GOING OUTDOORSY IN SAN FRANCISCO

So yes, I can call myself a recidivist runner. I used to run a few years ago. I ran a couple of half marathons until I started to feel some pain in my knees and in my feet soles. At that time doctors told me I had to stop. Those were awful news because I cannot describe how much I enjoy running; it gives me the endorphins for a happy day and allows me some time for me and myself. Anyways, after making the effort of trying other ways to work out (obviously I was also banned to do the other sports that I love: soccer and squash) I could not hold it anymore. Specially leaving in the US and specially when I got to San Francisco and saw the beautiful coastal landscape and the many people running (even on Bay to Breakers day).

So yes, I decided to start running again. This time, with all the precautions and training required and making sure I did not over exert myself. So I joined a gym, paid for a personal training to make sure I strengthened the right muscles and hit the ground running!!! My favorite run goes from Taylor and Bay, all along Bay street through Laguna street when I take the sea trail all the way to golden gate park and then come back…although windy, AMAZING. Just that. AMAZING. I enjoy so much watching other people running, watching the water on my side, and the nice landscape of the bridge either in the morning or at dust.

This made me realize that I love to be in a city were I feel safe, where the infrastructure is set so that citizens actually enjoy their city and take advantage of it and its urban spaces. And, I love a city where there is an actual culture of running. On a side note: I have to confess that one of the things I love about the actual culture of running is running fashion. Yes, I enjoy checking girls outfits. I have to say that I am a huge fan of Lululemon and Nike women sports wear. They really know how to make running outfits for a girl to look cute.

Since I need a motivation to train regularly, I registered for the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon that took place on June the 25^th and was thrilled to learn that the San Francisco Half Marathon was on July the 31rst. But, unfortunately, given that I have to come back to Colombia for another internship, I won’t be able to run the San Francisco one!! It would have been so nice to start my San Fran experience with a race (Bay to Breakers) and finish it with another one (The San Francisco first half). Instead, I will run the Bogota Half Marathon that same day…..I know it won’t be the same, and I know I will be missing this city so much….but unfortunately I still do not have the power to stop time ( I have wanted that so badly since I was very little).

I will take with me the memories of an amazing city where you can just suddenly decide on a random day to go outdoorsy and find the most amazing getaways. My recommendations: a bike ride, a walk or a run to Sausalito over the Golden Gate Bridge; take the Blue and Gold fleet ferry at Pier 41 on a random sunny afternoon to Tiburon and have artichokes and a Bloody Mary at Sam’s; drive to Muir Woods and spend a day wondering around the trees; plan on a picnic at the top of Angel Island on a sunny Sunday (departure time from Pier 41 at 11:20).

Ohhhhh I will miss this city SO much…

Only in San Francisco

Besides the wide range of food than can be found in San Francisco, the many fashion styles you can encounter and the climate difference between a sunny corner and a corner in the shadow, San Francisco is full of those little details that make it unique in one or another sense.

Fun and cheap was one of my first discoveries, it’s an amazing webpage (http://sf.funcheap.com/) where you can find a list of any sorts of cultural, recreational, musical or gastronomic events for all tastes, interests and low budgets. Many of them are free or at least reachable at a very affordable price. Through this page I discovered for example the Food Trucks that gather on certain Fridays at Fort mason around a band. You can go, eat and chill out with some beers while enjoying the music. Trucks form a circle and offer food from all over the world. My recommendation: Vietnamese, Pica Pica Maize Kitchen (the best Venezuelan “arepas” I have gotten since I arrived to the US), and crème Brulee.

The California Academy of Sciences offers on Thursdays the event NightLife. This is a weekly event where visitors of ages 21 and older can enjoy music, science, entertainment and cocktails, while experiencing the Academy’s world-class exhibits with friends. Each weekly installment features something new and different. I happened to go when the theme was sustainability. Sustainable cocktails, food, exhibits and a cooking class accompanied by an amazing exhibit of Lizards and serpents were taking place. A highly recommended event.

Two exhibits of Picasso’s private collection at the same time in the same city. Indeed, at this exact moment, and until October the 9 of 2011, The Young museum, located at the Golden Gate Park is showing the masterpieces of the Musee National Picasso from Paris. And, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is showing, until September the 6th, the Steins Collect. This exhibition draws on collections around the world to reunite the Steins' holdings of modern art, bringing together works by Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant Garde (Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and many others). For Picasso lovers, this are MUST see.

Festivals featuring the best of San Francisco diversity. In May 28 and May 29 took place one of California's largest multi-cultural celebration, and one of San Francisco's most popular and cherished traditions, the San Francisco Carnaval. This was a display of Latin American and Caribbean cultures with an array of food, music, drumming, dancing, live music, and a Grand Parade on Sunday. In the same vein, on June the 25th and 26th took place the 2011 San Francisco Pride event. The theme was "In Pride We Trust" and was selected by Pride's membership at their Annual General Planning Meeting in September. Just as in Bay-to-Breakers, you could find the widest range of costumes: from guys dressed in French aristocracy to a priest blessing naked people. A note on the side: the day of the mission festival, some friends and I decided to head to Castro neighborhood to visit. We were pleasantly surprised by 4 men, completely naked, on a Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, just hanging, chatting with each other, chatting with dressed people and having coffee. Just like that, no more preambles, no more explanations. Just SF …

San Francisco’s Lunatic characters. I can say that almost EVERYDAY I meet someone hallucinating in his/her own created world after, quite probably, a combination of amazing drug cocktails. People screaming out loud mad at the entire world, a guy shooting imaginary guns or a women walking in circles, are the type of characters that make part of the San Francisco scene. But maybe the most amazing one was the scene of a guy who was picking imaginary things from the floor and who suddenly started climbing the corner of a building and who ended climbing almost 3 meters. He truly believed he was Spiderman! After having climbed the wall calmly, he decided to go down with an impressive ability and just keep walking and picking imaginary stuff from the floor…..no concerns, he just continued his way.

Tourist “traps” vs tourist “tricks”

I am usually very distracted. I find myself thinking about several things while driving or walking and when I finally realize where I am, I already missed my turn or walked a few more meters than needed. For instance, when I arrived to San Francisco my supervisor gave me instructions on how to get home by taking the Cable Car - Yes, the Cable Car. I think I have one of the most autochthonous experiences a person can have in San Francisco. I go and come back from work in Cable Car. Every afternoon I ride my cable car with tourists from all over the world that scream out loud when the cable car is driving down a hill – Anyways, my boss had told me where to take the cable car. The thing is that she never told me that there was more than one line of Cable Cars….So, in the middle of my dispersion, the first day I took the wrong line. I was riding it and realized the car was running further away from my place. So I got off where, with the basic knowledge I had of the city 2 days after my arrival, I believed I was close to my place and could walk home. I ended up walking quite a few hilly blocks….

The second day I got on the wrong cable car again because I did not know exactly how to find out what line it was and I was impatient to get home. So, I just jumped in the first vehicle I saw. But this time, I realized I could get off at the same cross street of my house but a few blocks up. That same cross street is called Lombard Street. The name did not say anything to me rather than where I lived .… but I found out that this was the stop of the famous zigzag touristy street, Lombard Street, and that I lived 3 blocks away from it. I try hardly to avoid touristy places and traps and ironically I was experiencing 2 of the most touristy things in San Francisco at once: the Cable Car and Lombard Street.

But not everything is as bad as it sounds, thanks to it I made an interesting discovery. I kept walking and found one block away, a very nice Colonial Spanish and Italian style building: The San Francisco Art Institute. It was amazing to discover that just a block away from home I had access to this interesting space, where not only graduate and undergraduate art degrees are offered but also arts exhibits are presented each month. This amazing space also offers access to the Anne Bremer Memorial Library, established with a generous donation from philanthropist Albert Bender in 1935 and, more amazing: you have access to The Café on the rooftop of the building. It’s a space that yields spectacular views of the bay and beyond. The Café serves breakfast, lunch, and light fare from morning to early evening. All food is made from organic, local, seasonal ingredients available in the San Francisco Bay Area. A trick totally recommended!!

Also, on a given Sunday that my husband came to visit we got touristy and decided to rent bikes and ride all along the beach from Embarcadero to Golden Gate Bridge. The ride is nice and totally worth it except for the wind that impedes the bike to advance at a speed higher than 1 mile per hour. But again, when we were climbing a hill near Fort Mason and decided to take the typical tourist Golden Gate/ Sea view picture, I made another great discovery: the San Francisco Fine Art Fair. From May the 19^th until May the 22^nd, San Francisco offered the inaugural show of this Concourse Exhibition Center. With galleries representing both contemporary and historically significant work, they presented a selection of highly relevant and engaging programs from the Bay Area and around the world. A highly recommended and very nice trick to check next time you happen to be in May around San Francisco.

The hipster touch of a “summer” in San Francisco

“San Francisco (SF) in is chilly during the summer though.. “ and “You know Mark Twain once said: The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco” were the two most common sentences I heard when I told my “Bay Area” friends that I was going to be in San Francisco for the summer. But I guess I never really believed them. I mean, coming from 6 harsh months of Michigan’s winter, I thought people meant I wasn’t going to be at 90 degrees Fahrenheit (I have to admit that after a year in the US I still do not know how to make a quick conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius degrees, but I already understand that 90 degrees is quite warm) but at least at a manageable weather such as the one in my hometown Bogotá, were a light sweater helps you protect from a manageable cold wind. Off course I was wrong. When they said SF is CHILLY during the summer they really meant SF is FREEZING during summer.

What does my misunderstanding meant? I over packed the two suitcases I was allowed to bring with me with light summer-ish clothing and I ended up paying overweight for nothing! My luggage was full of unnecessary and inappropriate clothes because when I was packing I decided to leave heavy jackets and warm sweaters to reduce the weight. The result: I have been freezing during the past three weeks, inappropriately dressed, and internally wishing I could wear the nice dresses I brought to go out at night or the sandals I got since February that are waiting in the closet for summer time! Actually, since in Colombia we do not have seasons, and the city I leave at is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, I have always wished to experience and entire summer where I could dress in colors, skirts, top tanks and sandals. Well, apparently this is not going to happen……

Good thing though, Luckily, my mom sent to me a couple of Jackets I had left home with my very good friend Juliana who came to visit this weekend from Colombia. And, after the initial shock and complaining about how the weather ruined the summer fashion, I started to like the effect that had on the city’s fashion the combination of the chill and the hipster atmosphere of San Francisco. And I have to say that I love it!

I had never used more my leather jacket, and my comfy Tiger tennis shoes. Yes, I love the look of San Francisco girls, their tight jeans, comfy but stylish boots, a nice sweater, a hipster scarf and the classiest of the wind breakers: the leather jacket. They wear them camel, green or grey and they look fantastic with those 70’s style sunglasses and a very loose pony tail…

Let the cold come! If it comes with that hipster touch…

Bay to Breakers (ie. B2B): my welcome to San Francisco

What a best way to land in San Francisco but to attend The Zazzle Bay to Breakers. This has been a tradition for nearly 100 years; a 12k footrace held every third Sunday in May with serious runners and costumed participants. San Francisco at Full. The race, that Begun on January 1, 1912 with just over one hundred local runners, now attracts tens of thousands of runners and walkers from all over the U.S. and the world.

Bay to breakers was one of those events aimed at helping rebuild the city after the 1906 earthquake. While It was intended as a precursor to the athletic events planned for the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition, it is now a pure expression of what san Francisco is, its culture, it people, its vibe…

At approximately 7 in the morning San Francisco streets are filled out with an amazing crowd dressed (or undressed) with a wide array of costumes and group themes. Imagine anything and you’ll find it. Cowboys, drag queens, soccer players, packmans, twisters, and unnecessary nudity. But most people are not running they’re walking, and drinking. So the streets are full of joy, craziness and love. What else can you ask for?

My friends and I were a thanksgiving dinner: a turkey, pilgrims, and Indians walking on the streets until we found a spot in a park where we could watch and meet semi naked Greek warriors, a group of people wearing t-shirts with Charlie sheen quotes, Teletubbies, a guy offering free breast exams, a naked married couple, a couple laying and getting very touchy and several police officers trying to evacuate the crowd. At one point you could not know if the policemen were part of the race.

Bottom line, the best cultural immersion to what the city of San Francisco offers…… (more info on: http://zazzlebaytobreakers.com/)

artSFashion: a colombian perspective on San Francisco's arts, design and cultural activities

Hi All!

My name is Camila Salamanca, I am a first year MBA, I am from Colombia and I will do my internship in Taproot Foundation in San Francisco.

The Taproot Foundation is an organization that enables business professionals to donate their skills to help nonprofits with their marketing, human resources, strategy Management, among others. The idea behind this purpose is that most organizations tackling social problems don’t have access to the marketing, design, technology, management or strategic planning resources they need to succeed and that big corporations have. Without this talent, few are able to have their intended impact on critical issues like the environment, health and education. Thus, Taproot wants to provide them with access to those resources.

During my internship I will be a consultant for Taproot, helping them measure the impact they have had on the non-profits they have been helping so far.

With this internship, I expect to sharpen my business and strategic thinking and acquire useful skills for my future career as a consultant, but I also my leadership skills by having access to responsibilities that I might not have by working in larger organizations. Most importantly, by interacting and learning from new business leaders in the public private partnerships world I will expand my consulting experience to the non-profit sector in the US, which will allow me to build a wider network and help me understand and learn about successful public/partnership models used in the US that could be replicated later in a developing country setting.

I am nervous about really achieving my goals and provide a high quality work to the organization. Also, I will be working by myself in this project, so I am hopping I will still be able to have interaction with other members of the organization and receive as much support as possible.

I am very exited about learning new things, interacting and meeting new people, and contributing to a better society. But also, I am very exited about living in San Francisco. In fact, I will use my time and experiences in this city to write a blog on topics that are of great interest to me such as arts, culture and fashion. So, stay tuned, and wait to read in the next posts my Colombian perspective on artSFashion: a Colombian perspective on arts, design and culture in San Francisco!