L.A.

The title of this post couldn’t be more self explanatory. Yes, as anticipated, I’m in California. I’m in the L.A. area, in particular in Seal Beach, a town in the Orange County, or, the O.C. so to say (right, the place where the tv series takes place).

I arrived yesterday after a pretty chaotic trip. At around 3 pm I was going mad waiting at the security check in Newark airport looking at my watch every single minute and wishing that the 330 pm Continental airlines flight did not depart on time. At 315 pm I was running across the terminal building. At 317 pm I arrived by the boarding gate, breathing uncomfortably, and asked a woman whether the gate was already closed. It was, actually, but due to a delay, fortunately. There was a 15 min delay….however, in the end, those 15 min turned out to be 3 hours. I made it in the end, though. By 10 pm local time I was in L.A. and my friend Carlos and his wife Vega – both just moved in LA – were waiting for me at the airport. I’m staying at their place in Seal Beach. They’re treating me great, actually! It’s great to see your friends after some time at the other side of the world…

Today has been great. It started pretty early after some good sleep and with an interview of the phone with the head of human resources of a very big media conglomerate located in Burbank. I tried to get a proper informational but it was not feasible in the end. However, the phone call was smooth and I was pretty happy to hear the “right” answers to most of the questions that I posed (e.g. internationals are hired, no previous media background required…).You know, I am in California and, in addition to having some fun, doing some work was necessary…

The day continued with a great tour around L.A. with Vega: financial district, El Pueblo, Great Market (guys, you gotta try Tamarindo, an amazing drink that I had never had before!!!), Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, Mullholand Drive, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive…. Lots of pics and a great feeling and emotion about being in L.A. Then back to Seal Beach where Carlos has joined us for dinner and then a couple of drinks in Gaslam…a place halfway between Seal Beach and Long Beach. What a place! It has reminded of the big bars that you see in some American movies, with two big bars, lots of people drinking and dancing and lots of chicks!! I was feeling like staying to mess around for a while but tomorrow is also gonna be a big day: Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Malibu, Venice…the beach day! And this stuff is definitely more important than just looking for a hook-up.

Tomorrow the remaining of the Stern soccer team is arriving from NY for the UCLA cup. I will join them late in the evening. At that point the second part of this trip will start. If somewhere in-between we manage to make it into a UCLA college party, then this trip’s “experience” will be complete!

Anyway, I’m going to bed now. I couldn’t help but listening to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys while writing this post. I couldn’t think of anything more Californian…More stuff to follow soon!

Ciao