Are you going to San Francisco?

No. Oakland. But you can keep the flowers in your hair.

So, the adventure begins. The entire family left the house at around 5:30 towards el aeropuerto. I got on my plane on time, although the plane itself took off thirty minutes late.

I'm not sure what the mountain ranges are that are across the bay from Oakland, but they were beautiful from above, especially when they abruptly ended and gave way to a thick blanket of clouds. It was fantastic. It took us at least a minute to get through the clouds. I should have taken a picture. Very pretty stuff.

Regardless of the delay, we arrived at the scheduled time and I wandered out into Oakland airport, grabbed my bags and went to the information desk. Two funny old people tried to show me how to get to my destination by subway until one of them realized that I had too much luggage. "I would drive you there myself, but I'm married," said the seventy-some-year-old European fellow. I gave him a look as if to say "that's not quite the issue. Plus you're working."

So, I got on a taxi, was given a price estimate, and continued on a mostly silent journey. The driver jabbered on his phone for a long time in a language that I couldn't even recognize and, after he was done, grumbled to himself in said language and twirled his cellphone on one hand while driving with the other. His driving was scary, to say the least.

I arrived way too early for check-in, but as a result I got to meet most of the R.A.s (residential authorities?), college students who stayed behind over the summer. I was sent out of the way to an empty cafe where more arrivals piled up. Eventually, we could check in. After a long wait in line, I settled into the dorm room I was assigned to (two person) and relaxed. Although I was hoping that my roommate had fallen ill or actually been male (and therefore unable to share a room), she arrived towards the tail end of the window of check-in time. She goes to an international school in Paris and has family friends in the Bay Area, which may come in handy for both of us... somehow. I went grocery shopping and bought fresh fruits, triscuits, and laundry detergent. Detergent is expensive. The fruits should hold me off as far as snacks are concerned. Sugar and natural goodness!

Time for a nap before orientation. Classes start tomorrow. I am very excited!!!! You see from my excessive use of exclamation points? And smilies?!! :oD :oD :oD