Sun, sea, sand and wi-fi!

In case you haven't been able to tell from what I've written so far, since arriving in the USA I've definitely experienced one or two "what the hell am I doing here" moments. Times when, sweating profusely and at the end of my energy levels and dealing with homesickness I've been unable to control the urge to reassure the people on my team that I am actually really quite good at some things - lots of things, actually: things like set theory, and troubleshooting computer problems, and talking to large groups of children. It's just that I'm not very good at this.

But then there are moments like today, sailing out of San Pedro harbour in the brilliant sunshine, leaving the famous LA smog behind and heading for my desert island home for the next 4 weeks, when I wonder how the hell I got this lucky. Admittedly, I am here to do weeding for 40 hours a week (ACE has been nicknamed "American Killing Experience" - presumably by illiterate volunteers. Probably Americans.) and perhaps after my first day's work tomorrow I'll not be feeling quite as spoilt as I do right now, but it's hard to deny it's a pretty cool place to be.

I'm staying with five other people in a lovely USC-owned house in the town of Two Harbours on Catalina Island. We have a kitchen (clean!), a bathroom (clean!), beds with bedsheets, towels provided, and perhaps most importantly, wireless internet. The clear blue ocean, which allegedly boasts some of the best snorkelling and diving in Southern California, is just a few hundred feet from our door. At $65 for a return passenger ticket on the ferry, there really don't seem to be many tourists able to escape the claws of Los Angeles to reach this island, and it seems to be mostly populated by those rich enough to arrive by private yacht. And somehow, I, a redundant youth worker, am here too!

My weekend off in Santa Cruz was pretty cool too. Highlights included:

Spotting an official sign with Arnold Schwarzenegger's name on it at the skate park (and I'm pretty sure it's spelt wrong)

Being watched by this small (but very committed) burrowing rodent as I did my laundry outside the house

Finding there weren't any waves to go and surf in, so blowing the money in a great burger joint instead

But this is where I am right now:

HA!