Montgomery, NJ

Rediscovering the beauty.

Going from one coast to the opposite this summer was an adventure I will never forget.

When I did get back I was viewing my hometown with a fresh new set of eyes.

I did miss the humidity. The rain storms. The green.

 

Leaving LA County

It's been real cali. Honestly it has been.

But I'm too young to be staying in one place for too long.

My feet begin to itch. I become curious, knowing my surroundings begins to bore me. That feeling of comfort isn't so comfortable any more.

I feel so young, yet so old. Twenty one in October and while it's a major milestone in many peoples lives, I'm not even excited about it. This world is so big, so many people in it and so many experiences just waiting to happen. I've only seen a select few parts of it.

This is the time of such little responsibility and even greater opportunities. Nothings holding me down or keeping me in one place.

Nothing is off limits.

"It is this idea of self-exploration that can often lead a person to some insightful conclusions about themselves."

Traveling has become a passion of mine this summer and I'm not going to just stop here. This is just the beginning to something better. It's not only the Magellan factor, it's the self discovery that comes along with it. The hands on learning. The type of learning and discovery that cannot be done anywhere else. The idea of circumstances, the idea of making connections and the idea of being open minded and uncomfortable. I'm hungry for it.

But after living without money for the better half of the summer makes a week in Kauai with the rents sound pretty amazing.  One last breath of fresh tropical air, before a semester of school near polluted Philadelphia encompasses me.

Kauai in itself is a dream. Everything about it belongs on a post card. It's such a surreal feeling.

It's such a isolating feeling, being on island. I've never been surround by so much beautiful water in my life. It's located half way between California and Asia so there is this interesting mixture of Pacific Islander and American. The island is so small though. No joke when it comes to island fever many locals have mentioned this downside to living here year round.

It was a shock leaving Long beach, which is a city to somewhere so small and isolated. I started to miss the buzz of the city and it was hard to accept this slow way of island life. The island has approximately 56,000 people on it and it's economy is primarily run by tourism. It's known to be one of the most untouched beautiful islands out of all of the Hawaiian Islands. I most definitely agree it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

The  Big Vast Beautiful Blue: the water of Kauai is so blue and beautiful yet extremely dangerous and deadly. It's so hard to believe that the water kills so many each year. Between the currents, tides and just plain tourist's ignorance or lack of knowledge. I noticed on most beaches that we went to about half had lifeguards the other half just had a red or yellow lifeguard inner tubes set up on the beach in case of emergencies. Yet if you're all alone on the beach, you might just be out of luck that day.

I love the water but I was pretty cautious because I kept having this image of myself floating too far from the island. Just the thought of how far you are away from the nearest land mass is not too comforting. I'd like to visit Asia but I don't think if i floated away from Kauai that I would make it.

The first day after arriving kind of jet lagged I dove off Kauai on a drift dive a long the Na Pali Coast. seeing spinner dolphins and mass amounts of tropical reef fish. They really made the dive an all around experience including food and ancient Hawaiian stories.

 

Horseback Riding Kaua'i: Taking the scenic route.

We took a 3 hour long scenic ride up through the volcanic ridges and down to the blue beaches of Kauai. Most likely my favorite part of the whole trip. On the best mode of transportation, on horse back, seriously no better way.

 

Precious, my horse on the left.

The red lava dirt is a significant landmark on the island. They sell Red Dirt T-shirts because there was a hurricane that flood the island dying all the tourist t-shirts. Instead of taking the flood as a feat the locals sold the red dirt dyed shirts. To this day they are a big hit on the island. The red dirt dyes the horses mane and tails on the island giving them a luscious auburn highlights. I was tempted to start rolling around in the dirt because I am in need of a new dye job.

We arrived to see 3 sea turtles swimming in the fold in the rock.

Queens Bath: one of the most beautiful places, also one of my favorite places on the Island. The water is so blue against the black lava rock. The rock is soft and smooth beneath your feet with a slight porous exfoliating texture. It held pockets of water almost like little tide pools with assortments of small crabs and fish swimming around eating the algae growing on the rocks.

Sea Turtle!

Waterfall on the walk down to Queens bath

The week was flying fast than any other ordinary week. It's crazy thinking there's places like this on Earth.

SmellLA

Lazy Days in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is 25 miles from Long Beach, yet what should be a 30 minute drive is more like an hour sometimes more. Due to the traffic but what else is new about California? The good news is that the metro seems to be easier to navigate but can also take a longer time. The transportation issue is quite discouraging which is why it has taken me this long to even step foot in LA. But I wouldn't have been able to make it anywhere with out the help of my aunt and her Honda Civic. 

Source: http://cfa.lmu.edu/programs/mft.htm

My first stop was Loyola Marymount University, for it's graduate program in marital and family therapy with specialized training in art therapy. It is known for having one of the best grad school programs for art therapy. It was a really nice small affluent private school located up on a hill away from the LA city-buzz. It was missing the environmental and artsy awareness I am looking for in a school but it's an option for grad school.

 ...Why Art Therapy?

Art is one of my greatest passions, however the field of fine art is one of the most competitive dying fields with the ever present use of technology in our society. Everything is digital and to get by as an artist in this world is not one of the easiest occupations.

What intrigues me the most about art therapy is that it is, "... a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of communication." It lets patients speak through a whole other form of communication. It lets thoughts come out that sometimes cannot even be verbalized. "Through creating art and reflecting on the art products and processes, people can increase awareness of self and others cope with symptoms, stress and traumatic experiences; enhance cognitive abilities; and enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of making art."

 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_therapy

 The idea behind art therapy and it's purpose to help people is what really attracts me to the occupation.  I've been volunteering at Long Beach Memorial Hospital at their Miller Children's Hospital and just viewing the children interacting with art can change their whole hospital experience.

 

Afterwards, my aunt and I stopped by UCLA just so I could get a look, then made our way towards little Tokyo to The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

Art In the Streets:

  the first major historical exhibition of graffiti and street art to be organized by an American museum

Graphical explanation of where Graffiti and Street Art originated

Once I found out that "Art in the Streets" was at the MOCA, I was dying to go.  Street art is the current genre of art, with the rise of Bansky, Shephard Fairy and other great artists such as Space Invader and ROA. I've been fascinated by the street art movement and following the artist's success closely through, www.woostercollective.com: a website dedicated to the collaboration of street art. The emergence of the documentary nominated for an academy award, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" made street art even more of a wide spread sensation.

Mural outside of the MOCA

The 'Art in the Streets' exhibit was banned at the Brooklyn Museum, due to it's controversial nature. 

"When a museum chooses to showcase street art, it is often seen as its endorsement, which invariably feeds the flame of the ongoing debate about the merits of illegal vandalism as valid and appreciated art." 

Source: http://m.ibtimes.com/art-in-the-street-brooklyn-museum-moca-graffiti-street-art-167781.html

Art in the Streets is the first major historical exhibition of graffiti and street art to be organized by an American museum. It explores the history of street art emerging in the the 1970's in New York, East Los Angeles, and the surf and skate culture in Venice beach and Santa Monica.  

[I find this to fancy my interest because I'm from the east coast (an NYC connection) yet I've been skating and surfing here in Cali where I have residing so close to and visited LA, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I have really enjoyed seeing the street art emenating all over these cities, I especially loved the freedom and creativity of Venice beach. Is this telling me something? haha. All I know is that I am in love with the street art/skating/surfing culture here. Some people feel like they are born in the wrong body, but I feel like I've been born on the wrong coast] 

The exhibit was exceedingly broad encompassing music, dance film and fashion, almost a little bit overwhelming at times, I was wondering what some of the things they brought to together had to do with street art, some pieces pretty random with some sort of connection to street art. Yet different sections of the exhibit where displayed very comprehensively, orderly and pleasing to the eye. Other parts were extremely chaotic only feeding into the the complete and utter lack of limits/law the underground street art movement portrays.  

Banksy

Personally I disliked the way the Bansky and Shepherd Fairey exhibits were displayed. Along with some other parts of the exhibit, they seemed to disrupt the flow of the exhibit making them loose their initial purpose. Some were just  thrown in without explanation or how they  connected to the  exhibition as a whole. I was disappointed the Bansky and Fairey exhibit was way too clustered for me to enjoy.

Shepherd Fairey's Obey campaign

Fairey has such layered pieces of work I love being able to get inches way from it to see each an every piece of paper and layer of spray paint used in his elaborate collages. Yet a lot of his pieces at well as Bansky's were to high up for me to view and appreciate the way I enjoy an art exhibit. 

Overall the exhibit really brought to thought the idea of street art and what defines it. What makes some reckless scribble on a wall into a great master piece? Why are Banksy's pieces going for millions at auctions yet gang art is being fought against and painted over? Why is it that when one tag is found within the week many more are to follow? What connects people on this art wave? Is it just the act of rebellion or the real pleasure of spreading art outside of the walls that encompass it. Immersing society in it, stimulating our creative sides.

NorCal

Surflining up the coast.

Surfliner Route

Itching to discover California, I was able to figure out my way to head up the coast. Cali isn't the best when it comes to navigating public transportation. There are spurts of metros and buses in cities but the farther away from a city you are the harder it is to get around, almost impossible.

California is a car culture, "California was designed for cars; nearly all tourist facilities, shopping centers, and workplaces are built with the assumption that everyone at least has access to a car." Luckily, Amtrack can help you travel pretty far up and down the coast. It's navigating how to get on and off the train.

Source: http://www.caldrive.com/intro.html

Amtrack's Pacific Surfliner was actually the best possible way to see California coast. It was one of the most memorable, beautiful train rides I have ever been on. It treks literally right along the coast of California. Riding along side the ocean for long stretches. It was an gorgeous experience to see the waves crashing in for miles while your on a train, a once in a lifetime experience. All the passengers around me stirred when the waves looked like they could almost touch the train.  Then we coasted through beautiful undeveloped landscapes with the occasional city in between. California is so big and pristine the landscape is so different from anything I have ever seen on the east coast.

I never thought a train ride could be so purely scenic and pleasant, even though it was a 5 hour long ride. And that was just the train, after I arrived in San Luis Obispo, I had to take a 3 hour bus ride the rest of the way, to finally arrive in the the second-most densely populated large city in the United States after New York City, San Fransisco. It just buzzed with excitement.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco

Berkeley, it was worth the wait. 

Berkeley is a really interesting academic university, set up perfectly for that intimate campus feel, yet so close to San Fransisco you can see it. That is you can see it most of the time when it's not cloudy. Grey May and June Gloom do exist in San Fransisco, either that or it could just be the fog from the mountains. The temperature is also a LOT colder than sunny Long Beach, California. Something I was not so fond of.  The days were pleasant but at times almost too hot then plummeting at night getting incredibly cold.

The school has so much to offer. Which helps explains it's impressive reputation. What I loved the most about Berkeley was that it instilled in it's students that any thing is possible.  If you put enough effort and brain power into what you are truely passionate about will happen.

           Co Ops

The Co ops offered at Berkeley are a really neat alternative for housing. I wish more schools offered them. They are nonprofit and student run making housing affordable for students that want to live near campus.  Respectively, housing for students should not be as expensive as most schools make it.

The Co op is a great opportunity within itself to  be a part of you're living community and to get an experience that is one of a kind, as well as resume worthy. Talking to one of the residents, they told me someone landed a job as a chef at a high end restaurant based on their experience at preparing community dinners for the co op . There are other job positions such as the events coordinator, putting on entertainment for a large amount of people is not an easy task and takes a lot of coordination and skill.

There are ups and downs to a co op, the students have to maintain the building therefore the students had a lot more respect for what type of a mess they made. However, it is housing run by college kids meaning not everyone's standard of clean is the same. Regardless puke, clogged toilets and backed up sinks do happen. Each resident must sign up for work shifts at the co op to help maintain the ability for the co op to function, at the same time keeping the price of the co op low. These jobs range from dish washing, bathroom duty, hallway vacuuming, to cooking for the whole co op during the school year. These jobs increase the amount of respect the students have for their living community, not taking their living arrangements for granted. Yet it is one more thing to balance under the pressure of school.

I personally loved the dynamic of the co op, it was very open and easy going. Giving the students the freedom and responsibility including a big influential voice in how they would like to live. While helping to develop and great opportunities and learning experiences during your college experience.

On top of it all the co op I stayed in was very eco-friendly they had recycling, trash and composting cans readily accessible in the kitchen.  The obtained their basic food supplies (ie flour, sugar, eggs, milk, soy milk, oil, spices) in bulk from wholesalers and local community farms. The students have access to all of these basic cooking necessities making cooking even more affordable and eco-friendly while supporting the local community. 

The Co op facilitates the students to unleash their creativity, allowing them to paint the walls of their rooms and hallways. Promoting all forms of self expression and limitless aspirations. The paintings set an overall relaxed artistic tone that kept your humor and childhood in check. Relieving the stress that a top rating university can have on a student.

San Fran

We took a long long walk to to see the golden gate bridge. I made the mistake of wearing shorts, silly me I thought I was in California during the summer. I heard they can tell who the tourists are by who wears warm weathered clothes on the bridge. It was FREEZING on the bridge as we walked towards it, the farther the temperature dropped and more more the wind blew. The bridge is an extremely iconic land mark and a large tourist attraction known across the world. Yet it is the one site in the world that the most people commit suicide at. "The deck is approximately 245 feet (75 m) above the water. After a fall of approximately four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75mph. Most jumpers die from impact trauma on contact with the water. The few who survive the initial impact generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water."

It intrigues me that this simple structure draws in so many people from all over the world with one-way airplane tickets to commit suicide, however 83% are Bay area residents.  "The typical jumper is a 40-year-old, single white man. More students hurl themselves over the railing than any other occupation." The fatality rate is 98% the ones that do survive usually land feet first in the water and usually survive with server injuries.

The Bridge a documentary filmed by Eric Steel captured 23 suicides on film in 2004 that occurred at the bridge within a matter of months. The documentary features the families, loved ones and spectators of the victims that ended their lives at the bridge.  The approximation of the total number of suicides committed at the bridge are 1,400 to 1,500.

The good news: "The bridge is fitted with suicide hotline telephones, and staff patrol the bridge in carts, looking for people who appear to be planning to jump. Iron workers on the bridge also volunteer their time to prevent suicides by talking or wrestling down suicidal people." I find it intriguing that the iron workers of all people are the ones luring people off the bridge. It takes a lot to save a life especially when people are trying to take their own. Why are the iron workers the only ones with this responsibility? Because there is no one else.

More good News: The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District has been trying to raise $50 million for construction of a suicide barrier that district board members approved in 2008. Despite engineering difficulties, high costs, and public opposition of cost, aesthetics, and safety. Fortunately the suicide prevention barrier should be in place by mid-2014. But it makes me wonder what will happen when it's in place. Will it just become more or a challenge or will is completely change the world renown suicide pit.

Sources: http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-01-05/bay-area/27010980_1_bridge-rail-foundation-highway-and-transportation-district-suicide-barrier ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge#Suicides

On a less depressing note we also visited the fisherman's warf, Lombard street see photos below:

super cute yet super smelly!

Alcatraz

Lombard Street

View of the whole San Francisco area

Beautiful beaches known for the surf but also great whites! No bueno.

Botanical Gardens at Berkeley

Map of the Gardens

I decided to explore the Berkeley area, not only Telegraph street and the fire trails in the hills of Berkeley but the popular botanical gardens Cal has to offer. 

Redwood Forrest

Back to the LB

My visit at Berkeley was a lot of fun and quite pleasant but the ride back was pretty tiresome and long. Unfortunately I wasn't on the Surfliner on my way back, so the train ride wasn't as pleasant. I was hesitant to go back after a week but my wallet was hurting after a week and I really just missed the warmth and surf of the beach.