Stephen just got back from Iceland around 10 hours prior to him picking me up. He was very jet lagged. We headed to the store for some groceries for the week, we started to think about some things to do this weekend, and then got back to his apartment. It was a pretty easy day. The next morning Stephen, Bailey and I headed off to a very small beach with tide pools. Unfortunately the tide pools were too rough and closed off. We decided to go down to the beach anyway to check out the shoreline. We figured we drive an hour we might as well go check it out.
Stephen and I took a ton of pictures throughout our couple days. Thanks Stephen for sending the pics! :)
We went down below. There were TONS of pelicans and birds on the water.
As you can see there are tons of birds that are diving into the shallow water to feed on the school of fish. There was an endless count of fish. If you can see the dark spots in the water that extend all along the coast, then you can see how many fish were talkin about. There were thousands upon thousands out there which made it look like a giant shadow in the water.
We walked down the beach a bit, took some more pictures of the wildlife surrounding us, and then decided to swim.
So we were swimming and went out a little I the dark spots. Which is when we found out that it was fish and not a shadow or seaweed. It was so interesting. You are surrounded by fish and as soon as you make a quick movement, immediately the fish formed a starburst swimming away from the kicks of our feet. It was actually quite funny.
Next, we turn around and we see a wild sea lion come up near us feeding on the fish as well. The sea lion was approximately 25ft away. (Sound right Bailey and Stephen?).. We saw his face launch up diagonally and his eyes met ours. He looked directly at us. That was intense. Awesome!
We didn't get many pictures of the sea lion sadly. Here is one that I got but it's a little out of focus. His head is poppin up here. :)
Next we decided to go check out a church. I think Stephen mentioned that it was on a list of places his sister found that some guy made about LA unknown spots to see.
It was a nice unique church that is not a common thing in this area. It was very green, had the look out over the beach we were at, some nice water streams, and a very nice steeple. That took all but 10 minutes to check out.
Next was the hike! We then drove a bit further to an awesome cliff side view.
The hike down the cliff was very steep and, well.... Yeah. The pictures don't do it justice. Though, it WAS an official trail! :)
We kept on going made it down to the shoreline, walked along some pretty large rocks the whole way around the bend. We came by a small little hut someone must have made. Pretty cool.
We hiked along for about .5 miles total until we reached this ship wreck.
The ship wreck was from the 60's. The thing that made this so cool was that it wasn't preserved for tourists. It's a small piece of history that was left in it's natural environment. The ships pieces stretched along the shore line, all orange/brown colored from rust, with some parts still in tact. The anchor crank was still all together (at least I think it was the anchor gears).
This was definitely worth the time it took to get here and the dust we had to walk through. Some may have seen my picture on Facebook of my boots, but here it is again for those who haven't. It was SO dusty.
We then headed back to the apartment and played some 7 Wonders! I'm sorry for those of you who are begging to play some more with me, and I'm not around to supply the game. :| haha. But this was a huge game!!
Stephen, Howard, a new friend Alyssa, Bailey and I went to the beach the next day. Pretty simple day here except the HUGE waves we were body surfing. I must say I rode one in right away that was soooo epic! I hate using the word epic. So it was awesome. I went in for the next ride and as I swam right on the wave as I was breaking, I rode this one way high up, carrying me over the wave riding it like Seabiscut on a racetrack. The part I'm not telling you is that the shoreline had a ton of big rocks with sharp edges between the waves and the sand.
My body slammed down into the rocks as the wave pulled me forward up towards the sand. The aftermath....
We swam back in and rested a bit. I fell asleep for about an hour on the beach. Felt good!
One more time we went back into the waves and Stephen took his underwater camera. This was so funny to have with us as these waves pummeled us. Definitely had a good day, even though I got owned by the rocks and waves. :D
We then headed back, played 7 Wonders again, did some laundry so I was good to go, and then got my game on with Stephen playing some Super Monkey Ball too! Only a quick round though.
It was great to see all of his friends that I met last time I was out here. Till next time Howard, Christoph, Belinda, Vicky, Vipul, Tristen and Arpna! (spelling?? :|) haha I'm sorry if I butchered that.
I keep thinking about how all of these cool things I'm experiencing keeps shaping me as a person. More specifically, becoming closer to a culturally competent educator. I don't know if I want to be an official educator for more than the few months I will be teaching. I can however still educate others, as they educate me, outside a classroom setting. Being culturally competent is such an interesting idea. Can one ever reach this? It's constantly changing and who is to say that one person is culturally competent? What puts them at a higher rank of being culturally competent? I'm rambling.
I can't believe how much I want to share these moments not just with my best friends and everyone else, but that one significant other that we all crave for. I still find it incredible how I was only able to know Kat for such a short amount of time but feel this strongly. We FaceTimed last night before she went to work and before I went to bed. :| I got like two hours of sleep I was up late packing again. It's so awesome to be able to see her and speak to her through my phone. I kept thinking about how I won't be able to FaceTime for a while. Let alone communicate and access to wifi, if I am going to even have any wifi fast enough to FaceTime.
I can already tell that the moments I have with people are going to be ever so cherished that much more from this point on.
While in LA I had a tad more planning to finish up for India, which I did. I altered my itinerary a little. I will be landing in Delhi at 11pm at night on September 3rd India time. I will then wait 11 hours to board yet another plane to Dehrudun Jolly Grant Airport. I will take a taxi or some form of public transit to my hotel in Rishikesh, which I believe to be the yoga capital of the world. This is in the foothills of the Himalayan Range. First stop, the hills. I then fly back to New Delhi on the 6th.
It's been crazy, LA! As usual I had a blast. Thanks so much Stephen!!!!!!!!!! For it all! Next time you'll make it to the range with me. :)
To friendships! 
To begin my journey from LA, Stephen was racing me to the airport. Traffic was intense. On the way I called my Grandmom to say my farewells. She asked me again where it was I was going. I told her India and Thailand and she started to shake up a little and said 'be careful. I love you.' It was really nice to talk to her before I left and I'm glad I was able to hear her voice before I left 8 told her I would be careful, I loved her too and I'd see her soon. Hopefully I can FaceTime during the holidays. :)
Next call: my bank to make sure I can use my cards abroad, and they mention to me that I may have issues even though Visa cards work in India. Expect the unexpected! I now have to also get MORE money out before I get on the plane. I got to the Air Canada check in an hour and 30 minutes ahead if take off. The line was moving slow. I got checked in with about an hour left to go through security. Luckily security was fast and I zoomed right through into my gate. About 45 minutes before we take off, I charge up my phone a bit and take out 360.00 USD for my two weeks in India. I landed in Toronto and got some rupees exchanged. I now have 22,500 rupees with me
I am now on my plane to Munich, Germany. My connection from LA->Toronto->Munich-> Delhi. I arrived in Toronto and the wifi was not working well at all. It's going to be so difficult to not have any contact with anyone. I have so many thoughts running through my mind. I was just able to FaceTime with my old Johnson Staff as well. It was awesome to see all them together at once. I hope I can skype or FaceTime many of you when I have good wifi. It would be amazing. Being this far, with limited connectivity, alone..... Definitely gives me chills. Not to mention the weather. If you have any luck with changing the weather, please do it for me. Luckily I just bought some rain resistant covers for my backpacks from REI in LA.
The plan: New Delhi to Dehrudun via flight to Rishikesh via taxi. Rishikesh to Dehrudun via taxi, to New Delhi via flight. New Delhi to Agra via train. Agra to Kolkatta (Calcutta) via sleeper train. Kolkatta to Chennai via sleeper train. Chennai to Bangkok, Thailand via flight.
Wish me luck. I'm definitely nervous right now. Especially with the weather.
Love all of ya! Time to NIKE THIS SHIT.....
'Just do it.'
To the next Venture On!
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