"Punting on the Cam Under Bridges", or "Cambridge" for short

Cambridge is like San Luis Obispo in that it is a little college town in a beautiful area. However, it's been around centuries longer, and the architecture is slightly more intricate and breathtaking. We had such an amazing time in this town with our friends Eric and Nicki Appel. Eric is part of Jesus college studying Chemistry and Nicki is a nurse, and they have been there for a year so far.
Jordi and I finally made it to their little apartment - after a red eye flight, the wrong bus tickets, buying more tickets, a two hour bus ride, and a trek through the town with backpacks the size of donkeys on our back.
Their apartment is made of old stone, with a bright blue front door, right on Jesus Lane across from the college - perfect :)
We were so exhausted from not sleeping in a long while, and I was starting to get sick, so Nicki graciously gave us their bed where we proceeded to pass out like rocks for the rest of the day. Eric came home in the afternoon, and they woke us up to go for a walk.
The town is incredible to walk through. Narrow winding alleyways with ancient stone buildings on either side, cobblestone plazas, tea houses and English pubs on every corner, and views of Kings Chapel from almost everywhere in town.
We got sausages from the Sausage Cart (looks like he belongs in Disneyland) and they showed us the oldest pub in town. This pub had gardens and a pretty outside area, as well as tons of tiny little nooks and crannies, with fire places and cozy chairs. There were tons of names burned on the roof, apparently from soldiers in World War Two. As Eric said, Cambridge is so cool because "it's the real thing!" All the coats of arms and World War memorabilia arn't just decoration!
That night we rode bikes across town to a comedy show. It was a funny show, and it was awesome to ride bikes through town :)
The next day was Saturday, and I was feeling pretty sick. Nicki had to work, but Eric showed us around a few of the colleges (getting us in for free, which was great!) and inside Kings Chapel. Later we went to the park where Eric and Jord played frisbee while I slept on the grass. The grass was so green and the trees were starting to turn colors, it was a beautiful afternoon in the park!
Afterwards we meandered back into town for my most favorite English tradition: tea and scones. We went to a little place called Aunties, on the corner of the plaza. The traditional tea is English Breakfast with milk, and a huge puffy scone with clotted cream and fresh jam. It's pretty much amazing!
We hung out the rest of the afternoon, and when Nicki came home we made fajitas (they've mastered the art of making Mexican food in England) and watched James Bond :)
Sunday we bounced out of bed and rushed to church, which I think was called Christs Church. It was a small walk from their house, in an old church building. The message was on Science and Religion, and at the end the pastor asked Eric and two other students from Cambridge (studying science) to come speak a bit about being a Christian in the Science world. It was very interesting, one guy talked about how Science asks the question "how?" whereas Christianity asks the question "why?" so really they are very much compatible. Eric spoke on how the topic of Christianity always becomes more personal than scientific when he is talking with his colleagues.
After church, we went on a huge long walk through the town and meadows along the river to a pub situated on the banks of the river. They had a huge grassy area along the water with dozens of tables everywhere. It was a beautiful sunny day, so I think all of Britain was hanging out outside, and most of them were at the tables on the grassy area of this pub, including us. We got some tiny glasses of cider and chatted for over an hour until our food was very huffily put in front of us. (I am SO sorry I am at your restaurant ordering food. Please forgive me for existing, and I will never trouble you to bring me the food I paid for ever again!) But the food was good - British, so very saucy and fried. Then we all went to the bank of the river and layed down and took a good little nap in the sun. It was so nice and relaxing! As soon as the sun went behind the clouds, we got up and trecked over an hour through the meadows and town back home. I loved thinking that all I had done that day is go to church and go out for lunch, but with all the walking and waiting and napping, it was already evening!
That night two other American couples that the Appels are friends with came over for a BBQ. All the boys bbq'd outside and we had a good American feast, complete with vegetables and fruit (inventions the British haven't discovered yet.)
Monday, the next and final day of our Cambridge adventures, we woke up and rode our bikes to meet Eric, who was already working. We then all 4 rode our bikes to the outskirts of town, tied them up, and continued our journey to Granchester by foot. The whole walk was, as Nicki described it, "exactly like Pride and Prejudice". You know the part where she walks through the meadows to get to her sister who is sick? It really is like that, and it is incredibly beautiful! There are tons of cows who watch you walk by in their sorrowful way, and big trees and the pretty winding river. We got to Granchester to a place called the Orchard, which is a tea garden where you litterally sit under the apple trees in the orchard! We went into the old wooden house where you pick out a huge puffy scone from the basket and order a pot of tea, and then take your tray to a table in the orchard. It's so fun, and so pretty! We sat under the apple trees (which can also be dangerous - 2 huge apples fell right next to us!) But anyways, we thoroughly enjoyed our English breakfast tea with milk, and Scones with cream and jam. Also, we were sitting in the same orchard that Virginia Woolfe, and countless other authors and poets used to come and try to outwit eachother. How could we not thoroughly enjoy ourselves??
After a good long time sitting in the "spotted sun" (the English never say party cloudy, they always say partly sunny, sunny spells, or spots of sun - it's very optimistic) we headed back to town. Eric took us into Trinity (i think) to see the oldest library ever! They had a first edition collection of Shakespeare plays, and Sir Isaac Newtons notebook with his notes on Principia Mathematica. And perhaps my favorite: the rough draft copy of Winnie the Pooh! Apparently the writer went to Cambridge. I read in Milne's cursive about Piglets birthday party and Owl writing the card - very fun :)
The rest of the afternoon Jordi and I spent running around town trying to figure out if we could get a phone or Skype from our Ipod, but both ideas failed, so we are now stuck with payphones and internet cafe's. Oh well :/
That evening we met down by the river and rented a punting boat. Eric was pro at it, and took us all the way down without any hitches. It is such a beautiful ride, going under all the bridges from all the different colleges. On the way back, Jordi punted, and did a very good job! We had a good talk about Isaac, which I appreciated, and then went out for pizza.
The next morning, we woke up early, packed up, and headed out for our bus to London. We very sadly said goodbye to the Appels, with whom we had the best time ever! I loved staying there with them and getting a feel for their life in England. I'm also glad we got to spend so much time in Cambridge, a place many tourists only touch on. We had a great time getting to know Eric and Nicki better, and are so grateful for their hospitality and generosity!
Now on to London....

New York- Big City, Tiny Spaces

After saying goodbye to Andrea and Scott at LAX at midnight on Tuesday morning, we went home and got a few hours of sleep before Mom and Dad ever so generously drove us back to LAX at 6:30 on Tuesday morning! Our flight was good, and we had detailed directions from my friend Ryan on how to get from JFK to his apartment in Manhattan using public transportation. When we were still in the airport we had 3 different Metro tickets given to us by people leaving the city! So we didn't have to pay for the metro the whole time we were there, which was really nice!! We took an "air train" (like a monorail) to the metro station, and took the metro all the way to Ryan's neighborhood. We put our stuff down, and then Ryan took us walking all over the place!! He has a tiny apartment in the Lower East Side, and he took us through East Village, Little Italy, and  Soho. While walking through Little Italy, it was about 11 PM and there was huge street fair spanning dozens of blocks! There were lights everywhere and tons of different vendors selling every kind of Italian food you could think of, and some I had never heard of! I saw the vanilla eclairs with chocolate frosting that Scott loves, in abundance! And the stereotype of Italians with the gold chains and wifebeaters working at the family restaurant and yelling at each other in thick New York accents - not a stereotype, its true!

We ended the night in a tiny little cafe that had live jazz. It was really hot that night, so we got Sangria and listened to the band - it was perfect!

The next morning the weather changed drastically, and it was way cooler. The night before we were walking around in t-shirts and sweating, but the rest of our trip we were layering on sweaters and jackets! We saw the Rockefeller  Center, Time Square, and spent many hours at Central Park. We ended up on the Upper West Side, so we went to the Natural History Museum (really cool old museum). Another one of my friends from high school, Brittany, lives on the Upper West Side, so we met up with her and she showed us around a bit more. We saw the Hudson River, and went out to eat at the tiny little place called Nicks that had amazing food!! The waiters were fully Italian, and the place was super cozy and warm and solid brick. There are tons and tons of restaurants and shops in New York, but it amazed me how tiny they were, and lots of times they were mostly underground - you have to go downstairs to get to them. Super interesting, and the polar opposite of Orange County! Actually, Brittany's room in her apartment was underground and the apartment was also tiny. Our apartment in Redondo Beach that I thought was small, now seems luxurious!

The next day we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge - it was a beautiful walk and I would highly recommend it! Although it did start raining on us...We also took the metro to the Upper East Side and found the apartment building that my Grandpa Frank used to live it. It's an incredible part of town, and I enjoyed seeing where he used to live. 

After that we had to book it back to Ryan's house to gather our things. We met up with him at his work in the financial district (JP Morgan), so that was pretty interesting also. We got to go to Grand Central Station, and took a bus from there to the airport, and that was the end of our trip to New York!

I'm super glad we got to go - New York is an incredible city, and I was really glad to see my friends and their lives in the city. 

Now off to Cambridge.....

A Farewell To ...

...Family

We finally made it out of our apartment right before Labor Day weekend, and started staying at my parents house in Orange County. Andrea and Scott had just moved out of their apartment, and were also staying at Mom and Dads. So of course, Stephanie wanted to join the party and she flew out from Texas to spend the weekend at Mom and Dads with all of us. Thus started the beginning of the goodbyes.

We had an incredible weekend together as a family, but the knowledge that we were all about to go our separate ways made it a heavy weekend as well. On Saturday we went to my grandparents house, and my cousins came down from Santa Barbara, and the Swards said their goodbyes to them all. Watching Scott and Andrea say their goodbyes for a second time, I can't help but remember the first time they said their goodbyes, with Isaac in Andrea's arms, giving everyone kisses.

Last November we said goodbye to Aaron and Melissa, not knowing when we were going to see them again. On Monday Steph had to say goodbye to Scott and Andrea, again not knowing when we would all be together again.

While it is undoubtedly exciting what God has in store for the Swards in the broken and beautiful country of Cambodia, the pain of separation is imminent, and perhaps exacerbated by the fact that we already feel that pain of separation with Isaac, as well as with Aaron and Melissa.

The weekend wasn't all tears though - we had some very intense games of tennis (thanks to Scott) and amazing girl shopping time ;) We also had the best Guatemalan meal EVER, thank you Mom!!

Today, Sunday, was the commissioning of the Swards at Long Beach Friends Church. They had a service over two hours long dedicated to Scott and Andrea. The love and loyalty from their church was so apparent, I know they are doing the right thing in going to Cambodia, the homeland of so many from their church.

Tomorrow Scott and Andrea leave, and although we will see them in a few months when we are visiting South East Asia, life won't be the same without them here, and I will miss them a TON!!! Not looking forward to tomorrow :(

...Redondo Beach

This week has been crazy, to say the least. All the goodbyes, as well as trying to get ready for our trip, as well as traveling all over the state, have made it an incredibly busy week. We were in San Diego for a night while Jordi took his contractors license test (and passed!!) and we said goodbye to family and friends down there. We were in San Luis Obispo for 2 days because I was in m y good friends wedding up there, and we were in Redondo Beach for a night to say goodbye to the neighbors and tie up loose ends.

From so much traveling around, I have often thought of our little life that we built up in Redondo. Neither of us knew much about LA, but we found our little spot, and we loved it there! It was really hard to say goodbye to our precious little apartment - full of character and walking distance to the beach and Trader Joe's! We said goodbye to Calle Miramar and the center divider where you could put anything you didn't want, or collect cool things other people didn't want! We said goodbye to our walks on the Esplanade, frozen yogurt at Penguins, biking on the boardwalk, and daily strolls to the Dolphin Park.

We said goodbye to our church, Mosaic, which we really liked and are sad to not be able to go there anymore.

We said goodbye to our neighbors - so many great people living at 309! It will be especially sad not to see our little neighbor baby Kiara every day! She is such a crack up!

We said goodbye to our whole way of life that we spent over a year cultivating. It was slightly heartbreaking to just leave, for no real reason except that we decided to! I'm sure traveling will be amazing, but a routine and way of life that you come to love are amazing in their own right.

I will miss Redondo Beach, and all it holds for us.

...All!!

And of course, goodbye to all you friends and family who we will not see for the next three months!

We have been so generously taken care of, and couldn't have gone through all this without you!!

We love YOU tons :)

The Art of Moving: A Treatise

"Moving"

Definition: A person or family relocate their habitation, and in the process relocate their possessions as well.

Example Sentence: "We 'moved' out of our apartment in Redondo Beach."

See Also: Cleaning, Exhausting, Emotional, Hellish, Sweaty, Test of Any Relationship

For months, Jordi and I have been talking and dreaming about one day escaping LA and traveling the world. As hard as it was for Jordi to work at Webcor, the paychecks allowed us to save up for such a trip. When they laid him off the last day of June, we figured our time was now. So we bought plane tickets. We told our landlord we would be moving out the end of August. We called our friends and family and told them we would be visiting. And we continued on with life as usual.

But then came the day when the first boxes were taped together, and the first dishes and picture frames were packed.

All of the sudden our dreams were turning into reality, and reality was not pleasant!

We figured our trip was going to take about three months, and since we didn't (and still don't) know where we will move to when we get back, we decided to put all our stuff in storage for the meantime. We discovered that storage units in Norco are MUCH cheaper than anything convenient. So we rented out a storage unit in Norco. Who needs convenience?

Our neighbor, Marcello, generously (and perhaps rashly) offered to lend us his truck while moving. We took him up on it, as it would definitely be able to hold more than the Element.

So we packed up the trailer with its maximum weight of 2,000 pounds, and proceeded to pack up the truck with its maximum weight of a couple hundred pounds. Dressers, heavy boxes of dishes, our beast of a couch, coffee table, dining room table, all packed in the most strategic and squishy way. It was impressive how much we fit in!

As we were finishing up packing up the truck, I suddenly remembered I had an orthodontist appointment in the afternoon at 2:30. It was then 10:30 am. Norco is about 1.5 hours away. So that gave us about an hour to unload in order to get to my appointment on time. Alright, game on!

With both trailer and truck bed full to the brim, the next step was to hook the trailer onto the truck.

"By the way Kirsten, Marcello's truck is stick shift, so maybe you should drive it."

My jaw drops.

I can drive stick when its not a truck loaded with stuff pulling a trailer tottering with beastly couches. I knew I could definitely not safely back it up to the trailer and maneuver it out of the driveway, so the task fell to Jordi.

I'm not really sure if Jordi has ever learned how to drive stick shift, but at least he knows how to maneuver trailers. He semi successfully was able to back the truck out of its parking spot and over to where the trailer was parked.

There is a very steep driveway leading from the parking area for our apartment complex to the street. We were attempting to get part way up the steep driveway in order to have an angle to hook the trailer on the truck. Jordi couldn't get the truck up the driveway, so I got in to try. I completely burned rubber and made it to the top of the hill in less than a blink of an eye. So THEN we had to back it back down the hill. Finally we got it an angle, but now we couldn't lift the trailer up enough to hitch it on. So I had to go hang off the back of the trailer while Jordi lifted with all his might and FINALLY got it to stay on and click into place. About this time another neighbor comes down the stairs and into her car to leave, and we are completely blocking everything. We also have about three other neighbors leaning over railings shouting directions at us. The neighbor in the car patiently waits about 15 minutes while Jordi maneuvered the truck and trailer all the way to the far end of the parking area to get a running start of the hill. The neighbor in her car left, I jumped in the truck, Jordi gassed it and we got into second gear and charged it up the hill, and we were off........!!!!!

Alright, so now we had about half an hour to unpack so I could be back for my appointment, we were sweating profusely, but at least we were finally bumping along.

Sitting at a stop light, an old guy cruises up next to us, motioning and telling us in his broken English that we have drawers falling out of the dressers. So I run out and pull the drawer out.

"Oh ya," Jordi says when I hop in, "I forgot I ran out of tape, so I didn't finish taping the drawers."

Next stop light, and we get told there is another drawer falling out, so out I hop again.

We stalled a couple of times, with the Hawthorne traffic swelling around us, and drawers stacked up on my lap. The whole experience was so ridiculous, it was becoming comical. Plus the truck didn't have air conditioning, which was just fabulous.

We finally made it to the storage unit in the middle of nowhere, sweaty and tired. For some reason the sprinklers were on in the front lawn, which makes no sense considering we're supposedly having a water shortage, and they were watering their lawn in the middle of the day in the middle of summer in the middle of the desert. Oh well, they felt great to run through!!

We got our key and headed to the unit. We unpacked in record time, booked it back to Redondo Beach, just in time to see the glorious cloud cover coming up from the water. (We did have one mishap - the trailer tailgate fell off and started scraping along the freeway, so we pulled over five lanes and attempted to put it back together on the side of the freeway! We were just glad it didn't happen when we had all our stuff back there!) I was 8 minutes late to my appointment - sweaty and smelly, but impressed with myself for being there at all!

I walked back to our apartment, it was now about 3 pm, and all I wanted was to finally sit down and have lunch. I walked in the door dreaming about my lunch and sitting experience to come, and Jordi welcomed me with these words,

"Hey Kirst, we really should keep packing."