(Maddie) Mis Aventuras en Los Angeles

Hola! I have decided to reflect my first experiences and observations of my corner of the metro-L.A. area during Memorial Day weekend. I will write about my first day soon.

Friday - Friday, my first full day in L.A. I realized that my body was still in fact on Eastern Standard Time and would remain that way for a while when I woke up at 5AM Pacific Standard Time and went to bed at 10PM PST. Oh well. By the time I am fully adjusted to PST, I will be heading back to EST. Such is life:P I went to the bus stop early [partially because I had woken up at freaking 5AM!], planning on picking up the 8AM-ish bus line to the block that the film production office was located. I wanted to time the system for my work schedule next week and had planned for it to be at least a 30-minute ride. I boarded the bus, inserted 3 quarters into the receptacle, and lo-and-behold I found myself there in 10 minutes! The evironmentally-conscious liquefied nitrogen-fueled bus system and reckless bus drivers hurtled their passengers down the boulevard in short order! Who'd've thunk that public transport could actually be efficient? I guess it works for L.A. A lovely automated voice announced the stops, which are requested by passengers via a yellow pull cord. I'm glad I memorized the line route before I came - I have not missed a stop yet [knock on wood]. I decided to visit the film production office that I am interning with. It is a wonderful office and my soon-to-be coworkers are lovely people. I can't wait to start. OTHER FIRST DAY OBSERVATIONS:

• There are a lot of homeless people. While I was window-shopping at the Promenade, I ran into 2 particularly noisy ones who were definitely coked up. It's sad, but you just have to learn to ignore them. Some of them are faking it. Others are just crazy. It's too hard to tell the two apart. Sad, but true...
• The Promenade is a wonderful little shopping center. I shall return! Mwahaha.
• The beach and Pacific Ocean are awesome. I met this wonderful lady Christina who gave me advice and ideas about living in the L.A. area.
• There are so many different languages spoken here. And, the cable channels reflect that. There are 15 Spanish saop opera channels, an Armenian news channel, 3 Chinese news/soap opera channels, a Korean channel, etc. So far, I have not had to use my Spanish... By the way, "The Secret Garden" in Spanish...should never have happened...
• At first, I thought that the incessant chirping that I was hearing originated from a new species of bird that I was not familiar with. Come to find out, the beeping came from crossings that are designed for the hear-impaired. Every single crosswalk has this. At some point, I will try walking across one with my eyes closed to see if it actually works.
• The L.A. area has a VERY relaxed atmosphere. It's ok to be 5-15 minutes late for the most part. Typical SoCal attire appears to consist of sunglasses, flip flops, and generally casual clothing, even at Church. I will comment further with in a treatise at some point.

Over Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I have been alternating between window-shopping, reading History of Histories in Starbucks, watching Spanish soaps, dealing with a semi-sweet/semi-psychotic cat, visiting the beach and exploring the town. The SyFy Channel [I still think it should be "SciFi"] had a double-header of "Megashark vs. Giant Octopus" and "Mega Piranha." I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. "Tremors" still has my vote for the best B-movie EVER! I tried out the local PCA [Presbyterian Church of America]. Upon discovering that they had a female associate pastor and hearing a sermon on the feminine side of God, I decided that I will attempt to make the trek out to the "local" OPC churches an hour away. This PCA church has a sign outside that says "Sandals are welcome because Jesus wore them!"

On Memorial Day, I went to the beach in the morning, a time of day when most Californians are still completing their 10-12 hour daily hibernation period. A few early risers were up and about, running their feet off and jolting their spines into a future back pain and spinal injury. Oh well. Even the elderly participated. The bikers are particularly standoffish, preferring to warn you with a pretentious clearing of the throat before arrogantly yelling at you to get the hell out of their way. I almost choked on their smugness and delusion that they were saving the world, which is produced by a reduction in blood flow to the brain from too-tight spandex. Maybe we will be spared their offspring by the same cause of their delusion;) [*NOTE: I am referring to bikers wearing spandex. Regular, happy, unpretentious, nice people who happen to be riding bikes in regular clothes are fine. There may be an exception to the rule here or there, and must be judged on a case-by-case basis. But, I still hold that spandex is the root of all two-wheeled evil].

SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY. [obligatory anime reference...check!]