along the same lines...

It's ironic that Nic's post below is similar to what I've been thinking about lately. While we're both no longer in the middle of nature-our shared love-we are in the middle of culture--both living in two of the most populated cities in the US (New York being #1, and D.C. being #27...but whatever). So this is what brings me to realization #2...I am no longer living in white-suburbia land (hellooo Saratoga Springs and Northport, NY).

Similar to the ten different languages Nic will encounter at any given time at Columbia, I am also hearing so many varying tongues, stories, and life realities that are so different from my own. The diversity of friends I am making range from privileged college graduates trying to start anew in DC, to District natives that have grown up fighting their way through poverty, to ex-convicts, African and European immigrants, and independent musicians and artists. Moreover, my understanding of "privilege" is taken to a whole new level when I see how hard it can be to fight the cycle of poverty, drugs, and violence, when ones upbringing begins in this atmosphere. More importantly though, I'm learning that these people aren't "stupid," "evil," or "uneducated." They are fascinating, hardworking, creative, and genuine. (Sometimes I feel like this new life is one big anthropological study... how I wish I took more urban-anthro classes in college).

I'd like to delve into this further, but quite frankly I am wiped. Referring back to realization #1, my weekend was filled with 6am wakeup calls, 7am metro rides, and 8-10 hour back to back to back work shifts. Might I alsooo add that tomorrow just so happens to be Columbus Day, so I have the fine privilege of working another 8 hour shift starting at 8am to serve all you fine white-collar-off-from-work-for-the-worst-holiday-ever-patrons.

To end with a light anecdote.... on saturday I woke up at 6:30am to severely blood-shot eyes, which may or may not have been due to a mixture of vodka and a mere four hours of sleep. In any case, I wanted to get to work with clear eyes, so I started fumbling around my newish bathroom for some eye drops. I finally found some, and realized they were unopened. No worries, I'm sure my new housemates wont mind. After I open it up, I see that it expired in 2007. Eh, oh well...it was unopened anyways. I'm sure it's fine. Drop solution into (my) left eyeball and immediate, awful stinging occurs, followed by cursing and confusion. I look back at the bottle.

They were ear drops. My bad.

Off to bed, happy 10/10/10 everyone!