work, friends, class, rafting

On Monday and Tuesday I began part-time work at the Newport Mesa Church office. I'm hired as an odd-jobber, so I will be working here, there, and everywhere. So far I've mostly worked in the accounting department, but I also spent a little time answering the phones at reception.

My second summer school class started on Thursday. It is 49.2 miles away from my home and starts at 5:15, pretty much the height of rush hour. In order to ensure I arrived on time, I left home at 3 o'clock. That meant I got to the campus an hour early, but the way rush hour is, I'd better keep leaving at 3 and take some long walks around Ontario before class starts each week.

As I walked around on Thursday, I explored a small business center with restaurants near the school. I laughed out loud when I read one of the menu options in a Hawaiian restaurant - 'moco loco.' Crazy booger? No thanks! Also, the name of the Mexican restaurant - Chonitas - puzzled me. Why would you name a restaurant 'little underwear?' To each their own.

While I was still in Mexico, my sister sent me information about a white water rafting trip that some of her friends had signed up for. She and I also signed up, so on Friday we set out at 7pm for Kern County, four hours away. Kern County is very near Yosemite, and the scenery is stunning. Saturday morning all of us met for the rafting safety talk and strapped into extremely tight life jackets. Our guide's explanation, "If you can't breath, you can't drown." Okay.

This particular rafting package was on a stretch of class II and III rapids. Guess what? Class II and III rapids are really mild. You'd basically have to try to get thrown out of the raft. Our guide's primary job was directing us into the rougher patches of water and instructing us to spin the boat so we'd have more thrills that we would have otherwise. Still, although it lacked the adrenaline factor, we did have lots of fun getting wet and spending a beautiful day in the sun with lots of friends.

Sunday night I had the chance to spend several hours with a friend I haven't seen in over a year. She just moved to Oregon and drove down for a few days. We bought some coffee and took a lovely stroll on the beach, catching up on a year's worth of news.

Monday evening I met with some friends from small group, my sister, and my visiting friend from Oregon to try a restaurant I've been interested in for years. Marrakesh is located fairly near where I work. If you live anywhere near Costa Mesa, I shamelessly advertise that this is one excellent place to eat! Seven courses of fabulous food, nifty decor, Moroccan music, friendly and prompt waiters, and good prices. What more could you want? We enjoyed ourselves and left satisfied.