MAA Prep #1

John and I arrived at the Oakland International Airport on Thursday, June 15. The few days before the trip were a little hectic, as I started to experience pretty severe pain in my lower left foot, finally determined to be a problem with my Achilles tendon. A combination of time, a steroid injection, and an oral course of Prednisone would eventually relieve most of the symptoms.

The days from Thursday to Sunday were spent doing tourist-type stuff in the SF Bay area. Here we are at the beach...

John flew back from Oakland to Rockford (via Denver) on Sunday, dropping me off at UC-Berkeley on the way to the airport. After checking in, I walked down the hill to find somewhere to have lunch. The buffet at India Palace caught my attention and was very good. On the way back to the dorm, I considered my options for the afternoon/evening: (1) attend the opening MAA-Prep reception at the university from 4-6, or (2) return to SF and spend time with friends there. I figured that I would be seeing the MAA people all week, so SF won out. This meant I had to return back down the hill to catch the BART. Fortunately, my foot was doing better, as this involved a decent amount of walking.

I returned back to campus early enough to get a good night sleep before starting the actual conference, but the small bed made sleeping not quite as relaxing as usual.