Caribbean Construction Materials?

For those of you unfamiliar with Berkeley, there are quite a few interesting people roaming the streets. Most of them may be characterized as "bums" or "beggars", some "crazies" or "weirdos". After being warned that La Jolla and Berkeley are very different in terms of crime and transients, I decided to keep my eyes open and be aware of those around me in order to avoid any run-ins with people who might see me as a perfect victim.

Today, I decided to get coffee at Peets on Telegraph and Dwight to work on my reading for CP 110 (the most reading EVER assigned in one weekend...literally). I was reading about shingles and other roofing types while strategically holding my valuables between my legs when the woman 2 seats away from me asked:

"What are you studying?"
"City planning", I said.
"Are you a UC Berkeley student?"
"Yes", I said.
"So you take your classes in Wurster?"
"Yes, all in Wurster Hall", I replied.
"I cleaned that building myself", the woman explained.
"Before I cleaned it, no one had before, and since then, no one has done it better".
I could tell she had some sort of accent or speech impediment, but couldn't put my finger on it.
She moved closer into the seat next to me.
All she had with her was a wallet and a paper coffee cup.
"What does your reading say?" she asked.
"It's about construction materials for buildings" I explained.
She then told me about her home in the Caribbean and how they build there for hurricanes, not for fires and earthquakes like in Berkeley. She said that concrete and metal framed homes are vital for withstanding the storms and that she went through a 150 mile per hour windstorm during a hurricane and the only reason her home wasn't destroyed....?

Was because she left a window open.

She explained that many folk's roofs came off because there was nowhere for wind to channel when it came through. By leaving her upstairs windows open, the wind came through her home and didn't destroy it. As she sat in her home, she watched out the window as her neighbors home turned 180 degrees and came off the ground, crashing into itself. Her voice trembled a bit when she described this detail. She started to get up and said,

"I was smoking marijuana and drinking Guinness while those houses were flying away".

HAHAHAHHAHA. Amazing. Unexpected. Perfect.

She walked away and as she left the shop she asked my name and where I was from.
"Good luck with your studies, Katie. And now you have a head start in your class because you know about Carribbean planning", she said.

These are the interactions I love. This is what Berkeley was and is in my mind. It's not everywhere that people from such different places in life can have a conversation. Sure, everything she said could have been bogus. But even if it was, I'm glad it happened.

On a different note, I got into my computer applications in environmental design class. HELL YES. I now have a full schedule.

Back to reading about Naglee Park in San Jose. WHY is the reading like 80 pages, I'll never know.

Peace.