Balboa Park

San Diego is world famous for many things, and amongst them are the arts. The city boasts the largest urban cultural park in the nation, Balboa Park. This park is truly massive, housing 15 major museums, as well as the world renowned San Diego Zoo. I spent the afternoon there today. With performers playing the didgeridoo, the harp and some clowns performing public shows, the park was a great place for families to enjoy. It seemed as if Balboa Park was quite the destination for a romantic date too (we saw more than enough couples making out).

We explored the Museum of Man, which contained exhibits relating to anthropology: giant stuffed Neanderthals, glazed mummies, fossils of early hominids, and gigantic Mayan statues just to name a few. There were also many stand-out monuments and gardens outside which failed to lose our attention. A whole afternoon was spent at the park, but we only got to see one museum and a tiny fraction of the park (that is how large the place is). We also saw a stunningly black Lamborghini and a shimmering white Hummer limousine. I'll certainly be coming back to this gorgeous place again.


Memorable moment: Toby, my roommate has a pet snake, called Jamal. He is a harmless ball python (he's awesome..the first snake I've held). Anyway, he normally feeds Jamal frozen lab mice every few weeks, but this time, decided to do a bit of a Steve Irwin and give a live mouse a go... to give Jamal a challenge, and to also YouTube it. So we go to a pet store and ask where their live "feeder" mice are. The counter lady says that the shop doesn't sell live "feeder" mice. We look around, and see a much more expensive $5 mouse running at its little wheel. We decide that it will be worth it. However, little do we know that the lady in charge of the cage keys is...yup that same lady. Toby: "Uhh...we were wanting to buy err...that mouse?" Lady: "You asked for feeder mice before." I could feel the awkwardness of the situation...and yeah, we ultimately leave without a mouse.

On Thursday night, we went down to Black's Beach, which is famous for its surfers, but notorious for its old nude men. It is a 5 minute walk from I-House. There was this monthly event at Black's called "Drum Circle" held at the night of the full moon. As a group representing I-House, we strolled down towards the beach, following the rhythmic beats of the drums as they gradually sounded louder. Students congregated around a campfire, dancing, singing, playing percussion instruments of all categories (trash cans included), and all just having a great time. There were stuntmen/women juggling sticks of fire, and the smell of pot was always there. A great night it was.

As for the midterms, they went ok. The exams were surprisingly informal, as we could start the test as soon as the lecturer handed the papers out to us in turn, and I was right next to the fellow student on the left and right of me with bags at my feet. One of the classes that I am taking, Biomechanics, is way beyond the equivalent of what we should be taking back at Auckland, as it assumes a decent level of knowledge in Continuum Mechanics (something we haven't even touched yet). The other is Principles of Bioinstrumentation Design, again, above our level. The other two classes are Systems Neurobiology and Tissue Engineering Seminar. I have noticed that some students here talk in a very smart fashion (going off in smart sounding tangents), and the majority have this different way of talking compared to many in NZ. This may seem academically intimidating at times, but something tells me that I may be able to cope better than I initially thought.

Oh, and one more thing to mention. It rained earlier this week. Drizzle. For the first time since I got here a month ago. People were taking photos, writing in their diaries and calling their parents ("OMG, it's actually... water falling from the sky!") lol.