One thing I definitely miss about home is walking. That's right, you heard me.
Walking is something I definitely had to get used to when I moved to DC. I desperately missed the convenience of a car and would make jokes about forgetting how to drive whenever I was back in Iowa (because I think I'm funny or something). It was frustrating when I had to make the short walk up Massachusetts Avenue (in my defense, a pretty steep hill) loaded down with groceries, and usually I'd be sweating once I got back. It was inconvenient to have to get up even earlier on a Sunday morning so that I could walk 35 minutes to church when the car ride would have taken ten. (And do not even talk to me about taking the bus. You simply cannot attempt to be on any kind of schedule with them.)
Despite being the capital of the United States of America, I felt like DC was taking away all of my freedom.
But slowly my bitterness started to fade, and I grew to love those walks. I loved noticing the subtle changes in the color of the trees lining my way to church each week. I still laugh at the thought of the old man outside of the Catholic church who told me he liked my boots and then proceeded to tell me what seemed like his entire life story. I loved adventures into Metro Center and Chinatown just for a day of exploring. I even enjoyed trying to find shortcuts back from Friendship Heights and meeting people who were kind enough to tell me I was going the wrong way. (My American University sweatshirt was a dead giveaway.) Don't get me wrong, I still loved driving, but I began to value the time spent observing and interacting with things around me rather than watching them zip past in my peripheral vision.
I'm definitely an independent kind of gal. I don't mind hanging out with a group of people, but every once in a while I get an itch to go do something by myself. Walking became that thing for me in DC. Armed with a camera or just my two eyes, I liked to go. To just be. I could go left, I could go right, I could go around in circles. It wouldn't matter. Me, myself, and I didn't really care.
Now, I've gone and planted myself in another place. In another country, to be exact, and it's just not the same. People do not walk around alone here, especially girls, especially at night. It simply would not be safe, they tell me. This I can understand. Even in DC it is not smart for me to be walking around by myself at night. But during the day here I do not see many people walking, and rarely any girls by themselves. And (instead of trying to tell you what I need to say without actually saying it, I'll just go for it) never a white girl.
You might remember this post, where I mentioned I'd gone on a walk. The Monday after that a guy in my class asked me what I did over the weekend. I told him about my wandering and this is what I got:
Wait... you mean you walked... alone?
Umm, yes. I did. (insert joke about having fully functioning legs)
Ok, ok, I wasn't really that blunt with him, but his message was clear. People like you just don't do that.
Today, I decided to rebel again because I needed groceries, and shopping is one of those things I really prefer to do alone. I'm kind of weird, I know. I'm also kinda cheap, so I wasn't going to call a cab for just me, myself, and I. We could walk.
I found the place I was looking for right away (which is a feat in itself for me), passing people sporadically on the sidewalk. I got my groceries pretty quickly since I didn't need much, slung the bag over my shoulder, and began to retrace my steps back to campus. This time, I was on the side facing the cars as they passed me, and I caught a couple of people literally staring at me. It wasn't a stare that made me uncomfortable. It was more of a what in the world are you doing, woman? stare from, well you know, white people. (Granted, I was carrying a 5L jug of water in addition to my other bag up a hill, so I might have looked a little crazy. I like to combine my workouts and grocery shopping. Efficiency is key.) I would have given them an overly ecstatic, cheesy thumbs up, but I never think of these appropriately sarcastic actions until the time has passed.
All of this is to say that today I realized I love walking, I really do. It has always given me the time I need to be alone. In letting my mind relax and wander, I get the opportunity to notice things that I wouldn't otherwise...
Like a Cinnabon box on the ground! They have Cinnabon in South Africa, guys! I've never been so happy to see trash in my life.
I think I know where my next adventure might be taking me...
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