After several weeks of forgetting to look up their music, I heard one of their songs entitled “Home” yesterday. It transported me right back to Treasure Island. Check it out:

The barrel rooms at Robert Mondavi Vineyards are cool and dim. Beautiful French wood barrels harvested from forests owned by the French government — each store around 30 gallons of wine. New barrels cost about $1000. After they’ve been used, the barrels go for about $5 each.

Oh, how I enjoy summer. I took a long time waking up and getting ready this morning before heading to San Francisco on the BART. I’m still new to Muni, but I managed to get onto N Judah heading toward Golden Gate Park without too many hiccups. My initial mission was to get a photo near the UCSF campus, but that ended up falling through, and so I walked all the back to the Civic Center BART, stopping to look into small shops along the way.

Outside the Kaufhaus des Westens in the center of West Berlin, people rush to get on and off the U-Bahn, the main part of the subway in the city. Our group popped our heads inside the department just long enough to glimpse the incredible food section. Just a moment to catch the sights and sounds before we were off to Frankfurt again. Too short of a visit for a city as immense as Berlin.

Just a little over two weeks ago, my classmates and I set out for the former concentration camp Dachau just outside the city of Munich. The camp has been preserved and turned into a memorial—wooden bunks still stand inside the old barracks and simple, looming monuments to the dead spot the gravel yard. The museum is appropriately kept to the first barracks, and the grounds are quiet save for the occasional guide’s voice or rustling of feet.

Over spring break, my history seminar flew to Germany and traveled around the country to Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin touring institutes, universities and archives renowned for their involvement in scientific research during the early 20th century.

More images to come.

The highway spreads before us and the day turns to night as we speed back toward Los Angeles from sunny San Diego. 

I left my flat in the morning and Alicia and I took a cab that cost far too much out to the car rental place. I sat in the driver’s seat and slowly got used to the feeling of sitting on the right side and driving on the left side of the road. Surprisingly, it didn’t take too long to get used to it.

The four of us piled into the car, popped a CD by a local jazz artist into the radio and took off. Our goal was to drive from City Centre in Cape Town down to the Cape of Good Hope. In the end, we got so close to our goal, but never actually made it to the Cape.

We stopped in Simon’s Town (see above image) just before 3 to get a late lunch at a restaurant on the edge of the sea. Jean had been to the restaurant previously when she had journeyed to see the African penguins. The roof leaked a bit, and there was an inch of water covering the floor. We sat in the far corner of the restaurant and ordered four plates of fish and chips.

Late in the afternoon we reached the penguins. We walked out the wooden boardwalk towards the beach to see the crowd of African penguins (also called Jackass penguins). We walked by one bush under which two baby penguins sat with their parent. Everywhere we looked penguins sat under bushes or waddled across the sand. The above image was taken from the boardwalk just before the rain began. It was only a minute walk from the end of the boardwalk back to the entrance, but by the time we got there, our clothes were soaked through.

What gear can I bring to make sure that I am as prepared as possible? Are there any accessories I could leave out? And what is absolutely essential?

1. Research your assignment: Take some time to learn about the assignment before you go out. It is your job, just as much as it is a writer’s, to report. If you don’t have much time, take 5 minutes to look for it online (at a paper or maybe on Wikipedia). You will always get better photos or stories if you prepare.

2. Know your equipment: In the field, you have to troubleshoot your own problems. So make sure you know the camera you’re using. If something goes wrong in the field, try backtracking or take out the battery. Take your download your camera’s manual in case something goes really wrong.

3. Always bring doubles: It is a terrible feeling to get into the field and realize that your battery is almost dead or that you have forgotten a memory card. So remember, if you can, take at least one extra battery and several memory cards just to cover your bases. If you have room, throw in your battery charger too.

4. Paper and Pen: As a photojournalist, you need to always take cutline. It is impossible to remember every detail of your assignment and how to spell people’s names.

5. Small accessories: There are a few small accessories that will make your life a lot easier if you remember to bring them: memory card reader, lens cloth and plastic bags. I bring a memory card reader in case I ever need to upload my images and email them immediately. Consider bringing two plastic bags in case it rains—one to cover the gear you’re using and one to cover your gear bag.

These are a few things I’m thinking about including before I pick up and go. What works for you?

I managed, after quite some time wandering around Penn Station, to find the 1 train headed uptown. And before I knew it I was up at 116th and Broadway. 

I have yet to find the dorm I will be staying in and check in. I wanted to take just a moment to appreciate the summer that I will all too soon leave behind.

My flight arrived early this morning. It was beautiful; everything was lush and green in our garden. The air is filled with the sound of birds singing. It’s so different from what I’m used to now. Back in Berkeley it’s rare to hear anything but cars driving up and down the streets.

Tomorrow I’ll be off again. I am going to New York City for a journalism workshop at Columbia University for this week and then, before I know it, I’ll be in South Africa.