Road Trip: Day 1 and Day 2

The road trip got off a little later than initially planned but off nonetheless. Got up at 5 am on Friday to the sound of my TARDIS alarm going off. I packed my stuff in the car, ate some toast, drank some coffee and got in the car.

The first day was mostly about getting through California as quickly as we could. We only stopped for gas, food, and the bathroom. My dad had me trying to take pictures of the Camio Real markers and I got some decent roadside pics of norcal like this one.


We went across the Golden Gate bridge which was really cool. I got some decent photos in the fog through the window. Most of the first day it was raining. By the time we got to Eureka it was dark and we were all tired so we called it a day.


Day two started with a drive through the Redwood State Park which was amazing. It was raining but that almost made it better. The rest of the day consisted of the stopping at different places on the Oregon coast checking out the coastline and the great rocks in the surf. I don't think I've seen the ocean look so wild and beautiful before.








We have a few more lighthouses on the trip for tomorrow. This one, the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, was really cool and one of the three lighthouses in Oregon still maintained by the coastguard. It has this really amazing lens that I took a few pictures of. Tomorrow should have some more great shots. I'm enjoying the rain but I'm kinda hoping it lets up a little.


I really wish we could go to portland but that will have to be on an other trip. I hope this finds you well and things are good.

Peace and Love,

Liesbeth

Long silences leads to overthinking

My first full quarter back in Santa Barbara hasn't been the easiest transition but I didn't honestly think it was going to be. My sister tried to comfort me when I was a little disappointed in my grades saying that I was going '0 to 150 mph academically'. It felt more like I was going 0 to 60 mph in a old VW bug... slow and the bottom feels like it's going to drop out at any moment.

I have been missing a lot about last year but mostly felt very much over where I find myself now. I would not change anything about last year, but the consequence of having to stay in Santa Barbara for an extra year. I was planning to move down town to get out of the infamous Isla Vista but I've been rethinking that. I don't want to have to take the bus everyday. Isla Vista actually can be really nice when there is no one there or for coffee and a meal. I've tried to go socialize with old friends but most of the time I find myself really bored, mostly because I have been choosing not to drink with them. Sober Sally amongst college students is pretty boring.


The streets were empty when I took a walk after finals were over. Usually at eight at night there are a fair few people out and about but not over the break. Isla Vista basically shuts down. So I've been knitting a lot. Mostly scarves for the girls I lived with last year and some friends around the country.
My plans for spring break are coming together and it's looking like a great time. My friend Ben and I are planning a nice east coast adventure and the people we have met and became friends with in Scotland are making it awesome. We are starting out by flying to Boston where we are going to stay with Ben's childhood friend who goes to college there. Hopefully I will get to see two of my friends who go to school a couple of hours outside Boston. We are going to take the train to Providence and spend a day with a high school friend of mine who is working there right now. Then we are flying to Richmond, VA to stay with another friend. He's told me already that we are going to the shooting range and that I need to tone down my 'hippiness' when I'm there. I jokingly send him pictures of all the overly 'hippy' things I do. Mostly organic food and coffee I order. haha. Then we are flying home. I'm looking forward to it very much.

Speaking of adventures, my dad, sister and I are road tripping it up the coast to my gradpa's near Seattle. I think it's going to take nearly four days. I'm going to try and take lots of pictures. I'm hoping to do a day to day update on here.

Hoping you all are having a good Holiday time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Peace and Love
Liesbeth

Summer Stuff

Update of the summer so far. Tomorrow is my last day of my first class of the summer and I start the new class starting next week. For some reason all my pictures uploaded in reverse chronological order and I just can't be bothered to fix it so I'll just put a little something under each. As far as my classes are concerned I've mastered solving 1st order differential equations using linear algebra. I never want to look at a 2x2 matrix and wonder what its eigenvalues and vectors are, unfortunately I have another six weeks of vector calculus coming up. I can't wait till fall so I can get back to chemistry. Suffering that I can appreciate.

July- My friend Evan, who goes to Cal, that I met in Scotland (he was studying in Glasgow and his girlfriend and I were friends in Edinburgh... small world), and I were exploring campus. We went to the forth floor of the library and were walking about and ran into an entire section of the library on Scotland. We were super stoked on it!

July- My friend JR(on the left), from Maryland (who I also met in Edinburgh) and my friend Ben, who goes to UCSB with me, spent about three days hanging out at Ben's flat. We bought a nice bottle of whisky (Macallan Cask Strength) to celebrate being together again. It was so awesome to see him again. I hope that it's not too long before we are able to share a dram together again.

July- I was fishing of the Goleta pier and I saw the King's Flag (one of Scotland's two flags) flying on this boat. I had the biggest smile on my face for the rest of the day.


July 4th- The top picture is an amazing homemade berry cake that my friend Laura made in her massive feast. She made a colonial themed feast with meat pies, roasted pigeons and rabbit, cherry pie, and more.

That's all for now.

Peace and Love,
Liesbeth

Back in the thick of it

I haven't updated since April so I'm going to share my last month or so first, then my thoughts on the Beautiful game and World Cup and lastly a short update on how I'm doing now.

The last two months in Edinburgh mostly consisted of me sitting in my room at my flat trying to cram for my exams. The UK system has end of the year exams lasting nearly a whole month. My first exam was April 27th and my last was May 21st. So after London with my friend Laura I was in Edinburgh till I left for home. Exams are so stressful over there. They put you in a room with multiple classes and you have bar codes and multiple booklets to write in. Very much reminded me of the AP and SAT tests that I had thought I had left behind in high school.

When I wasn't studying I was spending time with my friends and I miss them so much. There were about four or five going away events that I went to. The picture is a pretty good tapas place we went to for my friend Laurel. I'm all the way in the back. These tapas were not traditionally served with drinks and were pretty expensive but they were way more tasty than the tapas I had in Madrid. haha. The last couple of days consisted of spending a lot of time with my wonderful Scottish friends. I was lucky enough to have my friend Nick drive me to the airport when I left. Nick is in the picture on the left. He's the one in the burgundy polo shirt. He's a totally goof ball and I just love him to death. We were listening to the Beatles on the way to the airport so a few songs have a whole new meaning to me. The journey back was far too many hours lurking about airports. The British Airways strike forced me to spend the night in Heathrow, a good 13 hour wait from when I got there to when I could get on my flight back to California. Once I got out of customs I was so excited to see my sister and then we walked out to the car to meet my dad. I was exhausted but for those first few hours back I had all the energy in the world. First meal back was a double-double animal style from In-N-Out. It was so tasty. I think the biggest shock to me as we were driving home is how beautiful I had remembered California and Ventura being and really how muted and haggard it all really looked/looks to me. I haven't been to a lot of places in Europe still but Edinburgh has got to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I have been making the walk to my friends flat in my head so many times so I never forget what the streets look like. I know I'll be back there some day, hopefully some day soon.

Oh World Cup... as I'm writing this I'm watching Germany completely work the England squad. It's a shame really. Lampard's goal should have counted and maybe they would have started the second half with some more intensity but I don't see them coming back from a 4-1 deficit. The USA vs Ghana game was devastating and I'm really upset with Bob Bradley's coaching and the inability for someone to really call him out on it. He made a huge mistake by starting not only Clark but Findley as well when he had Feilhaber and Edu who not only play at a higher level in club but had really boosted the team against Algeria. If we had two subs in the last fifteen minutes, maybe Buddle or Stuart, the speed and the fresh legs may have gotten us a goal. Those boys tried their absolute hardest and their coach let them down. I'm so proud of the US team and I'm so happy that soccer is starting to seep into the American society and taking hold. Like I have all tournament I'm going to get up early for the rest of the tournament to watch good football and to see what these teams really have to offer. Maybe we see someone really shine and Man United can sign them. haha.

I'm officially back in Santa Barbara doing summer school and looking for a job, neither of which are particularly appealing to me but they both must be done. Everything has been a little dull to me since I've gotten back. I've come to the realization that I've really outgrown the student lifestyle here. I don't think that's a bad thing. I have a year of upper division chemistry classes ahead of me that will need so serious attention and focus to do well, and of course I want to do well. Other than that I've started working out regularly which is nice and this next week I'm really looking to start playing some pick up soccer again. I'm just hoping my touch isn't so bad that I make a fool of myself. That's it for now. I'm going to try and keep this up. Hope you are all doing well

Peace and Love
Liesbeth

last final

I have one more exam and this amazing year will come to an end. I leave Scotland (for now) in a little over a week and there are so many people I'm looking forward to seeing again and so many people that I'm so incredibly sad to leave.

London

It's been a while. Two days ago I got back from London. My friend Laura, who goes to UCLA, was over visiting for two weeks and we went adventuring. It was really a great time. I'm just going to post the pictures. For the next two weeks I'm on my own in the flat studying. It's Spring Break and all the other peoples in my flat are off adventuring. I will be exploring the world of chemistry... fun.

Platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross Station

Me crossing Abbey Road

Tower Bridge by the Tower of London... which I refused to pay £17 to get into

Aviation exhibit in the Science Museum

Lunch at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants ... SO YUMMY!

Natural History Museum

Trafalgar Square and Big Ben

Trafalgar Square

Oldest pub that Jessica insisted I visited

Big Ben and my Wallace and Gromit face.

Parliament

Jumping picture with Big Ben

The Queen's digs... ya dig

Peace and Love
Liesbeth

skipped a week but here we go

ok it's been a while and a lot has happened!

week 1- (aka Allie and Daniela visit/bad weather)

Two Tuesdays ago Allie came with her Santa Barbara friend in Madrid Daniela. It was a really great time. I don't have any pictures to share because... well that story will come soon. On Tuesday night we went out to this really cute cocktail bar with a bunch of my friends and then went over to my friend Ben's to just hang out for a while. Wed the weather went to crap and it snowed... quite a bit. Then it rained and the snow went away... and then it sleeted. It was overall a pretty fun time... NOT. We got moving about a little after noon and went somewhere. I really can't remember I've been writing an essay all day and my brain is mush and full of facts about sectarianism Scotland. Anyways, it was my turn to do real meal wednesday so Allie helped me make a tortilla soup and a really yummy salad that rocked everyone's world. :D Thursday the girls were meant to go to the castle... but they didn't get moving till about threeish and only an hour at Edinburgh Castle is just not right so I gave them a fairly relaxed tour of old town. We went to Grassmarket, the Royal Mile and Bristo Square (my campus). We came back and got ready for a club night with my flatmates. It was a great night. Allie and Daniela pretended they were Spanish and didn't speak english... with pretty good success. haha. Friday we went to a pub for a proper pub meal and pints and to watch some rugby. Saturday I sent them off with the Mosque Kitchen for lunch. The Mosque Kitchen is some of the best curry in Edinburgh and it's pretty cheap! Saturday night, I got to meet the girlfriend of one of my mates here and she was just one of the most lovely people ever. :)

week 2- (aka last week/beautiful weather)

We had amazing sun for three days straight. It was so beautiful. There are these wee flowers in the park starting to bloom that look like tiny tulips. It makes me really happy to walk by them. Pub quiz went disastrous this week and we got last place, which earned us a bag of sweets (gummy candies). Tuesday became real meal day cause Aalok was off to Amsterdam the next day. We did a baked potato bar with chili, bacon, cheese and sour cream... it was glorious and delicious. Wednesday Ben, the Dundee kids (Jack, Couttie [his name is James Couttie but we just all call him Couttie], and Amy) and I went to the Scotland game against the Czech Republic at Hampden Park in Glasgow. IT WAS AN AMAZING ATMOSPHERE... and a sorta boring game but at least we won. The train ride was really fun just because it was sorta a bonding moment. The Dundee kids were joking that Ben was like Elijah Wood in the movie Green Street Hooligans. hehe. We went to a small pub before the game and it was great. So many men in kilts and these amazing hats. So many flags in the crowd and the singing. It was something I'll never forget. I have no pictures because my camera got stolen, but here are some pictures from the internet. Basically half the people there were dressed like this. It made me so happy.

We'll be coming...
We'll be coming...
We'll be coming down the road...
When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army Boys...
We'll be coming down the road...

The rest of this week is just writing my essays and trying to stay on top of school. Just got my exam schedule so most of my spring break is going to be preparing for the six exams I have to take.

Peace and Love,
Liesbeth