Adieu California

Over the years, I have become increasingly sentimental, and as many of you can attest to, easily attached to inanimate objects of seemingly little material worth. I used to hate this, and be angry with myself for 'going soft,' but I realized why this trend began around college: I am finally having experiences worth remembering in my life, and often these emotions are better expressed in a ribosome-shaped balloon than in a 2-D picture which would portray four empty faces sitting on a couch. Don't take me wrong, I am quite the Paparazzi and love the power of pictures in recalling old memories, but there are more accurate, more personal ways of recording one's experiences.

Which brings me to this summer. In my mind, this will be a summer of new experiences, new sights, new insights- overall broadening my horizons. I hunted and pursued Columbia for months for this opportunity. Why? I have never lived outside of California, and even though my desire diminished after getting rejected by MIT, the lure of the east coast never died, and I was furtively and guiltily eyeing it the entire time I've been at Cal. I've never been far enough away from home to actually feel alone and independent, and this is my chance. I feel like its my first time facing the world on my own. If I like it, great, I can always go back. If I despise it, better yet, I'll be back in a few months, and I'll never regret not trying.

My reasons listed, this blog is partially a personal diary so that I can remember how this summer was for me, and partially just a way to keep my friends updated since I won't remember every story of 2.5 months in August.
I'm flying out tomorrow, so I figured I should list what I think this summer will/won't be, and see how much of it actually happens.

Some fears:

-being alone
-drifting from my loved ones in CA
-murder/rape (after all, I am living in Harlem)
-hating my living situation

On a much brighter note, here's what I'm really excited about:

-turning 21 in NYC! (I've recently learned their bars are open till 4am, Kiran shall sleep at 10pm no more!)
-sampling NYC culture (museums, art shows, happy hours, even some music, maybe a running/biking event)
-starting over again, meeting new people, making new friends, changing up the routine
-summer of fitness! (running, biking, maybe try swimming again?)
-oh yeah, working at Columbia, a new vein in research
-and did i mention its NYC!!

With all that out of the way, farewell California, I leave you with DeVotchka...

We have given our bodies to the [New York] army,

But my heart and soul belong to you my love.

So let the [Harlem] guns cut me to ribbons,
For my eternal soul will know the way back home.