So after Vegas, we went to Los Angeles.  It was beautiful, green, and warm (emphasis on the warm). We stayed out in Altadena with a childhood friend of T’s.

T’s friend, Hannes, his wife Teresa and his stepdaughter Lilly have a lovely home in the big city of LA yet far away enough from downtown where we were awoken every morning by the sound of roosters.

Yes, roosters.

They had bought a camper as guest room.  It was quite a clever idea because it was connected to the running water so there was a fully functioning bathroom and kitchen and perfectly sized bed.  It was delightfully cool despite having no air conditioning which was a relief considering the already rising temperatures in LA.

It was so chill and relaxing there. We loved it.  It should also be noted that the whole time there, we almost exclusively spoke German.  Hannes had another German friend from Stuttgart visiting named Kai.  He commented on it and asked me how did it feel to be in my home country and still not be speaking English.

I told him how my mother is Peruvian and I spent most of my life NOT only speaking English, but also Spanish.  So honestly, it wasn’t weird at all.

Hannes and Teresa have a great life there in LA.  Hannes works for JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory which works with NASA) just down the road.  I will write another post about our tour of JPL because it deserves one and it was awesome 😀

In contrast – T and I got to hang out with my friends from University, April and Patrick. I met Patrick my sophomore year of college through my best friend/roommate/Fellowship member Kirsty.  Through him, I met April.  The two had been good friends since high school and April and I also hit it off. It was also my opportunity to meet April’s boyfriend, Scott.

What do they do for a living?

Patrick is an actor, April is a playwrite, and Scott is a talent agent. They certainly live life at a faster pace than our German hosts.  However, it IS Los Angeles so life is really all that fast.

Did I mention that they were all Hoosiers like me?

T mentioned this one morning after a late night of drinking and Japanese food with my college friends.  It was evening more fitting because I was curing my hangover with some midwest biscuits and gravy at a restaurant owned by yet another Hoosier:

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, look at that! Oh my mouth is watering – I want tot eat it now. NOW, I say!

But when you think about it – those of the same culture will always cling together whilst away from home.  I stayed in a house full of Germans clinging to their culture against an American backdrop while Hoosiers cling together in the cement jungle within the state of California.

Even in America are the cultures so different from to state to state that sometimes you feel so out of place even though you are simply in a different state within your own big country.

We did do some sight-seeing – but the majority of this particular trip was to reconnect with old friends and enjoy the LA sun.

Bis nachste Woche!