The Whimsical Wandering Nurse

The past two days off define delightful!  I have had so much fun with friends and the husband.  Yesterday I made my way across the bay on the BART to meet a friend in Berkeley.  It was my first time taking the BART, which is the commuter train, and I actually didn't have any trouble making my way to and from.  Shocking.  I met up with my friend Lindsey, who I worked with at Duke and we have recently gotten re-aquainted since we're both travel nurses here in the bay area.  She is a lovely person, and we have such interesting discussions when we get together!  It is always so good to see her.  We met at the train station and then found a funky vegetarian cafe for lunch.  After a satisfying meat-free meal we made our way towards campus to the Berkeley Art Museum.  The museum is free the first Thursday of every month, which is good we didn't pay because we didn't stay for long.  The art was a bit too modern for my liking.  There was also a small exhibit of Asian art, but after spending five weeks roaming around Asia last year, I have seen my fair share of Buddhas on display.  Oh well, it was still fun, and I can check it off my list of things to do.  Afterwards we leisurely meandered around campus taking occasional pictures and talking.  We then found a quaint little coffee shop near the train station to rehydrate and eat before heading back home.  It was most certainly a fun little day trip, and Berkeley is an interesting town.  I wouldn't mind going back one of these days to wander a little more. 

On a side note, there are two girls in the area that I worked with at Duke.  Lindsey (mentioned above) and Jen.  They're both currently down the road at Stanford, but it is very easy to meet up on our days off.  We have now hung out together several times, and it is always such a good experience.  It is amazing how fulfilling it is to be surrounded by two people who knew me before I embarked on this crazy nomadic lifestyle.  I think they feel similarly.  Most importantly, when we get together we transition from normal dialect to deep southern accents (even though Lindsey is from a more northern state, she talks like a true southern girl!).  People around us must think we're absolutely crazy, but hearing that slow sweet drawl is like music to my southern girl ears!

Last evening Aaron and I made our way to Haight-Ashbury for fried chicken and beer.  After our healthy meal we met up with our friend Jennifer, who is a traveler Aaron met during his previous contract.  She is good fun and we enjoyed catching up over drinks.  She has been spending lots of time at the climbing gym lately, and she managed to talk us into trying it out, so that is what we did today.  This morning I got up early and made my way to the beach with Zuri for a five mile run.  I got home, cleaned up and Jennifer picked us up just before noon to head over to 'Mission Cliffs.'  Any title with the word 'cliff' makes me nervous as I hate heights.  And just as I had thought, I felt ill when we entered the gym and were instantly surrounded by towering climbing walls.  I managed to rent the gear and take the class and even climb a wall or two.  I am so tired tonight that I can't really write about it in detail, so I will post some pictures.  My arms are incredibly sore, but it was a really neat experience and I think we will try to go again next week.  Also, some pics of Berkeley!

Berkeley

 

 

Climbing Gym