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Berkeley, Binding, and Surgery in 8 DAYS!

I’m now in Berkeley! It’s so nice here. There is green vegetation stuff galore, humidity, a cool breeze, I can breathe, bicycles all over the place… and, best part, when we went to Trader Joe's earlier there were shoppers wearing backpacks. In Utah? 99 times out of 100 I am the only person in the market with a pack - meaning, I either walked or peddled there. Here? I’m drowning in a sea of pedestrians and cyclists!

Not to mention — aside from veg-friendly and veg places GALORE — there’s also an all-vegan cinnamon roll place and soul food place super close. Oh my.

Food shouldn’t be so exciting - but, eating new vegan food is pretty much my #1 favorite thing to do when I travel. The flavors are always so new and exciting; and the neighborhoods harboring veg places are always havens for a slew of other awesome local cozy things. Oh, and I have a dorm room all to myself! It’s such a life saver. So, in general I switch between two binders — one for walking long distances or to eat in, since it binds much looser / and the other for brief periods of time when I need to bind tighter.

Yet, like a dolt, I forgot to pack my looser binder and spent the entire day binding with my tight one (which binds my entire torso). When some fellow McNair Scholars and I went out to eat, I was only able to eat a few bites due to the pain. I had to escape to the restroom a few times to fold the lower part of my binder up over my chest to let my stomach take a break — before folding it down again to rejoin the group. I would’ve left it folded up if it didn’t make it so difficult to breathe.

I’m not looking forward to wearing that tight binder all day every day until the 8th, but fortunate for me I have this dorm room to come take a break in when I can’t stand it any longer. The entire time I sat there in pain during lunch I reminded myself, “Surgery in 8 days… surgery in 8 days…”

8 DAYS.

I can’t wait. This time next year when I come to Berkeley again? NO BINDER. Adventures all day long, happy swim time, toplessness galore, and all the vegan food I can possibly stuff into my face!

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