Last Friday there was the annual festival at UCSD, ‘Sungod’. They had a couple of headline acts, including Jimmy Eat World, some stand up comedians and several other things besides. The whole point of it though seems to be quite simply to drink as much as possible. I heard tale that things started early – a girl in a gorilla suit downstairs needed 4 RSO’s and a police officer to hold her down at around 3pm. The air was filled with the lingering smell of pot, and as people staggered about the campus, I half expected them to say “groovy, baby” in a slow, smooth voice.

I didn’t go to Sungod, as one of my flatmates from last year in Edinburgh was visiting last weekend. We took in all the sights of downtown San Diego last Friday, going to some museums in Balboa Park, Little Italy, Gaslamp, and then sat by the bay in the glorious late evening sunshine. It was great fun, and as she had been studying at UPenn in Philadelphia this year, we also got to discuss our different experiences about America – what we’d liked and what we’d found surprising. On the Saturday we walked down the cliffs to the beach at La Jolla shores, and then back up the cliff into La Jolla itself. We took in the sights of this little ‘old money’ town, and saw all the local wildlife – including all the seals that live at the children’s beach. I think she really enjoyed herself, and it was interesting that she kept pointing out her surprise at how green and hilly everything is here. I’ve been here 9 months now, and they are still exactly my thoughts everytime I venture out off campus. Green hills are not the first thing that you think of when you say Southern California.

Work has been piling up somewhat of late. MAE3 is still the closest thing to the bane of my existence. I was in the lab from 2-6:30, and then from 9:15-10pm on Monday, 7-10pm Tuesday, and will be from 5-(probably)10pm tonight. My evenings are just being eaten alive by the manufacturing of our robot. Next week should also be very busy, with some draft analyses and slideshows to do, but I am looking forward to that as I can do it in my own time in the morning when I’m much more with it. Not at 9pm at night when I’m starting to feel the urge to go to bed. Fortunately, MAE 107 and MAE 133 are winding down now. There is a midterm for 107 on Friday, but no homework for either this week. That’s quite a bonus, timewise, for me!

I have booked up my travels for the summer now. We finish at UCSD in just over 3 weeks now, and I’m going to have a week in LA from June 13^th to the 19^th. It’ll bookend my California experience as I’m going to stay in the same hotel in LA as I did for the first week I was here back in September last year. After that, I’m catching the train to New Orleans. It takes 3 days, but should provide lots of lovely views and I’m looking forward to just lying back and relaxing on the observation deck for a bit. I have three nights in the Big Easy to see everything there, some crocodiles and go to a jazz club, and then another train ride beckons. I’ll be heading straight up to Washington DC from New Orleans, through Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia. In DC I’ll stay with some family friends just outside the city for a few days. I’m hoping to go on some excursions to Baltimore and Richmond while I’m there. Then, come June 30^th, I’ll be homeward bound. Wearing my cowboy hat, cowboy books, and my confederate flag badge (ok, maybe not the last one!). “The South gonna rise again boys!”

I’m just tucking into a treat from home that I’ve been saving since Christmas. A Cadbury’s Flake. Oh, is life ever sweet!