san francisco

Almost everyone loves San Francisco; there are a lot of ideals, and there is an incredible unique energy. I'm not that unique; I love it too. But to be fully honest, I have to acknowledge the cons of actually living in the place. At times they can be substantial. The worst: commuting makes everyone mean. Drivers, pedestrians, bikers. They (we) are simultaneously impatient and slow, and everyone's out for themselves. This city is small, and packed. There's no easy way to drive through it. Five or six miles, which is all it takes to go from one end of the city to the other, will take you an hour to drive. Public transportation isn't good. Being a bike-friendly city doesn't mean it's safe to bike, and it's hard for beginners to compete with aggressive, entitled bikers who know that their gear intimidates you.

Close to worst is parking, and the inevitability of being ticketed, often and highly. You'll see as many meter maids as bikes, and this just doesn't seem as friendly as California is supposed to be (an inconsistency that makes the commuter mentality even more frustrating). There are some other bad things about the city (the insanely high cost of living, the cold in some pockets), but nothing compares to the problem of getting around.

But. When you do get around, it is incredible.

One of our intern orientation events was a scavenger hunt around the city. Over the course of a few hours, we sampled flavors with eats, sights, airs, and streets. It was a gorgeous sun-drenched evening; when we started out around 6 PM it felt like early afternoon, and as we finished near 9 it felt like dusk.

We drove along the Embarcadero for beautiful views of the Bay, and the Bay Bridge. We sped down to the Mission district, where we stopped at our leader's house to pick up a pinata (which was on our list, and which she happened to have for a birthday party). We walked through the Mission to Dolores Park, a grassy knoll smattered with families and couples with dogs and teenagers smoking weed. We walked to Bi-Rite Creamery, and had salted caramel ice cream, which felt rich and light and full all at once. I had mine on a cone and we sat in the park relishing the sweet. Then we strolled, looking for tacos among all the Mexican food in the Mission. We decided on a place called Tacolicious, a trendy place packed with happy hour goers. We ordered, and went in search of murals while the food was being made. A few blocks away, a corridor of colorful murals was tucked away, with different styles and sentiments poured on brick. Got so lost in the neighborhood that I forgot about the tacos, and when I found ourselves back there, it was like a surprise to gather fresh, hot tortilla and real-spiced salsa. We walked for awhile, and found a "public parklet," a random, cozy seating area "open to the public" with a booth and stools. There we devoured tacos with a million flavors packed into a handful of food--mine had the sweet and tangy of mango, spice of jalapeno and other peppers, citrus of lime, and natural ocean taste of yellowtail. Full, we drove our way to the other end of the city, to Golden Gate Park. Where we saw bison, waterfalls, and gardens, all along a five minute stretch of road. As we left from the opposite end of the garden, we made our way to Ocean Beach and along the ocean to Sutro Baths, the ruins of an indoor swimming pool complex, now swimming in the ocean. Surrounded by mountains,greenery turned black from silhouettes, pinks in the sky and glassy water from changing light. From there we ordered Chinese take-out by phone, and sped to the Richmond (SF's second Chinatown) to pick up home-made dumplings. We gathered our list of items seen, eaten, experienced and met with everyone at an Irish pub in Haight for drinks and sharing.

So much makes it hard to navigate, but it's not lost on me how much there is.