Adios

One last glimpse of an imaginary city

Going Forward: with no fear of color: yet getting virtually no where

I walked across the city today in a futile attempt to get things done (vital things that I have managed to put off for the last month and that need to be done in the next 2 days). The walk was certainly nice though. The day is glorious, in fact I should be out in it now... and I am reminded and again stunned at the brilliance and the profound use of color in this city. It is like no other I know. I have discovered and rediscovered a few of the many gems in the city. And as I will have to run all the same errands and many more again tomorrow, I imagine I will have this opportunity again.

A City of Color

it is rewarding to wander the streets of a city who's inhabitants are shameless in their use of vivid color and spare no expense. This city has earned it's reputation.
Murals adorn all surfaces, walls and random spaces so much so that they are absorbed into the landscape and become the city, they become the neighborhoods, they become the neighbors themselves.

It is safe to say that there are hardly two buildings that are the same.

A City of Slopes and Sky

Yes, the rumors are true. This is a city build on hills. The history and culture of the bay area and San Francisco, in particular, has been formed largely by its geography. The hills hide and show spectacular views, neighborhoods, the fog rolling in and the buzzing life of the city (because apparently NO ONE here works) It allows for all of us to wander the streets, nap in the sun in the plazas, play in the parks and relax in the numerous coffee shops and eateries. Yea Slopes and Sky.

Looking at San Francisco with a stranger's eyes

A Passion Flower














... and isn't the color amazing
i am not even sure that i dare trying to spell this. I am already notorious and I can barely say this correctly (bougainvillea- that might be right, but I certainly wouldn't have spelled it that way. Maybe now I will be able to pronounce it.)

always a moment for friends: new and old

Sachi (on the left) and I met within the first few days of my arriving in San Francisco. We took a TESOL course together... and I encouraged her to stay with her then-boyfriend, now-husband. She is a dear and I hadn't seen here in quite a long time until she invited us out. Emily (on the right) was one of the last people I met while in the city. She was a couch-surfer that came back to live the same week that I left for Colombia and now she is here holding down the fort. So they met and are now friends; I saw a dear old friend; and Emily and I walked across the city in the dark and midnight drizzle of a cloud city. (*The face in the middle is mine... the oldest and newest friend)