One of my favorite things about travelling to a new place is people watching. There is just nothing like soaking up the sun with a drink in hand and enjoying the bustle of a novel city or country. In my visits to Paris, London, Zurich, and beyond, one thing I find that Europeans often share is their penchant for enjoying their time en plein air and around other people. It almost seems to be the new European sport, nestled between soccer and tennis.Â
If there is something to be said for our neighbors across the pond, it is that they are very good at taking advantage of good weather. Maybe it’s just a thing that all places with real seasons are more inclined to do than the spoiled children of Southern California, forever used to constant sun. But the mass migration outdoors to enjoy good company and even better weather or wine is something I always thought remained confined to the terraces of France, dirty hostels of Ireland, mountain towns of Switzerland, and Italian piazzas.Â
Isla Vista is for Lovers
Although I would say New York City also captures that human desire to be around others, faces craned to catch the first summer sunshine of the year, I’ve only noticed the continent-wide exodus in one place. Then I came to UCSB last year, and noticed the residents of IV crawling out of doors, windows, holes in the roof, and practically any other opening they could find to migrate towards the sun, the ocean, or their friends, and for the first time I got to thinking that Socal might even do it better than the rest of the world.Â
My first night walking through IV towards the beach, I marvelled at how amazing it was that every house’s roof was swarming with people, backyards teeming with activity, and all of the garages we passed were alive with percussion. It was reminiscent of the tight medieval streets of Barcelona, stuffed full of cafes and bars, neighbors hanging laundry and calling down from their apartments above, in the sense of community and closeness.Â
Since that night, we took as many opportunities as possible to be out in that community. Rain or shine, there is always something in IV; something that is part of UCSB’s party-school reputation, of course, but I think that it also speaks to our community in a larger sense. People are showing up for each other, whether that be teaching a first-year the curb rule, or spending three hours at Kozy listening to your friend’s roommate drama.
This summer, as I was perched on a stool in Cherbourg, France, with my friends, watching groups of people appear and drift over to others, bouncing around the terraces and bars, I was struck by my luck in being able not only to find community abroad, but also in the amazing one that is now my backyard.Â
Santa Barbara’s Heartbeat
Now that I live in a little place tucked into the folds of IV with my best friends, we find ourselves outside much more than last year. Seeking a stray strand of sunshine through the morning marine layer on the balcony, or on a walk to pick up a forgotten ingredient from IV Market, the ability to look left or right and see people everywhere is something very special to Isla Vista.
Most of the time, finding a community of people piled on top of each other that has a sense of togetherness is possible in large cities with huge apartment buildings and skyscrapers. Here, though, although we might have just as bad of a housing crisis, our small community thrives just as well in the fresh air, faces turned towards the light like sunflowers, and enjoying the companionship of other humans.