if there ever were a time when I could have abandoned all my material possessions in pursuit of simplicity and happiness, it was yesterday. After battling with my usual indecisiveness, I decided to check out of my smelly hotel room (more on that later) and pay a visit to my friend Sophie, whose family so generously welcomed me to stay at their house in the San Jose area for a few days.
So I checked out of south san francisco's comfort inn & suites, and headed out in what direction I thought the Caltrain station was, with two rolling suitcases piggybacked and a heavy bookbag. Turns out that I got confused somehow between the less than precise google maps directions, the desk clerk's broken english, the confusing road signs, and my own general directional ineptitude, i managed to go in the wrong direction several times. After asking a few people on the street for directions and calling sophie like 10 times, I finally made it to the station (where I began boarding the wrong train until the conductor corrected me).
Needless to say, I very quickly got tired of dragging around almost 100 lbs of luggage over bumps in the sidewalk, trolley tracks, and on/off of buses and trains. In order to lighten my load until I find a place, I will be leaving more than half of my stuff at Sophie's house so I can be a little more mobile.
The deal with the hotel was this: The building, grounds and set up of the room were all nice. I was helped with my bags on the free shuttle from the airport and greeted by a very friendly front desk clerk. I felt very safe at the hotel. But none of that could make up for the fact that my room had a horrible sour moldy smell! I thought the room was kind of stuffy so I opened the window to let in the fresh breeze. Then I tried turning on the air conditioning to purify the air. I even went to the front desk, borrowed a can of Oust and doused the room, but it didn't help. The room seemed clean enough, but I just could not get over the smell. The problem was that when I inquired in the morning, the guy at the desk said they were very full and there were no clean rooms available. So, I did not lament ending my stay early!
Having made it through yesterday's adventures, today I am exploring San Francisco! I am on campus for the first time and searching for local housing options. Surprisingly, the area seemed rather desolate when I first arrived, but it has picked up as the day goes on, and it seems like it will really be hopping once school starts. The buildings that I have seen have a kind of minimal-modern-industrial-chic thing going. There's also a nice little cafe when you first walk into the classroom building, so I had little spicy salad with baked tofu and a soy latte for lunch. very yummy!
Hi Paulina,
ReplyDeleteI am Jen, a friend of Michael Utter's and his mm told me about your blog. I moved out here to SF about 2 months ago with my husband and looked at approximately 60 apartments during my search. I just moved into the Lower haight, and would love to meet up and introduce myself. Let me know if you are in the city and want to have a lunch or something. I am pretty sure Rosanna emailed you my email and phone number. It's always nice to know an extra person or two in the neighborhood.
Jen
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting in touch! I know you are a very good friend to Michael. I would love to meet up with you sometime. This week might be a little hectic because this first week of school we have orientation/workshops tues-sat which go from early morning then well into the evening. after that, i only have classes 3 days a week, so i'm sure we could plan a little get-together lunch! i'll email you my schedule when it's a little more solid.
That's quite an impressive apt hunt you guys did! I hope I don't have to look at that many before i find something suitable. Starting tonite, I will be staying in the guest bedroom of a very sweet lady in the mission for a few days until i find something more permanent.