Two Weeks in the Bay Area

Well, it’s been just about two weeks and this evening we are taking a hop and a skip over to Vietnam! I am writing from the couch of a funky hostel we’ve been staying at here in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, CA. There’s a big world map on the wall just to my left serving as a sufficient distraction to writing this. A few people marked out their travels in chalk, but none to Vietnam, Morocco or Peru. 

For the next three months I am traveling with 28 other college students on a study abroad program through the School of International Training. Our program’s topic is Climate Change: The Politics of Land, Water, and Energy Justice. Our group is 29 students, two traveling faculty, and in-country coordinators in each of the three countries we are going to over the next few months. Up first is Vietnam and we’re setting off for Hanoi tonight.

Most days we spend at least part of the day in a classroom space at the Women’s building in the Mission District. It’s just a few blocks from Dolores Park and we’ve enjoyed many lunches on the grass in that park-- and mandarins. The exterior of Women’s building is a big continuous mural, see the photo below.

My first attempt at writing this a few days ago was short-lived on a train to Sacramento. I wrote, “Currently on the train from Richmond to Sacramento, CA. Just got off the phone with mom and dad and a couple buddies in Vermont. Eyelids are feeling a little warm and heavy, signs of meeting so many new people and learning how to navigate and be in a city.” Being in the city for this time now, I am definitely out of my comfort zone. [cue Taylor Hill cows]. So I’m learning, leaning on friends and learning to navigate around the multiple forms of public transit. It’s fascinating how distinct the various villages within the city are, how quickly the vibe changes across a street, and the collective energy of so many people in a physical place which can be exciting to think about. 

One day we went to see the Golden Gate Bridge and coast after class, turns out we were greeted by a wall of fog, still had a great time exploring and playing on the sand.

The photo on the left is a pedestrian path along a busy street adjacent to Golden Gate Park. Last weekend we went to Muir Woods for the redwoods!

 

Hopped on a bus and ended up at the right place for sunset:

photo on the right is from the bathroom of a bicycle cafe in Oakland. 

Exploring the city, an endless row of palm trees and a labyrinth on the coast:

   

The area our hostel is in is the Tenderloin, and it is the area with many resources for people with informal housing, living on the streets. One of the first days here we took a walking tour with a man who had 18 years of first-hand experience of that life and now housed and living with his family. He continues to live in the area and help others along a path to more stability. He showed us a church that had low attendance for midday mass, and now they open their doors during the day for sacred sleeps. People come to the clean church space, the room was full of pleasant scent from burning incense, and it’s a way for the church to meet their needs and share what they don’t critically need. 

 

San Francisco hostel

When I first arrived in the city from the airport/train, walked out of the station and into a farmers market!

In the academia lens, our studies are focused on climate change. This study began with the perspective that social justice is part of the climate justice. Essentially, climate change is so interconnected with political and economic systems that in order to adequately address climate justice, we have to address the systems that led to the climate crisis in the first place. Through the Sagorea Te Land Trust, residents can voluntarily pay Shuumi Land Tax for living on colonized Ohlone land. This is a photo of a farm near Berkeley that three of us visited one afternoon. UC Berkeley owns the land and it is managed by a few farmers and Sagorea Te Land Trust also has a parcel in the plot. There are restrictions though, as to what can happen in these few acres because it is owned by the university. 

 an urban farm at a high school in East Oakland--converted soccer field and basketball court

munching down on the sweet 21st birthday dessert

One afternoon we met an artist in Richmond who makes and facilitates the making of art for the climate movement. When we showed up he was ready to make four big banners for Nebraska, Iowa, North and South Dakota Keystone XL pipeline frontline communities. 

The wind farm is on the horizon behind the other energy plant in the foreground.

Ferry ride across the bay

I recently found myself thinking of setting off for winter expedition from the Kroka base camp. The conditions of that wilderness semester are certainly very different and now with this group and we are going into the world in a very different manor. Still, setting off with a group on an out-of-the-ordinary way of life for the next three months is giddy and exciting and nerve wracking similarly to setting off for the woods. In that setting, we had to learn really quickly to rely on each other due to the extreme physical conditions. Going to Vietnam, Morocco, and Peru, I am curious how the different and new conditions will bring people together in new ways. A bit raggedy, but I want to share a few tidbits on the beginning of this semester. Also, please note if you received this via email it's because you were linked up to the blog I kept a couple years ago while in Micronesia and I changed the name of the page.