So this is where we're staying - the Delta Upsilon fraternity of UC Berkeley. (To get a picture of the fraternity, here are its stated principals: the promotion of friendship, the development of character, the diffusion of liberal culture and the advancement of justice.) It's a gorgeous old mansion, although a bit rundown inside. All the guys (Mason, Noah, Alex, Dylan and the rest of you!) are awesomely nice and helpful. We're staying in "the bumming room", a room of tradition, the walls filled with names of all the people graduating (some are nicknames, we hope, like: Pink Simpson, Boom and Dick Blewett!).
(an enormously big slice of pizza from Fat Slice!)
Yesterday we went to the North Beach Festival. North Beach is the Italian district of San Francisco, but it is also the birthplace of the Beat generation. This is where the artists, poets and musicians got together to change the world. We saw A LOT of people that were in the way of all the beautifully cool buildings and stores, but we also found some great clothes (recycled/organic fabric and beautifully painted!)
Today we walked down to the UC Berkeley campus. And the "campus" they're building in Jakobstad ain't nothing compared to this!
See that tower? That's the world's third tallest bell-and-clock tower. And yeah, we went up there to see the entire bay! It has a 61-bell carillon, with the 12 original bells dating back to 1917.
That's the San Francisco skyline and the Bay Bridge, although in a haze and therefor nicely photoshopped! :)
We also met some nice squirrels as we walked through the lush, green campus.After getting off campus we walked back and forth down Telegraph Avenue, had some lunch at Blake's and shopped both from hippies on the street as well as in different stores. We shopped for records at Rasputin yesterday, so we stayed away from Amoeba today saving it for the one in Haight! Oh, and frozen yogurt from Papamingo! Thanks to the guy there who google:d the closest grocery store for us!
There is no doubt about the fact that we have come to a very liberal part of America. San Francisco, and especially Berkeley, is very liberal, diverse, gay- and drugfriendly. Mason told us that when it comes to marijuana the cops in Berkeley couldn't care less. You are more likely to get caught for jaywalking than for weed. Which is something you easily notice, there is that certain scent in the air at all times as you walk down Telegraph. And the smoke shops are everywhere. Even though there are signs all over the shops stating that all products are sold for tobacco use only, and any suggestion that they are going to be used for something else may mean you can't buy their stuff. But we're talking bongs and pipes of all sizes, as well as the "drugs" Salvia and Spice. This is liberal America at its best. The medical marijuana dispensaries (that aren't yet closed down) are also a sign of this. Evaluations and prescriptions cost like a hundred bucks, and there's a lot of clinics to get them. They seem to know that this is good medicine, and even the "street users" get left alone.
But there are other sides to Berkeley as there is to the whole country. There's a lot of hard drug users on the streets, and the needle exchange station (in a photo below) in Berkeley is necessary and in good use.
There is no doubt about the fact that we have come to a very liberal part of America. San Francisco, and especially Berkeley, is very liberal, diverse, gay- and drugfriendly. Mason told us that when it comes to marijuana the cops in Berkeley couldn't care less. You are more likely to get caught for jaywalking than for weed. Which is something you easily notice, there is that certain scent in the air at all times as you walk down Telegraph. And the smoke shops are everywhere. Even though there are signs all over the shops stating that all products are sold for tobacco use only, and any suggestion that they are going to be used for something else may mean you can't buy their stuff. But we're talking bongs and pipes of all sizes, as well as the "drugs" Salvia and Spice. This is liberal America at its best. The medical marijuana dispensaries (that aren't yet closed down) are also a sign of this. Evaluations and prescriptions cost like a hundred bucks, and there's a lot of clinics to get them. They seem to know that this is good medicine, and even the "street users" get left alone.
But there are other sides to Berkeley as there is to the whole country. There's a lot of hard drug users on the streets, and the needle exchange station (in a photo below) in Berkeley is necessary and in good use.
Drug free zone? Hardly. This is Berkeley, and that zone can't possibly be more than a few square feet.
We've seen a lot of beggers on the streets here. But also homeless people, that usually are street artists, or just wants to offer you a smile, that seem to have chosen this lifestyle. They value other things in life than work, and owning stuff. Something much more valuable. Many of them seem really happy. Like the girl, and the two guys Alex bought the painting of (last photo). The girl claimed she didn't have any supplies left, and that she even sold a painting for 80 cents earlier. Alex definitely paid more than that to support her art, and got a hug as a bonus along with the beautiful cardboard painting. That is love and happiness and equality. We like!
Saying goodbye to DU and Mason, tomorrow we're off to Oakland, and also an Open Mic at the Brainwash Café! Wohooo!
//the phoenix crew.
Glad you went up in the bell tower at UC Berkeley! Great view up there for certain!
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