Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Berkeley and Back!

































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Hello All!

We had a sunny weekend in Berkeley and San Francisco after a rather foggy drive on the coast up from Los Angeles through such iconic places as Big Sur and Monterey. You see a hodge-podge of images from our time above. Q By the way, isn't Quinn a model? As for me, however, I still do not understand some basic aspect of photography.)






I think this picture is my favorite.









Berkeley was a paradise. It is a beautiful place, with loads of nature, good public transport (go BART!), views of the Bay, and an endless supply of delicious restaurants which have earned their fame. Quite a few bookstores and cats, which may be the best part!

The university is spread around, but centered very near to Reilly's dorm. Her dorm itself is new and big! Only four floors, so it feels like a sprawling apartment building with colorful patios and wide-open windows. Gender-neutral bathrooms (co-ed, that is), which is sure to be an adventure. Rei says it was creepy the first time, being followed in by a boy, but that already (one day) it seems normal. The theory is two-part: many people aren't easily defined by gender category (as the South-African runner has shown); and women's only rooms are not more safe because they are women's only, nor are men's only, the sign doesn't stop any sort of violence or such. Plus, on the lighter side, the categories of disgusting men's rooms and long-lined women's rooms break down. It seems to work well at all of their many many dorms, for thousands of students, for a couple of years now. So that's new.

Anyway, Rei seems to take to making-new-friends college life very well: "Mom, I have to hang up now, I'm making friends."

It was great to see Laura and Dave there, too! We ate beautiful, delicious, rich food for hours at Corso, and talked and talked and talked and it was wonderful!

Quinn is back on top of the visa situation. The bank-statement step of this process, supposed to be as easy as a balance statement, has turned out to be at least a two-day procrastination in an already to-the-wire process. That's put a pretty stressful tone on the week!

See you soon!

-Andy

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