San Francisco Days

The three-week interlude in the US was great to charge up the batteries.  The MSF Refugee Camp exhibit in SF was both rewarding and enjoyable.  Fellow volunteers were fantastic.  The turn-out was decent and most people seemed interested, except for some of the easily distracted high school students who had more on their minds.  I remain with admiration for schoolteachers, the saints they are.

I had forgotten how pleasant San Francisco can be in October.  Most of the days were a warm 70F with crystal clear skies.  There was Fleet Week, which meant an incredible aerial show of fighter jets over the city. To gaze from the Marina Green at the Golden Gate Bridge on top of flat bay waters dotted with sailboats is to understand many visitor’s infatuation with the city.  Views from the steep Union street and Coit Tower are postcard perfect, even the Bay Bridge looks good.  We walked about like tourists, taking in the Cliff House and Ocean Beach, gelati in North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Ghirardelli Square.  Of course, it doesn’t last long, if you know San Francisco.  Soon the bone-chilling moist fog and wind came rolling in and all is enveloped in thick billows of grey.

The backpacks packed up -- travel books, camera, and computer stuffed in, it was time to hit the road again.  Next destination China, but first another visit to the parents in Hong Kong