Leaving
I can't wait to leave. I can't get out of this house fast enough (one of my roomates just came back from wherever she was and I am now listening to the thump thump of her world music through the paper-thin wall). I have been wanting school to be finished since about the 3rd week in. I am thrilled that there are only 13 days left. I am excited to be traveling again with home as my destination, seeing family and friends, starting new work. But its pretty lonely being excited to leave a place, especially a place where nobody knew you particularly well anyway. "Go ahead and go already" is the vibe I get. Maybe I have been protecting myself all year from knowing anyone well enough that it would be hard to walk away from them. (The thumping just got louder; what if I was sleeping in here?)
anyway, yesterday, I had sort of a tourist day. I went to Ocean Beach to the oft' talked of People's Food Co-op and Old Town where I bought a San Diego sweatshirt so that for years to come I can advertise this year I've had of adventure and growth. I also went to Mission San Diego, which was the first mission in California and the namesake of the city. It is inland a short way and it was quiet and sunny there with a sweet breeze (it has been depressingly grey here for over a week!). It's just a simple old church and some half-ruined monks quarters, but it had a a contented peace about it that little in life has had of late, and that I crave. A wedding had either ended a short while ago and a photographer was moving the party around from picturesque spot to spot. I could just have easily come upon a funeral or an empty, unused church, but it was a joyful beginning that I caught a glimpse of. When I got back in the car Tess Viglund was interviewing a woman who wrote a book about how weddings are such a huge business and that a weekend limousine rental that would normally cost $450 would run you more like $700 if you happened to be wearing a puffy white dress and a veil. The writer and her husband had been married on a Thursday afternoon at the courthouse and had later thrown a big party at their house.
I came home through downtown Encinitas where I stopped to look for birthday gifts for just about everyone I know. Their is a cool old theater, La Paloma, that never seems to be playing anything I want to see, but that I really wanted to go to. The Hoax, was playing at 6:30, so I rushed home and changed into warmer, movie-going clothes and went back to the theater. It is a beautiful specimen of old west architechture, and my popcorn and soda cost drastically less than it would have at the multiplex. It was an interesting movie, with a little snafoo in the middle when the reel change went afoul, but the three old ladies I met in the bathroom and I agreed that it couldn't have happened at a better time. (I just heard a door slam. I think I am alone in the house again. Aaaah!)
What a nice way to begin to say my goodbyes! If none of the people are gushing over my departure, the city (and environs) are certainly pulling out all the stops to make me feel both welcome to have enjoyed this place for this time, and welcome to go, with no hard feelings and an open invitation to visit any time!
anyway, yesterday, I had sort of a tourist day. I went to Ocean Beach to the oft' talked of People's Food Co-op and Old Town where I bought a San Diego sweatshirt so that for years to come I can advertise this year I've had of adventure and growth. I also went to Mission San Diego, which was the first mission in California and the namesake of the city. It is inland a short way and it was quiet and sunny there with a sweet breeze (it has been depressingly grey here for over a week!). It's just a simple old church and some half-ruined monks quarters, but it had a a contented peace about it that little in life has had of late, and that I crave. A wedding had either ended a short while ago and a photographer was moving the party around from picturesque spot to spot. I could just have easily come upon a funeral or an empty, unused church, but it was a joyful beginning that I caught a glimpse of. When I got back in the car Tess Viglund was interviewing a woman who wrote a book about how weddings are such a huge business and that a weekend limousine rental that would normally cost $450 would run you more like $700 if you happened to be wearing a puffy white dress and a veil. The writer and her husband had been married on a Thursday afternoon at the courthouse and had later thrown a big party at their house.
I came home through downtown Encinitas where I stopped to look for birthday gifts for just about everyone I know. Their is a cool old theater, La Paloma, that never seems to be playing anything I want to see, but that I really wanted to go to. The Hoax, was playing at 6:30, so I rushed home and changed into warmer, movie-going clothes and went back to the theater. It is a beautiful specimen of old west architechture, and my popcorn and soda cost drastically less than it would have at the multiplex. It was an interesting movie, with a little snafoo in the middle when the reel change went afoul, but the three old ladies I met in the bathroom and I agreed that it couldn't have happened at a better time. (I just heard a door slam. I think I am alone in the house again. Aaaah!)
What a nice way to begin to say my goodbyes! If none of the people are gushing over my departure, the city (and environs) are certainly pulling out all the stops to make me feel both welcome to have enjoyed this place for this time, and welcome to go, with no hard feelings and an open invitation to visit any time!
posted by Eiren at 4:34 PM
1 Comments:
I'm so happy your leaving means coming for us on the receiving end and I expect there are more people who care about your leaving than have the good sense to express it. Your parents are coming for dinner and a movie tomorrow, if you were already here thye could bring you along as a treat, to supplement the salad and rice your mother has offered. I like you better than rice.
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