Diving Into Jersey

When I first heard we were going to Jersey Shore, I made an immediate connection to the reality television show. Seeing as I am not a fan of the TV hit, Jersey Shore, I was skeptical because I didn't know that it was an actual beach. When I discovered, however, that this place lies along the New Jersey shore, I was very excited to head over there!

As we have done for all of our trips, we left the quad before 9 AM and piled on to our respective buses. During the ride, they played Napoleon Dynamite, but I read some of Italo Calvin's Invisible Cities for most of the 90 minute trip.

Now, this was my first time at Jersey Shore, but I kept getting major déjà vu because it reminded me so much of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. There were a ton of people there today which makes sense because the weather was absolutely perfect! Not too hot, but not too chilly either. We spent a couple hours at the beach, first dipping our toes into the water and then diving into the waves. I had so much fun and the water was a great deal warmer than in the California coast.

Later in the day we walked up and down the boardwalk, which made me think about how consumerism is embedded into American's daily lives to such an unbelievable extent. It was impossible to even walk along the boardwalk without seeing a clothing store or food stand; which isn't something that is unexpected, but I felt it was such an extremity today.

I love that they took us to the beach because it reminded me so much of home and how excited I am to see my family. At the same time though, I really do not want to leave, this has been such an incredible experience for me and I am so grateful to be here. I know I have said this before, but I will miss it here in Philly so much, and I cannot believe we only have a week left! If this was a Facebook status, I would feel it appropriate to put an unhappy smiley face at the end of that sentence, just to show that I will be truly sad to leave here. However, I am very excited to share my experiences with my family and friends, and also to incorporate my newfound leanings into my community back home. In all I would say it will be a bittersweet goodbye, but I still have a week to go and I plan on making the most out of it.