Mar 162010
 

Versiune în română

Back in San Francisco for a two weeks trip. We’re waiting for friends from Romania to join us and together we’ll take a trip to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, and a tiny bit of Los Angeles thrown in on the way back. A tight schedule to say the least. But as long as I get to travel I’m not complaining, even if it’s travel to places I’ve been before.

San Francisco, my city by the bay. It still feels like home even though I don’t live here anymore. As soon as I step out of the airplane I feel a familiar smell, a mixture of salty waters and probably the smell of some local plants. I have a big confession to make, I didn’t like San Francisco at first. I didn’t like it for what it wasn’t, if that makes any sense, specifically, it wasn’t New York, the city were I dreamed to be living back when I was a graduate student at Rutgers, in New Jersey. But Cris got a job offer in California and instead of New York, we moved to San Francisco. The city was too quiet and subdued for my taste (compared to New York that is) and because I was adding another 2500 miles (4000 kilometers) between me and Romania I had a feeling of being at the end of the world. I’ve heard my American friends saying that San Francisco looks European but to me it looked alien and unfamiliar. The city where it never snows, where there’s an ocean but you can’t swim in it. Where August is cold and foggy and palm trees grow next to fir trees. The city with the highest percentage of same sex households in US. Also, on a sadder note, the city with the highest number of homeless inhabitants per capita of any major U.S. city. As I started work a week after moving to California, I didn’t have a lot of time to explore the city. I just started living there and discovered it little by little. And thinking about this a year or so later, I realized I’ve been feeling at home in San Francisco for some time. Come to think of it, it did happen like the song said, I left my heart in San Francisco! 🙂

According to the San Francisco page on wikipedia, tourism is the backbone of the city’s economy. No wonder, since San Francisco has been frequently portrayed in music, film and books. The city has some tourist attractions that are checked out by all visitors, but in my opinion what makes gives this city its reputation and make it one of the most romantic looking cities in the world is the landscape. The steep, famous San Francisco streets, the ocean, the bay, the rolling fog. The hills and its location between the bay and the Pacific ocean give out an awesome view from almost anywhere in the city.

  2 Responses to “My home away from home”

  1. Ooops,

    Intors din SF, i-as fi scris mai degraba lui Cata despre dexonline si comercializarea site-ului, si lucruri minore de acest fel. [Unde in SF sa punem placa comemorativa despre corifeii dexonline. Nu stiu daca mai aveti simtul umorului in Ro dupa ce v-a calcat fiscul, asa ca subiectul ramane fara email… Si apropos de fisc si SF, aveti poze cu regele Mihai, asa ca nimic nu-i nou sub soare!!!] Obosit insa, nu mai pot scrie email-uri despre aceste subiecte.

    Fiind pe dos, nu mi-a placut deloc NY si “coasta de est” a studiilor voastre, dar vestul continentului nord american ma fascineaza. Una din intrebarile teoretice inainte drumului spre California era daca as fi plecat din SF spre Romania si de ce as face asta. Am gasit raspunsurile personale la intrebarile pseudo-teoretice pe care mi le pun.

    Imi pare rau ca am renuntat sa mai folosesc emailul, caci ar fi fost interesant sa-ti scriu despre pozele de acum 40 de ani din Paris. Oare cum percepea mama ta orasul luminilor? Si oare cum se ajungea acolo? [Scria Ana Blandiana ca strabaterea distantei de la Bucuresti la Paris lua o vesnicie pe atunci…]

  2. Abia azi am constatat ca comentariile erau setate sa fie toate aprobate (noroc ca a vrut cineva sa lase un comentariu si mi-a atras atentia ca n-a aparut).

    Simtul umorului il mai avem, altfel nu cred ca am reusi sa vietuim in Romania, ignorind sicanele de zi cu zi 🙂

    Mama a fost cu trenul la Paris si cred ca i-a luat o vesnicie. Cred ca a fost ceva fascinant, probabil ca i s-a parut o alta lume. Pe atunci insa si in Romania lucrurile mergeau relativ bine, banuiesc, pentru ca ai mei n-au incercat in nici un fel sa ramina in Franta (sau poate n-au avut curajul?).

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