Essentially, I only have two classes here in DC. I have one history class at night, and the rest of my time is spent in a seminar class. In other words, for three days a week I spend close to eight hours a day with the same thirty people. Not to mention we all live in pretty close quarters. Things are bound to get ridiculous. And trust me, the ridiculousness has already begun.
Yesterday, my seminar class went to visit the Capitol Heights neighborhood of DC. It was a pretty long trip out on the blue line -- plenty of time to have some of the most absurd conversations of my adult life. I'm glad that my classmates are as crazy as me. We determined that when I grow up, I am going to ride a camel to work. His name is going to be Bogart -- like Humphrey. For some reason Humphrey is a popular camel name (or so I've heard). So, a few years from now if you see a woman riding a camel to some museum or library, that would be me.
Ridiculousness aside, we visited a very high poverty area yesterday. It's an area that most people who live in the more affluent areas of DC never see. I saw deteriorating housing projects and rundown houses. It was an eye-opening experience. While the situation seemed pretty hopeless there, we did get to see some of the progress that was being made through revitalizing the neighborhood park. It has been renamed for Marvin Gaye since he grew up in the neighborhood. I never knew that a park could make such a difference in a community -- but in Capitol Heights, it really has.
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