Sandip, Patrick, Bo, Mimi, Lai Lai, Peter, and Richard strike a postcard-perfect pose in front of the Capitol.
Dear Washington, DC,
You will always hold a special place in my heart. You and one other already know why–because you are this city, of all cities.
Having just returned from an exciting, four-day Independence weekend in the capital–and then a fast and furious drive with BoTrip up to DC again and back in a single day–I feel the time is appropriate for a confession about my relationship to this beloved city.
A familiar sight: the stairs leading down to the Washington Seminar Center basement, where Duke ASB 2010 stayed for the majority of spring break.
Although you and I were too timid to descend those stairs again, I have set my own mind at peace by reflecting deeply within myself about my Alternative Spring Break experience. I emerged with the feeling that I have finally come full circle. I have come to terms emotionally and physically with being talked out of my comfort zone as I put on my own charade as a homeless girl on M Street.
The street corner where Trent and I met Reggie during the 48-hour Homeless Challenge and talked too long.
[Details that will not be expounded on this blog…]
When I returned to the Seminar Center after the challenge ended, I wrote about my encounter with Reggie. I was both defiant and frustrated at my peers’ response, and lacking another unjudgmental ear to hear me out, I alone scratched my ire out in ink on a sheet of lined paper.
3.10.10
We finished the Homeless Challenge this morning and I’m glad we reflected on it both in the morning and this evening just with our ASB group. Maybe we’ll learn even more about this experience if we discuss again in the morning after sleep. I cannot believe how sobering this discussion was, but I’m so glad we had it to sort through all my thoughts that I had just pushed to the back of my mind.
I’m actually kind of surprised that I took the creepy guy the way I did, and it was definitely a mixture of nature/nurture: the way I was brought up to behave, how I perceive women in society, how I should act in relation to others. I feel this is truly a learning experience and I’m thankful that I was able to be vocal about everything to the group. It could definitely happen to another person in the future, so we need to have greater foresight.
Is it sad that my first immediate thoughts were germophobic? Not necessarily, because yes, there are greater things to worry about like health and safety. If street sense is something I was not born with, then this will just serve as a chance to learn. I can’t blame myself, neither can others. This must be how victims of abuse/harassment feel and why they’re afraid to speak out. The worst part is being deceived but attempting to deceive at the same time! Irony is strange.
I don’t care what other people think, but they need to account for the large role that my personal values play in my actions… and if personal space has nothing to do with them, then so be it.
I am happy in knowing that I was able to test my limits (be they physical/mental/emotional) and to stop and say, “No,” when I felt my rights/values were violated. That doesn’t matter how others perceive those values, but I’m glad that I kept my calm. I want to be cool-headed like Dad tells me to be. No, I don’t show emotion readily, but I do have strong opinions sometimes that need to be respected.
At the same time, Emily is recovering from her upset about the Chronicle. Now, I begin to realize the extent to which background that matters to an individual is hardly ever visible in plain to the group. Of course, how can you expect other people to see what you see/feel without ever having been there? This is what the whole Homeless Challenge was about. I think having reinforced this knowledge, I can go about and reassess my behavior in this new light, to be more enlightened and therefore more empathetic and understanding to others.
Exactly how we should not see a homeless person as “dropped out of the sky, onto the streets,” but they do have a history that is veiled by their current predicament.
We each grew up in different environments and have varying sets of experiences that constitute who we are, so people can never really see the scope of our lives and what different things mean to us. I guess that’s what makes every person unique. Maybe that in itself is a reason for us all to respect each other and to love one another.
Outside the Old Post Office Pavilion, where Emily, Patrick, Trent, Kyle, and I slept our two homeless nights under the care of our guide, André. Also, climb the clocktower for a beautiful view of the city!
May we walk again–in this city, of all cities.
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