315: My Visit to CalTech, or Why I'm Stupid
This Friday I went up to CalTech to *finally* visit Ryan. I was surprised that the trip only took about an hour and a half--good to know for future visits.
I think this was the first time I saw Ryan since we both graduated--I quickly fell back into old habits, by which I of course mean, being excessively mean and teasing Ryan to no end. I'm glad he finally grew his hair out; I spent so many years trying to get him to do it! (I, too, have finally reached a level of satisfaction with my own hair that I have been trying to achieve for the past three years. :P)
At any rate, CalTech looks surprisingly like an Ivy League school in architecture--and in character, as well. Security is very lax, and I was reading in Legends of CalTech about the time they actually froze Hell over--Hell being the frosh hallway where Ryan currently resides; the walls are painted with flames, the kitchen connecting it to the shorter Heaven hallway being titled Purgatory--using an old refrigeration device and copper tubing. There was ice-skating to be had.
You should hear some of the zany pranks these science and math geeks come up with...o.0 Apparently, they are very rowdy. Who knew?
(Also, only semi-surprisingly, there are certainly quite a few students of Asian-origin. Ryan's new girlfriend, for instance. *wags eyebrows* She was playing this hentai game but for the longest time nothing was happening. The storyline was crap, but the text just kept on going and going and going and going... which brings me to why I'm stupid:
***
I didn't get back until this afternoon, despite having left Ryan's company *yesterday* afternoon. "How is it," you may ask, "Andy my dear fellow, that it took you a full twenty-four hours to get from Pasadena to Whittier, when one can plainly see on a map they are not so far apart and you yourself have stated it only took you less than two to get there in the first place?"
And this would be an excellent query, which I shall respond to thusly:
1. The 177 shuttle, which took me from Sierra Madre station to CalTech, only runs on weekdays.
2. Unsure that I can find my way back to said station, I decide to find the street my second bus went down and try and catch that.
3. I find Sierra Madre Blvd. fine and get out of Pasadena and most of the way south through San Marino* before I realize it was an express bus, and also only ran on weekdays.
4. I decide to find another street I know, in hopes of finding some other bus: once I'm down to San Gabriel, I find Hermosa, and follow this and turn south again on Del Mar.
5. If you google this you will see that by this point I had actually walked halfway to Whittier, which makes #6 all the more ironically tragic.
6. Impatient and sore, I take the 481 which drops me off in downtown LA, which is in the opposite direction of Whittier**.
7. Shit.
8. By this point I also only have barely enough fare for one bus (which, had I been more patient, would have gotten me at least to El Monte, which isn't too terribly north of Whittier***).
9. Double shit.
By this point, I managed to find my way to Grand and Washington and get change to use the payphone. Left a message for Angie, as I'm sure she lives not too far north in the San Fernando Valley****. Not sure how often she checks her messages, and anyway, it seems to me a lot to ask on a Saturday night.
At any rate, I end up sleeping behind the Burger King--though a very nice Latin American man who works there shows me a slightly more comfortable place to snooze and offers me some food. He also thinks I have a very beautiful face and wants to make me his girlfriend. Though he has to get home fairly quickly, and I'm not sure whether he's just complimenting me or actually coming on to me. Seeing as I appear to suddenly be living the life of the transient, I consider whether I could successfully hustle him, but he looks too Roman Catholic for that, as he appears to think I am a girl.
I've decided by this point that I have no alternative but to walk, so once the Burger King's opening awakes me at five in the morning, I set off, finally arriving at Whittier around 2:30 in the afternoon. In between I go through the lovely towns of:
--Boyle Heights
--East Los Angeles
--Monterey Park
--Montebello (Ashley's hometown)
--Pico Rivera
--and finally, my home away from home, Whittier
One would think I'd be more afeared to traverse the infamous East LA, but one, it was mid-morning, and two, I decided the most direct route beat along Cesar E. Chavez would be best. Also, I saw some truly beautiful murals; it seemed as if every surface had either been splashed with bright, comforting colors or the cement scribbled in. There were beautiful murals that told stories, with the most amazingly detailed human figures and faces, and even one art-nouveau-esque intertwining of gang symbols that bordered on surrealist. (Also, anyplace that has the Virgin Mary randomly splitting open murals in a vortex of golden light all over the place is all right by me. ^_^)
Well, everyone's an art critic. I suppose the day before I went through middle class LA from north to south, and going west to east took me through the more Latin parts. I suppose it fits with my JanTerm class, but I'm not sure I should bring this little tale up with Norden. XD It more makes me look stupid and desperate than anything.
Well, I'm actually kind of proud of it, yanno? All told, I walked at least twenty miles, and no one can take that away from me. I didn't even get close to collapsing (though my feet got awful sore once I got into Montebello). It was certainly an experience. But I really need to get people's numbers who have cars, so if I ever get stranded, I have somebody to call. :P
This is getting a bit long, but can you tell I've had quite a weekend? Now I need to try and see what homework I can actually do before I go to sleep. (Hint: not much. XP)
___________________________________
*San Marino is, by the way, a very lovely town; when I inevitably sell out to the middle class, it wouldn't be a bad place to live (though I'd rather revert to Sacramento). Pasadena's a bit too snooty for my tastes, though very fine architecturally speaking.
**Whittier lies at the eastern-most point of LA County, just on the cusp of Orange County.
***Compared to what I ended up walking, that is. :P
****Again, comparitively speaking.