I know it has been a while since the trip across Anerica, but now it is time for a new adventure!
A few days left, and I believe I have said goodbye to a ton of my friends and family. My new mission is now approaching. Can I do it? Can I trust and embark into the North? I don't know nor do I have any promises. All I can say is that I am getting on the verge of ready!!
Just so everyone knows I will be on a technology fast soon to arriving in Philly. These may seem extreme, but i think it is perfect to enter into my new community without missing my old ones in Nashville, Knoxville, and Seymour too too much....
Keeping in contact.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Back In Nashville
Coming home to Nashville was surprising to me. To be somewhere comfortable again is more than I can ask for. Now with a new outlook and eye I see many parts of it that I have previously looked over.
Before we left I rarely considered Nashville’s identity besides music city. After traveling across America and studying the American identity I see that it says a lot more about our culture. Nashville surprises me with its inaccessible public transportation compared to cities like Boston, NYC, Chicago, or Washington D.C. Something about this lack of transit makes it smaller now and more compact.
Another part of Nashville that surprises me and one I never noticed is the small-town feel of it. I love that sense that it is not too big to make a name in. Nor is it hard to live really close to downtown without living in shambles and paying a ton for very little.
Driving down the strip (yea driving again!) I giggled at the country music souvenirs and tourists. For some reason I have always avoided the Broadway strip because I had very little reason to go there. I have not been there but maybe a handful of times and definitely never brought a visitor there. It doesn’t scream my life in Nashville to me.
But what does it say if I don’t see Nashville as a tourist place where I should wear boots and a cowboy hat? Also, what does it mean that I have not visited the main area where tourists go? I think it means that the true city or place where we live is not a moneymaker but it is not a special attraction.
I believe Matt Burchett put it best when he described cities as being like teenagers in high school. They don’t really know who they are and maybe don’t even care. As long as people like them as the person they portray that’s all that matters. Now I see Nashville as the slightly emo kid in a Southern school.
I always liked that kid!!!
Before we left I rarely considered Nashville’s identity besides music city. After traveling across America and studying the American identity I see that it says a lot more about our culture. Nashville surprises me with its inaccessible public transportation compared to cities like Boston, NYC, Chicago, or Washington D.C. Something about this lack of transit makes it smaller now and more compact.
Another part of Nashville that surprises me and one I never noticed is the small-town feel of it. I love that sense that it is not too big to make a name in. Nor is it hard to live really close to downtown without living in shambles and paying a ton for very little.
Driving down the strip (yea driving again!) I giggled at the country music souvenirs and tourists. For some reason I have always avoided the Broadway strip because I had very little reason to go there. I have not been there but maybe a handful of times and definitely never brought a visitor there. It doesn’t scream my life in Nashville to me.
But what does it say if I don’t see Nashville as a tourist place where I should wear boots and a cowboy hat? Also, what does it mean that I have not visited the main area where tourists go? I think it means that the true city or place where we live is not a moneymaker but it is not a special attraction.
I believe Matt Burchett put it best when he described cities as being like teenagers in high school. They don’t really know who they are and maybe don’t even care. As long as people like them as the person they portray that’s all that matters. Now I see Nashville as the slightly emo kid in a Southern school.
I always liked that kid!!!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Best and Worst
1. Best showers at American University because there were plenty for all 8 girls.
2. Worst showers were in Chicago because it took us all day to public transport to them. They also blew out heat during the summer. Also, at Cedar Springs because they were timed and it shut off when soap was in my hair.
3. Best driver Rubin, no question. Great at advise (never get married) and drove us instead of Snoop.
4. Worst day was in Montgomery because our bus broke down and we skipped it to go back to Nashville without Rubin on a charter bus. It is also the last day so I am tired, need to do laundry, take a bath, and will miss the trip.
5. Favorite dessert was smores at Glacier National Park, VooDoo doughnut in Portland, or homemade jam and bread with the Silversmiths at the Navajo Nation.
6. Favorite cold dessert Yogiberry regular frozen yogurt in Washington D.C.
7. Worst drink Bubble tea.
8. Best meal Little Rock meat and three restaurant.
9. Best national park is Glacier.
10. Best city for me to live: NYC, Portland, San Francisco, and definitely Philly!!! (I am living in Philly next year).
11. Worst place for me to live Washington D.C., Crescent City, OR, and L.A.
12. Best art culture Portland, San Francisco, Nashville, NYC.
13. Best service Pike place in Seattle.
19. Worst service probably in NYC.
14. Best family vacation spot Glacier and Yellowstone, NYC, Washington D.C., and Boston on the 4th of July.
15. Worst family vacation is Grand Canyon, Little Rock, New Orleans, and Detroit.
16. Best Disney is Disney World in FL not Disneyland. I think Dollywood is better than Disneyland (but I am partial).
17. Best weather is El Paso.
18. Worst weather probably Seattle, but it didn't rain when we were there just cold. Also, Minneapolis is bitterly cold in the winter but spectacular by the lake in the summer.
19. Worst place to get kicked out of is Glacier National Park.
20. Worst place to use the bathroom Chicago. Ask me why on the phone or in person.
21. Best encounters with locals.....sigh...Many people were amazing to us. The Silversmiths in the Navajo Nation, Aunt Lounell and Uncle Ray Southard, the Bhula family, the Greenberg family, Nick in Glacier, and Mission Year's Caz Tod, joe Tucker, and Amy Tuttle in Philadelphia.
22. Best time in the bus was Andi Stepnick's birthday celebration, with Rubin listening to advice, and at night in my bunk.
23. Worst time on the bus is when she breaks down, and in the morning when twelve people were jumbled together into a mass of people to get shower stuff.
TO be continued…………..
2. Worst showers were in Chicago because it took us all day to public transport to them. They also blew out heat during the summer. Also, at Cedar Springs because they were timed and it shut off when soap was in my hair.
3. Best driver Rubin, no question. Great at advise (never get married) and drove us instead of Snoop.
4. Worst day was in Montgomery because our bus broke down and we skipped it to go back to Nashville without Rubin on a charter bus. It is also the last day so I am tired, need to do laundry, take a bath, and will miss the trip.
5. Favorite dessert was smores at Glacier National Park, VooDoo doughnut in Portland, or homemade jam and bread with the Silversmiths at the Navajo Nation.
6. Favorite cold dessert Yogiberry regular frozen yogurt in Washington D.C.
7. Worst drink Bubble tea.
8. Best meal Little Rock meat and three restaurant.
9. Best national park is Glacier.
10. Best city for me to live: NYC, Portland, San Francisco, and definitely Philly!!! (I am living in Philly next year).
11. Worst place for me to live Washington D.C., Crescent City, OR, and L.A.
12. Best art culture Portland, San Francisco, Nashville, NYC.
13. Best service Pike place in Seattle.
19. Worst service probably in NYC.
14. Best family vacation spot Glacier and Yellowstone, NYC, Washington D.C., and Boston on the 4th of July.
15. Worst family vacation is Grand Canyon, Little Rock, New Orleans, and Detroit.
16. Best Disney is Disney World in FL not Disneyland. I think Dollywood is better than Disneyland (but I am partial).
17. Best weather is El Paso.
18. Worst weather probably Seattle, but it didn't rain when we were there just cold. Also, Minneapolis is bitterly cold in the winter but spectacular by the lake in the summer.
19. Worst place to get kicked out of is Glacier National Park.
20. Worst place to use the bathroom Chicago. Ask me why on the phone or in person.
21. Best encounters with locals.....sigh...Many people were amazing to us. The Silversmiths in the Navajo Nation, Aunt Lounell and Uncle Ray Southard, the Bhula family, the Greenberg family, Nick in Glacier, and Mission Year's Caz Tod, joe Tucker, and Amy Tuttle in Philadelphia.
22. Best time in the bus was Andi Stepnick's birthday celebration, with Rubin listening to advice, and at night in my bunk.
23. Worst time on the bus is when she breaks down, and in the morning when twelve people were jumbled together into a mass of people to get shower stuff.
TO be continued…………..
A Whole New World
This is a warning. The following blog might be highly sentimental.
Every trip has a song that inevitably gets replayed and sung to the point of exhaustion and frustration. Now, that said theme song, in my experience, is typically not a work of musical greatness. In fact, these theme songs tend to be near to awful in musical expertise. This being said, the theme song for this trip in my mind is “A Whole New World” by Aladdin and Jasmine.
A Whole new world!
A dazzling place I never knew!
But when I am way up here
Its crystal clear.
Let me share this whole new world with you.
(Don’t you dare close your eyes)!
(Hold your breath if its better)!
Now these lyrics are by no means the exact lyrics, yet they are the ones my fellow group members and I know and repeat often. I believe this song originated when we were on the Grand Canyon and Rashina said she wished she could fly over it on a magic carpet. From that literal high point on we joked about flying on a magic carpet off the Space Needle, Sears tower, and across America.
As college students the idea of taking a daring ride like a shooting star is still very appealing. Hence the whole 40/40 trip. Traveling or a wander lust is a dream for many young adults ever since Aladdin or Disney infiltrated our young minds.
Shaking my head with embarrassment, I realize this is my song for the trip across America. With that epiphany, I cannot help but think it is kind of perfect too. We have discovered a new world of adventure and wonder in our own country. Who knew our country had so much mystique and life!
We ventured very far and while we can go back to where we ought to be, each of us is a little different and changed. The trip has made America clearer to us as we flew by it on a magical ride which we might never imagined unless we had not trusted in the extraordinary (this is the cheesy part). After wanting to close my eyes and hold my breath during a majority of the 40/40 trip, I now see that coming back down to land is not so bad. And I can always close my eyes now to return to this ride of a lifetime!!!!
Every trip has a song that inevitably gets replayed and sung to the point of exhaustion and frustration. Now, that said theme song, in my experience, is typically not a work of musical greatness. In fact, these theme songs tend to be near to awful in musical expertise. This being said, the theme song for this trip in my mind is “A Whole New World” by Aladdin and Jasmine.
A Whole new world!
A dazzling place I never knew!
But when I am way up here
Its crystal clear.
Let me share this whole new world with you.
(Don’t you dare close your eyes)!
(Hold your breath if its better)!
Now these lyrics are by no means the exact lyrics, yet they are the ones my fellow group members and I know and repeat often. I believe this song originated when we were on the Grand Canyon and Rashina said she wished she could fly over it on a magic carpet. From that literal high point on we joked about flying on a magic carpet off the Space Needle, Sears tower, and across America.
As college students the idea of taking a daring ride like a shooting star is still very appealing. Hence the whole 40/40 trip. Traveling or a wander lust is a dream for many young adults ever since Aladdin or Disney infiltrated our young minds.
Shaking my head with embarrassment, I realize this is my song for the trip across America. With that epiphany, I cannot help but think it is kind of perfect too. We have discovered a new world of adventure and wonder in our own country. Who knew our country had so much mystique and life!
We ventured very far and while we can go back to where we ought to be, each of us is a little different and changed. The trip has made America clearer to us as we flew by it on a magical ride which we might never imagined unless we had not trusted in the extraordinary (this is the cheesy part). After wanting to close my eyes and hold my breath during a majority of the 40/40 trip, I now see that coming back down to land is not so bad. And I can always close my eyes now to return to this ride of a lifetime!!!!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial days were tough. I knew this previously, but just walking around the redone and comodified Williamsburg was tiring. I cannot imagine actually living there. The history spoke to me in a way that was unexpected. Maybe this was due to people dressed in 1780s garb- bonnets, corseted tops, Thomas Jefferson wigs, and knickerbockers.
In conversing with Pendleton, an employee and re-enactor at the park, I finally understood a mentality I hadn’t considered within those days. Newly free from Britain, many settlers wanted to stick closely to their colony and their states own government. Fear of large government bodies made many colonials desire a localized government. Pendleton even said, “I don’t think we will ever have a federal government.” I giggled inside with the urge to ask what he foresaw for the future of America.
The point he made featured the idea that many settlers had no desire to hand over their liberties and rights to the American government. With this, each state seems to have enjoyed and relished in its own identities because the first instinct in the eighteenth century was to preserve a state identity and utilize a national one only if necessary for war or trade.
As far as Virginia was concerned, it could expand its state as far as the great lakes. As long as a man could survive disease and work hard for himself and his family the land was limitless. Nowadays we still use this idea that if we work hard we can achieve anything; Americans expand upwards with buildings, aircrafts, and rockets into the sky which is unclaimed. I wonder if this idea of consumption and growth also needs to be revamped for the new century and post modern age from Pendleton's time.
Are our ideas of consumerism truly good? Is it ok to rise up and want more knowing that others in our country and world will fall lower? Will having more make us happy?
In conversing with Pendleton, an employee and re-enactor at the park, I finally understood a mentality I hadn’t considered within those days. Newly free from Britain, many settlers wanted to stick closely to their colony and their states own government. Fear of large government bodies made many colonials desire a localized government. Pendleton even said, “I don’t think we will ever have a federal government.” I giggled inside with the urge to ask what he foresaw for the future of America.
The point he made featured the idea that many settlers had no desire to hand over their liberties and rights to the American government. With this, each state seems to have enjoyed and relished in its own identities because the first instinct in the eighteenth century was to preserve a state identity and utilize a national one only if necessary for war or trade.
As far as Virginia was concerned, it could expand its state as far as the great lakes. As long as a man could survive disease and work hard for himself and his family the land was limitless. Nowadays we still use this idea that if we work hard we can achieve anything; Americans expand upwards with buildings, aircrafts, and rockets into the sky which is unclaimed. I wonder if this idea of consumption and growth also needs to be revamped for the new century and post modern age from Pendleton's time.
Are our ideas of consumerism truly good? Is it ok to rise up and want more knowing that others in our country and world will fall lower? Will having more make us happy?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
D.C. Round 2: Provide the Common Defense
Following my tirade about Washington, it seems appropriate to display how I believe it preserves monuments and memorials in a very respectable way. More than any other city we have been to during the trip, D.C. allows for appropriate space and reflection for each monument. The reflecting pools and greenery allows visitors to ponder the significance of each memorial.
In the Preamble we see the statement, "provide the common defense.” Washington D.C. displays how American patriots and soldiers uphold and provide necessary defense which the average American knows little about. Everyday soldiers and the brave defend my rights and freedoms in ways I will never understand or know. This part of D.C. captures me with respect.
Americans are united by the army because whether we realize it or not we are provided defense without anything in return from the everyday citizen. Washington D.C. does a great job of memorializing soldiers and history that makes our country.
But as a Mass Communications major I consider the people who have made the memorial and what their intended motive and goal for it. Our government's goal for these is not only to remember, but to also be a badge of good Public Relations to all Americans and the vast majority of foreign tourists. And even though these memorials give honor to the fighters, I am sad other options to fighting was not considered. And each monument has an air of seeing other countries and people as enemies. A portion of the WW II Memorial reads," The heroism of our own troops...was matched by the armed forces of other nations that fought by our side...they absorbed the blows...and they shared to the full in the ultimate destruction of our enemies..." stated by President Harry S. Truman. For me, it hurts because I think we are all God's people and it makes our Savior sad whenever His children kill one another. I don't know if God would ever be in support of killling no matter the reason. If that was the case Jesus would have opened up a can on some Roman butt. If ever a time to fight and protect it would have been the son of God, and Jesus instead ask for forgiveness for those who persecuted him.
D.C. Not for Me
If NYC is a culmination of tons of musical theater kids, then Washington D.C. is all political science nerds. My first impressions of D.C. were not good to be honest. Meeting representative Cooper saddened me that after three hours to get showers and meet him, he, in turn, gave the group only three minutes. Now, I am grateful for his time, it was just anticlimactic after all the energy for us to run across D.C. to see him.
After this first interaction with Washington D.C. was a disappointment, my perspective grew negative. Looking at demographics of individuals, there appeared to be a definite lack, not in representation of several races, but in the representation of them in differing class brackets. Also, as a woman, I saw little to no women represented on Capitol Hill. While the metro system was superior to any other, I could not shrug off this odd feeling of Washington being for the frat-boy, white male.
This is all very harsh. Coming from NYC, which I thoroughly enjoyed the culture and energy to Philly where I am feel called to serve next year to D.C. where I feel little connection, makes it difficult to judge it fairly. So this is my disclaimer for my blog about D.C.
Pilgrimages aren’t just for Pilgrims in Philly
pil·grim·age (pĭl'grə-mĭj) n.
1. A long journey or search, especially one of exalted purpose or moral significance.
Here we are in the City of brotherly Love, my home next year. The scenery surrounding this stop was not of a glorious national park, Times Square, or sheep and buffalo. No, here was a neighborhood we had only driven by in the other cities to discuss the cultural and social impact of the local economy as well as observe the dilapidation of a broken-down area in America.
Walking forward, the group at my heels, my mind races as to why we are here, in a rougher neighborhood of Philly? Why have I decided to go into this area, as the group’s leader, when I am a small-town girl from east Tennessee and have never been here myself? With Pierce’s father’s text messages warning him to run and get away from this side of Philly as soon as possible, my own concerns bubble to the surface.
The Allegheny and Kensington subway stop, I called Caz Tod, the city director for the non-profit program Mission Year, to inform her our group was about at her door for dinner. Immediately entering the Mission Year office, I felt responsible for my group and volunteered to go around the corner with Cory, Chris, and a participant of the Mission Year program, Joe Tucker, to buy pizza. As we left, my stomach twisted with anxiety to leave the rest of my group alone with Caz and Amy, another Mission Year participant, with little introduction.
During this time Caz informed our Belmont group more about Mission Year’s goals and purpose. Started by Tony Campolo and his son in 1997, Mission Year places young adults within six different inner cities (Wilmington, DE, Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, New Orleans, LA, and Camden, NJ) for one year to love God and people through volunteering at schools and non-profits. After I received Philadelphia as one of my cities to be ambassador of for the 40/40 trip, I discovered I was placed in the Philly for the Mission Year program which I will be participating in after I graduate from Belmont this August.
For the purpose of the 40/40 trip, I wanted to know why Philadelphia seemed a place for this program out of every other city in America? How Philadelphia- once the capital of America, the resting place and protector of the Liberty Bell, where the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress was held, and where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were formed- could be in so much need?
This is some of what our group discovered, Philadelphia struggles more and more because of racial and economic tensions. Joe Tucker’s illustrates some of this struggle with his story of how the mayor tried to shut down eleven libraries in lower income and minority areas in hopes to help the economy. Maybe the mayor hoped to sweep it under the rug without much uprising from this “violent” area, or maybe he believed they didn’t use the library as much as other areas because of their demographic and economic level. Either way, Tucker seemed empowered to be a part of the movement to protest and work towards keeping the libraries for kids and preserving their rights. Rights they do not yet understand and have a smaller voice for those in power to hear.
Liberty:
freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
This morning we read the inscriptions of the colonials’ determination to preserve the Liberty Bell and now, hearing Tucker’s tale, I saw that common American spirit to keep fighting and press forward-the persistence to be heard and fight for their rights. Many of the descriptions about the bell told of its trip around America (not unlike our own). This artifact is not as much as a statue of our history but a relic. A relic like in religious terms, inspiring visitors to not only see it but also touch and kiss it in gratitude and honor.
I think of so many Americans journey to the Liberty Bell to acknowledge their freedom, and I must compare it to my own pilgrimage to Philadelphia. The trip has been a long road and rocky, but now I will be in Philly next year and needing support as well as prayer to finish my journey. In Tod’s words Mission Year and working in Philly allows young people, “not to become a certain person but a different person.” A person who can see the good in Philadelphia’s scariest areas and build a community for God with His love.
I realize this blog is personal, but that is what life is. A serious of personal journeys within communities that happen to be within cities, and in our case, these happen to be in America.
“Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof”
Lev. XXV X
Sunday, July 12, 2009
I Love NY: I Know Its Unoriginal
If a bunch of musical theater people and advertisers got together to birth a city it would be called New York City. Now, for some people this sounds awful, but as a dancer/musical theater friend, I am in love.
It is also good for me to factor in that my own analysis of a city is based on mood and community feel. I have at least seven friends who live in New York, so I automatically loved it because my support system there. Also, the fact that I see the love that people I love have for a city, is always a plus to knowing a city- through someone else’s eyes.
Now upon my arrival into the city, my main objective was to see Broadway anyway I could afford. After failing to be drawn to win a cheapened lottery ticket for “In the Heights,” Cory and I were determined. I decided I would rather pay twenty dollars for a show that I wanted to see and stand rather than pay over thirty for one I cared nothing about. Thus, we got standing tickets for seven o’clock show.
Standing in the back of the auditorium, legs cramping and stiff, I grew more and more excited as I stretched them in preparation for the show. Yet, Cory seemed a little saddened by our seats/standing spot. The top of the show’s set was cut-off from our view because of the balcony hanging over our heads. Ducking lower and lower to see as high as possible, we went to the seated section below us and closer to the stage just to know what the rest of the set looked like. There was a ton more to it, and my eyes widened as we got the full glimpse of the production theatrics. As we tromped to back up the stairs to the back, Cory and I hoped they didn’t use that section of the stage much during the performance.
Even in the back we were very close and able to see facials and the picture well. The performance was spectacular and I could go on and on about how impressive the dancing, acting, and script were. A story about a Hispanic girl from Washington Heights who goes to Stanford only to fail out because of school costs moved me emotionally. After being at Ellis Island the idea of immigrants coming to America for a new life and opportunity came to life through the stories of the characters in the musical.
Cory and I with the star of "In the Heights" Mandy Gonzalez.
At this point on day thirty-three or so, I have been wondering and struggling with the idea that we never know a city enough with our short visits. After watching this musical from a less optimum seat, I compared my limited seat at the musical to our limited time in each city. We have a small view, not as good as many others in the audience, but we still get a sense of the story- a sense enough to see more or less if we desire. In the end, after the musical, all I know, is that the trip in New York City has not been enough for me to see it all or even every musical, but it is all I need to come back for more.
Love you, Andrew and Adaeze!!!!
It is also good for me to factor in that my own analysis of a city is based on mood and community feel. I have at least seven friends who live in New York, so I automatically loved it because my support system there. Also, the fact that I see the love that people I love have for a city, is always a plus to knowing a city- through someone else’s eyes.
Now upon my arrival into the city, my main objective was to see Broadway anyway I could afford. After failing to be drawn to win a cheapened lottery ticket for “In the Heights,” Cory and I were determined. I decided I would rather pay twenty dollars for a show that I wanted to see and stand rather than pay over thirty for one I cared nothing about. Thus, we got standing tickets for seven o’clock show.
Standing in the back of the auditorium, legs cramping and stiff, I grew more and more excited as I stretched them in preparation for the show. Yet, Cory seemed a little saddened by our seats/standing spot. The top of the show’s set was cut-off from our view because of the balcony hanging over our heads. Ducking lower and lower to see as high as possible, we went to the seated section below us and closer to the stage just to know what the rest of the set looked like. There was a ton more to it, and my eyes widened as we got the full glimpse of the production theatrics. As we tromped to back up the stairs to the back, Cory and I hoped they didn’t use that section of the stage much during the performance.
Even in the back we were very close and able to see facials and the picture well. The performance was spectacular and I could go on and on about how impressive the dancing, acting, and script were. A story about a Hispanic girl from Washington Heights who goes to Stanford only to fail out because of school costs moved me emotionally. After being at Ellis Island the idea of immigrants coming to America for a new life and opportunity came to life through the stories of the characters in the musical.
Cory and I with the star of "In the Heights" Mandy Gonzalez.
Love you, Andrew and Adaeze!!!!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
And I Proudly Stand Up.....Next To You: Boston day 3
Holocaust Memorial Pictures
Tap…tap…tap. “Hey Pierce,” I rolled over to pull my bunk curtain back.
“Wakey. Wakey,” Pierce grins. Why did I say I would get up early? Unfortunately, I had. Boston was on the horizon along with the sounds of the 4th and maybe, “The British are coming,” resounding in my head.
Jenni, Pierce, Shirah, and myself walked 2 miles (I probably rounded up in miles for dramatic effect) to the bus stop closest to us in Weymouth, a town near Boston where our bus was parked.
There is one important aspect of myself that I have learned; I am not good with people in the morning-especially not before coffee. Now, I will never admit to not being a morning person because I do, in fact, love the morning, but I do not like to talk. So, people always assume that I hate the morning when it is really just that I don’t enjoy those people in the morning. Anyway, I am sure my mood played a role in my fellow patriots mornings, but for me, it was nice. I texted Heather one if by land and two if by bus as my small troop tromped onto the bus that arrived twenty minutes later than we anticipated.
Finally reaching where Neil Diamond and the fireworks would be in twelve hours, we set up camp. Now, I know what you may be thinking, so to address that: yes, we are crazy, and no, we didn’t have to get there that early for a spot. Although once we arrived and saw a place on the bank of the Charles River, my group knew there was nowhere else in Boston we hoped to be.
The rest of the day was spent on shower curtains bought from CVS while eating Swedish Fish and Twizzlers (a bad idea all around) and reading books and magazines. Amongst our much-needed day off our feet, we began to talk to our neighbors who had also been as patriotic as ourselves to camp out on the bank. Come to find out, after a few moments of discussion leading into our question, “What does it mean to be an American?” our neighbors were, just that, neighbors, from Canada. Their son lives in New York City, so they come into the country often.
Their answer was that Americans have opportunity. They also feel that Bush did his best, and our nation is more unified than Canada because even with several cultures the American flag is still honored. In Canada, they feel, everyone is still divided without a national pride.
This made me think of my own feelings of the flag. A flag that, even in wartime, is hard for me to relate to at twenty-two years of age. The flag, over time, had lost its importance to me as a symbol of anything but the present government.
Previous days in Boston were spent on the Freedom Trail of the American Revolution, now, sitting and gazing at the boats bobbing on the Charles, I thought back on each grave site we encountered during the long walk to Bunker Hill. The graves of a people who fought for a dream they could only envision. Struggle to achieve this dream seems more tangible after walking in Boston, a city preserved from the past allows me to transport back to it. Bostonian streets are cobbled while houses closely confined and similar in design. Commercialism and advertisement does not exceed the older atmosphere of a colonial city. Boston provides a physical connection to America’s past that made me proud my ancestors were rebels- dissenting from the British and organizing themselves to do so. A true triumph like in movies such as Slumdog Millionaire
where the underdog wins.
Memorial
Garden:
Tags of
soldiers hung
in honor
The Declaration of Independence states; “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” Now I see how this force from our past to uphold the people’s rights is so representative of the heart of Americans. A nation of hopeful faith. Hope in a country and people for change, but faith that we can make it happen soon.
Now the memory of our rebellious dissention instills pride into me as well as faith in Americans that, if needed, we will dissent again for the overall good and preservation of our values.
I don’t regret my decision to rise early and sit back to fully enjoy this piece of Boston.
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