Today's Downtown Adventure...

I have a fear of public transportation in America. I was fine taking the MRT in Taiwan, even when I didn't live in the city that had it and even though I didn't use it that often. But for some reason, getting around on public transportation in America makes me anxious.

I'm not afraid of creepy people I might sit next to. I'm not afraid of germy seats and railings. I'm not afraid of fights breaking out on the bus (saw a YouTube video of that).

I'm afraid of not knowing what I'm doing. I'm afraid of getting lost and not being able to get to where I need to go.

So, the solution to this should be to just go with no real time crunch and no real expectations. And go with a map... or iPhone.

So today I went with a map and no iPhone.

I didn't take any buses. I only took the MRT type of system that they have in this city. For some reason that seems a lot less intimidating to me than the buses. I did a little research in the morning and then went for it.

Piece of cake...

It was a 5-10 min walk to the station closest to me. The fare was $4.50 for the day. And I was off to downtown without much of a plan.

This was my plan:

• Enjoy the brilliant sunny and warm weather.


• Visit downtown's public library


• Go to Old Navy (if I could find it)


• Go to Daiso (if it was still there)

This is what I ended up doing:

• Enjoyed the brilliant sunshine by walking lots and sitting at a park overlooking the water while I ate my turkey, cheese, and spinach crape (and I managed not to get sun burned).


• Toured the Art Museum that happened to be free today. Always a good thing. Favorite exhibit... fabric and clothing from around the world.


• Looked around at an antique shop. I love those!


• Then I found Daiso, which is no longer opened, and happened upon Old Navy, which I feel like has changed since I went there two years ago (or maybe I'm just getting old...).


• Finally, I made it to the Public Library, which was the only thing that was for sure in my original plan. It was amazing!!! I have NEVER seen such a humongous library! I was blown away. The only creepy part was when I got stuck on the fourth floor [all alone], which was call "the Red Rooms." Everything from floor to walls to ceiling was true red. Creepy... could have been the scene for a murder. But once I found my way out of that I was just in awe. I love children's books so, of course, the children's section was on my itinerary. The Children's "section" happened to be a whole floor in this ten floor establishment. Needless to say, I had a good time there. I may or may not have checked out a few picture books...

Mostly I just enjoyed wandering and exploring downtown. Though I love adventuring with others, there is something very freeing about doing it all alone. It is me against the city! My goal was to see how little I could use my map and try my best to not look like a tourist. I think I did pretty well... minus that time when I was... never mind. You didn't think I was going to reveal ALL my secrets on this blog, did you???

Anyway, I made it home tired, happy, and much more confident about taking public transportation... or at least that mode of public transportation.

A New Neighborhood!

A friend told me I should start blogging again. And recently I have felt more inspired to write than other times. I think it has in part to do with my move.

Last weekend I moved seven miles south to a part of the city where a lot of immigrants and refugees have settled. This is very exciting for me! Just this morning I had my window open and I heard the chatter of Vietnamese out on the street! Tonight I met a young man and his female relative from the Congo who live in my neighborhood.

Before breakfast I stood out on our front balcony to watch the Blue Angels, who were giving us our own air show right above the house. My downstairs Chinese-Vietnamese neighbor was also telling me about the trash and recycling situation at the house. Between the deafening rumbles of the Blue Angels flying really close, she told me that the neighbors to the right of us are Filipino and those behind us are Chinese. Then she told me the story about a Filipino man who lived across the street in a house with a long dirt driveway. She said he won the lottery and moved his family back to the Philippines. "You might win!" she said to me. I laughed and said, "I guess I live on a lucky street!"

When I say "my downstairs neighbors" I mean just that. For the time being, we have a family of three (a young couple and their two year old daughter) living in the basement. We share the kitchen, which has been working quite well. Their daughter is the cutest thing EVER!!! Because this family is Chinese-Vietnamese, they speak Cantonese and Mandarin), her mom encourages her to call me "Jie Jie" which means "Big Sister" in Mandarin. Apparently, when she wakes up in the morning she asks where her dad is and then now asks where Jie Jie is. In the morning I hear her pattering feet coming down the hallway to check if my door is open because she can't wait to see me. As soon as I come out, though, she gets SUPER shy. So cute! This morning, though, she let me hold her for the first time. I liked that... even if she had a stinky diaper on! =)

The downstairs neighbors are very friendly. The mom stays home with the daughter so she is around quite a bit. It is fun talking to her.

I wish I were a blogger...

I have come to Thee to take Thy touch before I begin my day.
Let Your eyes rest upon my eyes for a while.
Let me take to my work the assurance of Your friendship.
Fill my mind to last through the desert of noise.
Let Your blessed sunshine fill the peaks of my thoughts.
And give me strength for those who need me.
Amen.

~ Morning Prayer of Mother Teresa

Today...

• my car helped someone jump-start their's... glad I had the time to help them out. I was just looking for a parking place in the jam packed lot when a young woman ran up to me. I rolled down my window and she asked if I had time to help them jump-start their car. I had never experienced this before and had nothing going on so it was fun to be part of this. The guy got on his phone asking his dad how to do it but then another guy came and basically did it for them. I was surprised how simple of a procedure it was!
• I hung out at the playground with my friend's toddler.... fun times swinging and wandering. She really liked to watch the big kids playing. Ahhh... didn't we all!
• I watched the sunset over the beautiful city... beautiful! I had a great people watching spot. I journaled and read, too.
• I viewed the movie, "City of Joy." It was pretty good... though I thought the main character (played by Patrick Swayze) was often insensitive to cultural issues and not very humble. The movie takes place in a slum in Kolkata. I would recommend watching it, though. The movie was based on a book which is said to be really good.
• I panicked over my job search. I still don't have a job, though I have applied to one that I am super excited about. I know that the whole thing is in the Lord's hands but...
• I skimmed through my friend's Doula Handbook... interesting stuff!
• I walked through a farmer's market. Never been to one of those in America. It was so clean and neat and tidy and everything was displayed beautifully to please the artistic eye. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since this is America and everything. But I'm used to dirt and flies and veggies laying on a dirty tarp on the ground. I'm used to people calling out from their carts that they have the freshest vegetables. I'm used to strong smells and having to watch where you step. But no. This was nice and clean and relatively quiet. And they sold honey.
• Today I read more out of my book called, "West of Kabul East of New York" by Tamim Ansary. It's the story of an Afghan American's life. A true Third Culture Kid, if you know what I mean. I can identify with a lot of what he talks about. It's a facinating story of how he deals with all of his cultures (mother was American and father was Afghan) and his identity in them.
• I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich and carrot sticks. Well, I did eat more than that but I just wanted to high light that gourmet meal.
• I blogged and now that I am blogging about blogging, it probably means that I should stop writing because I have nothing more to say.
  
  Saalam.

A New Chapter

It's been a number of years since I've blogged but I'm excited to start up again. My creative juices are flowing again and I'm excited to collect them in the form of writing.

I recently moved to a large city. I live in the middle of the city, which is a totally new experience for me. I'm in my bedroom typing but can most distinctly hear the roar of the traffic from the highway which is one and a half blocks from my house. At times it feels as if buildings and people are falling in on me. But really, it probably isn't that bad. Both my brothers live in much more crowded cities.

I've been here three weeks today. Each day this place feels more and more comfortable. City driving (which was a big deal when I first arrived) is getting more normal. I still haven't gone to the same grocery store twice. I get around less and less with the GPS and rely more and more on intuition and maps to get me places. Thrift stores here are AMAZING!!! All the varieties of ethnic foods make me hungry and anxious to get a job so I can go enjoy them.

Stay tuned for (hopefully) more adventures in the city.

Peace,
ME

First blog entry!