MY campus! I explored the bus system, turned in an application for a tour-guide position (wouldn't that be fun!), am about to explore the bookstore and pick up my books, and tonight I'm hitting the gym with my uber cool roommates.

And I have animal cookies. Life is really, really good.

:D

Breathtaking

This morning I woke up to the sound of the San Diego breeze playing with my string of pearls and I smiled. The street below was shrouded by the ocean fog, but if you squinted at the horizon, you could peer through and see the sea. I live in paradise.

They tell you to never shop when you're hungry, but they must have never been a college student. Since moving into my new dorm yesterday morning (!!), I've been ravenous. Maybe it's the adrenaline of moving into a new place or maybe it's the physical strain of hauling boxes around, whatever it is, I feel like a teenage boy.

It's surreal being here. I look around me; at the beach, at the palm trees, at this incredible campus, at the UCSD bag that's sitting on my table, and I can hardly believe it. Is this me? Really? I've dreamt about being here for so many months, planned and researched as much as humanly possible, and now I'm here! It's breathtaking and school hasn't even started yet. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

And yet, I really miss Sacramento...well, actually, more like the people who live there. It's so hard being away from the people I love; I want to share my day with them, whisper funny things in their ear, laugh with them, explore SD with them, run across the sand to the ocean with them, hug them, and be hugged by them. But they're 500 miles away. It's really, really hard.

A blazing sun is now setting over the writhing blue of the sea. It's an incredible contrast; the flaming oranges and red of the San Diego sunset suddenly collide with the deep, cold blackness of the watery horizon. And I get to sit in my bed and watch it all. In my bed! B.B. King is quietly serenading me - it's a bluesy kind of night - and my phone vibrates with an incoming text. It's hard leaving my friends and family so far away, but God has surrounded me with every possible beautiful thing. Everything I have *ever* wanted, I now have. It's incredible really.

San Diego With the Lights Off

Dreams

Today is my last day in Sacramento before I move to San Diego for (at least) the next two years. I feel that somehow my subconscience is already missing home because I had the saddest, most emotional dreams last night. Face after face, moment after moment, my dreams were filled with the people I love and whom I know I'm going to miss.

I received a touching letter, unconditional hugs, a smile from a tired face, and quiet encouragement. My dreams were a stream of beautiful experiences and memories - and now I sit and wonder, "was that real?" "Did that happen long ago?"

San Diego is going to be a dream in and of itself; my excitement is growing by the hour. And yet, the part of me that's in denial about leaving my home and friends is now invading even my dreams. Now I'm just waking up and I'm already nostalgic and missing people.

Oooo....today's going to be a long day.