Californians have an interesting idea of fashion. In the six and a half days I’ve been staying in the San Francisco/Bay area I’ve learned a few new ways to assemble an outfit.A disclaimer before I start: the friend I was staying with, and many of her friends are obsessed with fashion. And they have good taste. However, I must say I really did get to indulge my obsession with people watching here. It’s just so much fun!
Interesting ensemble 1: Walking into a British ‘candy’ shop (I wanted to question that phrase … when I lived in London people referred to sweeties, not candy), I felt a ‘loud’ presence behind me. Turning around, I saw a 50ish year old, large, brassy woman. Not unexpected in a store that sells calories. However, what was amusing to me was her white tracksuit – complete with rhinestone bling detail in the shape of a heart on her back. Not content with that statement, she’d decided to celebrate her ‘Irishness’ (it was St Patrick’s Day). Underneath her unzipped tracksuit top was a very green t-shirt with the words “worlds sexiest leprechaun” emblazoned on the front. To top off her outfit she was walking around in a pair of very green crocs. Really. I am not making this up.
Interesting ensemble 2: Walking around Berkeley (one of the ridiculously expensive universities here), I was quick to notice the fashion sense of one particular gentlemen. A larger man, balding, probably in his mid fifties, he was wearing something I’ve noticed many fat balding men to wear: a horizontal striped polo top tucked into high waisted shorts. On his feet were socks pulled up his calves, and of course sandles. Not a great look – but he could be forgiven for following his peers. What can’t be forgiven was his accessory. To carry around his bulky goods (perhaps he was a professor, and had many papers to mark) he was wearing a backpack. Not just any backpack but a very pink ‘My Little Pony’ backpack. The kind six year old girls used to wear in the 1980’s. It wasn’t your standard model ‘my little pony’ backpack either. This one had ‘real’ pink and purple horse hair coming out of the picture of the horse. The kind you can learn to plait hair with. I was slightly disturbed with his choice of luggage, but I suppose when you’re living in an ‘edgy’ university town where people protest the cost of public education by standing in rubbish bins, then anything goes.
Another thing I’ve enjoyed while staying in California is the food. Of course. Americans have very large servings, and it’s kind of fun to try the strange and wonderful things they put in their mouths.
I’ve already mentioned the candy. Yesterday was a sugar coated day. Travelling south of San Francisco, we started the day in Oakland’s Chinatown, where we had pork buns for breakfast. Of course. Lunch followed – a lovely Italian café on a patio in a posh beach town called Carmel (Clint Eastwood was once the mayor of this place – you can tell that Hollywood types live here by the fact they charge you to drive down posh streets). We then wandered around town – and into the candy stores. I’ve never seen anything like the amount and variety of chocolates and lollies they can sell in one beach town. Until we got in the car and hit the next beach town, Monterey. Parking next to a candy store, of course we had to go in. 30 huge bins filled with ‘taffy’ (I tried one – didn’t like it) were only half the story. They also had more jelly beans than I had ever seen. After we eyed off that (I really couldn’t take much more by this stage – but it was fun to watch everyone), we wandered to the foreshore – where the food fun really started. Freshly baked chocolate cookies, chocolate coated bananas (really wish I wasn’t full for that one – it would have been pretty funny to lick the phallic shaped thing walking down the main street), and MORE candy!! It was the most sugar coated town I’d ever been to. Until we continued back up the coast and went to Santa Cruz. A carnival town (a little like Brighton in the UK), it had even more sugar – but by this stage it was late – and we were heading north to San Jose to go to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. You could have rolled me back to San Francisco by the end of the night – and we were all laughing about the amount of sugar we’d bought – but couldn’t eat.
I’m about to board a plane to LA – to start my stupid journey to Guatemala. I’m a tight arse, and bought flight from Oakland (San Francisco) to LA to Miami to Guatemala because it was about a third of the price of a direct flight. Starting to regret that now.
So ‘Hasta la vista’ – I’ll write from central America next week (well, I’ll try).
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