Having traveled to many cities I can't say Dc is everywhere near my popular city, but we did have some fun, and was able to observation a few things that I can use to shape my attitude about cities.
Day 1, Friday; arriving at the hostel it was captivating to see the banner on the front of the church. captivating all to worship but focusing in on those of a gay orientation. With all the debates that have occurred over this branch it's great to see churches that publicly proclaim their doors are open to all. Their focus on service to the homeless as well was sure and refreshing. Instead of sweeping under the rug and ignoring the problem they endeavor to serve God by truly serving man with an open heart.
Off to our first neighborhood for a neighborhood study and its desolation and withdrawal of the populous. Adventure in a big city should all the time start with figuring out the public transport system. Which of these darn machines will give me an all day pass, and why can I not get turn of more then ? Oh well we will just have to figure out how to get 3 passes at a time since only one of us has smaller change. In the neighborhood I did find it captivating how the city seems to have pushed the poor back from their pretty stadium and puts their money to other areas of the city.
After the neighborhood visit we came back to Dupont Circle and went to one of the nice Irish pubs that dominate the area and ate a late lunch. The food was kind of plain, but we were hungry. I guess the food tastes great if you're drunk so the pub didn't have to make the food spectacular. It can all the time be disconcerting for me to walk by homeless people to go to a restaurant, but I give some turn when I can or at least say hi. Dupont area has a large number of homeless. I feel this is because it is a very accepting area of all types and also affluent, so they have more to give.
Back to the hostel and a meeting with The Homeless Coalition. I was not that surprise by the stories of the speakers, but I have talked to homeless and at one time homeless before. I have no illusion that it could happen to me. There are times I got pretty close, or had to rely on house to help me out. I am well aware that without house being around, there are times I may have had to sleep on the road or a shelter. It also didn't surprise me was that cities often make laws that harm the homeless, but the extent of those laws was shocking. There are some cities that make it illegal to feed a someone and it is against every moral aspect known to man. To not allow one someone to forestall starvation and death, to leave people to starve to death, violates religious precepts or every religion and common decency. Let me get this right, I can feed a dog, but not a human? If I live in one of those cities I would have to try to get arrested just to challenge those laws. They can't be constitutional. How can the church allow those laws? Did Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad not command us to feed the hungry? It's against my religion to not allow me to do it and I could take it to first-rate court if they did fee me. Let's face it though, most of the lawmakers probably sit in their pews on Sunday and call themselves Christians while they ignore the true teachings of their proclaimed Lord.
Our groups then split up a bit and me and my friend walked to the Kennedy center while the other pair enjoyed a hockey game. The Kennedy center was very nice. It is great that they give some kind of a free show every night of the year. This right on lives up to their mission of allowing everybody to perceive the arts. The show that night was "Japan-Culture and hyper culture." Sure, it promoted shows that marker sales just opened up for but it was nice. Koji Kakinuma did some phenomenal scroll work (calligraphy) culminating in a giant work using a brush that weighs about 165 lbs when filled with ink. More phenomenal then that was the drum show that was going on at the same time adding to the hypnotic consequent of him painting on silk and papers. Aun, a group of twin brothers, both beating customary drums to techno music was awesome as well as the other instruments they played showing their great skill at Japanese musical art.
Ok, so we are hungry again and my friend has never had Sushi before. I noticed a merge sushi restaurants on 19th road earlier in Dupont Circle so we checked them out. One was very crowded, it must be good. A beer and sushi and watching the people in the bar makes for an captivating night as well as getting to know my friend a bit better. He enjoyed the sushi as did I, and the place was soon backed up with people waiting in the road to get in. We made it just in time. We felt like dessert and had never tried green tea ice cream before. It was quite good. Seeing at the people in was nice to see all the different races that were there and the conversations that could be heard were wide in range. One part of the cities I have all the time loved is diversity in many of the neighborhoods. It's hard to get bored with the same old, same old.
My friend had a desire to go see the monuments at night all lit up, and I view this was a good idea, so off we headed to the Mall. The Washington monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Wwii memorial all look quite different all lit up, still radiating the heat of the day. They are also all still quite busy. Many more people to study. From the woman that must be insane to announce to everybody that she was a lone traveler in the city (we walked with her to the Subway, especially since I was scared for her security and she was lost) to those that are bold and brave running around, tourists abounded. This also seemed to be the center of the people that had no idea what a city was all about. Finally we tired out and headed back.
After getting back and trying to go to sleep I was awakened a few times by others, being used to sleeping in a secret room. The main thing I think I would most not like about being homeless is sleeping at a shelter. I like peace at night. I can go without food a long time, and know how to get colse to the elements, but without quiet my mind seems to break down.
Day 2- Time to drink coffee and wake up, in that order. Like I said I like my peace. There was a tiny history part and it was interesting, but I'm not sure why was didn't do that in when we were back at school and let us hit the city, but it gave me time to wake up anyways.
We put off the next neighborhood study in case the Holocaust Museum did not have tickets left. It is probably the museum I have wanted to see most in Dc and have never been to. Having a close affinity for that part of my lineage, I am interested in the holocaust. What shocked me most was my reaction to the exhibits. I was not so moved by the pictures and videos of the tragedies that affected the Jews and others during that time. I guess a body is just a car to me, and is relatively worthless from the soul's perspective. I was moved to tears any way at some of the words, both spoken, and written on the walls. The breaking of spirit that happened due to these worst of all was the faith lost in God, in humanity, and in love, the people of faith and kindness that were transformed into cold agnostics due to their suffering. This is worse then anyone that could happen to a body.
Three floors of these exhibits does tell the story well, but threatens to either make one numb, or broken. Off to our neighborhood and view the opulence that is the upper middle class catholic area of the city.
Our evening meal was late and we were all quite tired by now. For culture we passed through the book fair, visited a book store and sat in a bar and listened to music. A merge drinks and snacks was a nice was to wind down without taxing our already sore legs before the final walk back. Stopping to pay homage to Gandhi at a phenomenal statue of him and get pictures with the venerable man of realization, we made our final trek back to collect our belongings and go home.
Ahh the bus, and sleep, peace, away from the bustle and hustle of the city.
