Monday, January 03, 2005

Capturing Califonication

San Diego Lindbergh International Airport. 21st December. 10:20 pm. The very first thing that caught my eyes was the broken (to be repaired) floor, with red marks all around. I was expecting something more elegant in a place like California. For me, who doesn't happen to be in a place like California, it does feel different. After all, Fort Collins is a just a small town with simple people, mostly finding their interests amongst the academic realms of the COlorado State University. On the other side, California was about sky scrappers, cars, chicks (many desis), nightlife, beaches, annoying neighbors, peeping tom and what not. Excitement was on a high. I was able to smoke after two hours of boring travel.

People started pouring in one after the other. It felt for a while that nobody has changed the slightest, less me who happened to have grown an eccentrically centred ponytail. Shiraj managed to get his luggage misplaced. They said it didn't find its way to his flight and will have to be shipped in the next one. He was worried that he would have to wear the same set of underpants that he has been wearing for the last seven days. Don't take it seriously. Nevertheless, his luggage was misplaced and that started the chain of memories that would weave throughout the trip. Luck was on favor that night, for we managed to catch the last transit bus to Budget - a car rental service station. The driver mistook the lonely South African girl to be a part of our gang. Of course, she profusely denied it. The bus dropped us at the rental station. The deal had already been struck for an SUv, so it be. A Ford Explorer. At this point, special mention to Yahoo maps, without whose distinguished service we would have been wandering naked in the streets of this contrived nation. Pages and pages of print outs guided us all the way, the streets, the exits, the turns...all of it, precise to the last mile. So, finding Dipu's place was easy.

Good to see that the fellow had already arranged our dinner - the American way, Pizza! Variety chocolates from Rags, what else is needed. There was alcohol for the needy too. I was still hanging over a hangover from the night before and the very thought of Vokda triggered my stomach to throw up. So, I stayed as far away from it as possible. I think I missed a whole lot of exciting talk that night. Well, everything comes with a price, its just that I wasn't ready to pay enough that night. Dipu's neighbors (the guy couple right beneath his apartment) were two jerks dropped mistakenly into this world, who still think they are inside their mother's womb. Hardly did we walk on the floor, they started scrathing their own ceilings with the broom sticks. Little did they know, it would only invite more tappings.

The night was clear, so was the morning. A perfect day for a perfect start. Shiraj won't say that because his luggage was yet to be located, and he would have to leave San Diego in two days. Anyway, a perfect day!! Our destination - SeaWorld, San Diego. Orlando and San Antonio hosts it siblings. SeaWorld was all about shamus, dolphins, rides and variety shows. Water was the favorite element out there and no matter what form of entertainment you choose, just be prepared to get soaked. Our adventure started with a cool parking stunt at parking lot A2. Next stop at the restrooms. It was as if everybody was waiting for this moment to relax at a public toilet. Dipu managed to halt an entire queue at the ticket booth, when he asked to convert his ticket into a year long pass. SeaWorld issued him a ticket without updating their computers and that entitled him to a subsidized entry for the day.

...to be continued

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