"Not for Nothing"

To my delight, ginger ale is everywhere here. In every restaurant, every coffee shop, every newsstand, there is ginger ale. It is wonderful.

Also, they drink their coffee with milk here, not creamer. Not that it matters, I am making the transition to black coffee as we speak.

I had my first minor bout of homesickness this last week, brought on by the frustrations that come with living in community with 6 other people. Luckily my wonderful mother helped me troubleshoot the situation and things have been much smoother since then.

I am learning to appreciate weekends on a whole new level these days. The word “weekend” has a totally different meaning to it when it doesn’t mean writing papers or studying for tests. I can shift my night’s sleep to 4am-Noon and not feel guilty for not getting things done. And after all, this is the city that never sleeps, and while I have to, why not do it all morning and be up all night??

I visited the Met this weekend, for the second time since arriving in this city. This time, I was able to see the things that I really wanted to see, the modern European paintings. I spent almost 2 hours in one section of the sprawling labyrinth of a museum, on my own, and simply happy. Monet, Van Gogh, Manet and Cezanne just have a way…

While at the Bohemian Beer Garden on Friday night I was posed with a question by an outwardly conservative man who was trying to play wingman to his friend, and obviously failing: What is one way that the presidency of George W. Bush has negatively affected me, personally? And while I am more than willing to have a political discussion with someone who has differing views than my own, there were a few things stopping me,
1) I was not at the beer garden to talk politics
2) I typically don’t have these “conversations” with men who are raising their voices and standing threateningly above me.
So, instead if stating one of the many ways in which GWB has impacted my life (Beginning, but not necessarily ending with policies concerning higher education and a job market arguably at its worst since the depression,) I instead said to him, “You see, that’s the difference between you and me. For me, just seeing the negative impacts on those who haven’t been given the opportunities I have is enough.”
I am not sure what kind of response this rising republican broker was expecting in NYC…its not as though there is much of a GOP stronghold here.

Anyhow, continuing in the spirit of those not given the opportunities I have, I attended a 9/11 Unity walk on Sunday evening from Battery Park to Ground Zero. This was put on by an organization called Religions for Peace and brought together religious leaders from across the board. The mission statement for this walk was,
“We walk together as neighbors from many faiths and cultures. We gather in peace to demonstrate our unity, recalling the spirit of togetherness that grew out of 9/11. We commemorate this day because concern for each other’s welfare is the shared hope of us all.”
It was a fascinating experience for me. The religious leaders not only had the opportunity to share their thoughts, but many chose to share with us their traditions and prayers. It was truly a unifying experience, remembering such a tragedy in communion with so many of so many faiths and cultures.

If there is one thing I learned this week it is that remembering 9/11 here in the city is not something that a unity walk is needed for. All week there was a definite presence of helicopters patrolling the skies and on Thursday every single soul seemed acutely aware of the importance of the day. For me, having not been in the city on that day 7 years ago, I felt as though I was an intruder. I saw an entire city remembering and grieving that, which was lost to them that day, and here I am, witnessing something that seems deeply personal to them. I felt honored, but out of place, nonetheless.

And then I went to work on Monday morning to continue my awareness of those without privilege, living in marginalized circumstances, and I was assured again that there are many who don’t have what I do. Therefore, I will continue to work beside them, if not literally, then in my heart and in all of my daily actions.