December 21
It
seems that there's little to write about on the blog during my non-travelling
days. Technically I am travelling right now as I'm back in the US, but I'm at
my brother's place, so it's not that I'm doing any sightseeing or anything, so
still nothing really much to say.
I
have been thinking about all the travelling I've been doing, however, and I
realised that I am still a poor, wayfaring stranger. I am still poor, I am
still wandering, and I become a stranger because I am an unknown everywhere I
go and become increasingly estranged from those at home because I am not there
so that we may share our lives together on any sort of regular basis.
One
of my former students, who recently returned to Mexico after a semester on a
study abroad in Canada, asked the question, "Where is home?" I'm sure
I've blogged about this topic before, but my answer is not an easy one whenever
confronted with this question. As a wanderer, and as a person whose family and
friends are distributed around the world, home is a difficult place to find. I
have many homes in a sense but no one place that feels like home anymore, at
least in terms of an abode of some sort. Edmonton is definitely my home town,
and it certainly feels like home when I go there, but outside of that, I still
feel like a nomad, like a roaming gypsy. As much as I'd like to settle down,
wandering has become a way of life, a routine of the unpredictable. When that
is all finally over, I guess I'll have to change the name of my blog!
6:07 PM | Read comments (2) | Permalink
November 29
Just thought I would point that I was able to get my
pics of Atlantic City up. The church was across from my hotel, but other than
that, everything else was taking on Boardwalk. I think my phone camera did a
pretty decent job! There's even a pic where I was trying to capture the
seagull, but somehow I managed to get an action shot of a sparrow in flight as
well.
November 15
I
don’t eat fast food almost at all anymore, so I imagine that my observation at
a Burger King in Baltimore is not exclusive to the US, but I couldn’t believe
what I saw. It’s not that it’s so shocking, I suppose, but just one of those
moments that makes you shake your head and perhaps cock it like dogs do when
their curiosity is peaked. When I went to fill up my cup at the beverage
fountain, posted to the fountain were drink suggestions so that if you ordered
a certain burger, they would have a particular pop selection that they felt
would go better with that burger that another pop. It’s greasy, nasty food!
It’s not like we’re having wine with a gourmet dish over here where the wine
may actually enhance or subtract from the flavour of the food depending on
which one you choose. Has anyone else noticed this?
10:00 PM | Permalink | Food and drink
Thursday
did not afford much opportunity to see Atlantic City. I had hoped to do so
during the long break in between the morning and evening parts of the fair I
was attending, but the weather would not permit it, and rain was pouring for
most of the day and evening.
Friday
morning was not so. The rain had at least stopped, although it was still quite
cloudy and foggy, but the weather was mild, and so I went for a walk along the
Boardwalk to see what there is to see.
Atlantic
City reminds me of Monterrey and Cancun in that it is a city of juxtaposition.
There is opulence right next to poverty, haute couture adjacent to dereliction.
It is as fascinating to me as it is disturbing. It is one extreme or the other.
As I
walked down a dingy street toward the Boardwalk around mid-morning, it was
quiet and almost deserted. As I neared the shore, the smell of the sea became
apparent, and I imagined that it must be like this a lot on the coast and that
this is likely a way of life for fisherman. There were many more people milling
about on the Boardwalk, some out for a morning stroll or jog. There were also
several figures in what appeared to be very poor shape, stone drunk, confused,
and some who appeared as though they might be homeless. I think it is sometimes
said that it is the aftermath or the result of gambling, which can frequently
entail alcohol and drug abuse, and it appeared on the surface that this was the
case. I suppose I can’t be too sure as my opinion is only based on observation.
I
walked for about 1.5 hours in total, spent some time looking out at the ocean,
not being able to tell where sea ends and sky begins on that grey morning, and
listened to the roar of that great body of water. It was a brilliant roar,
powerful and commanding as though it recognised its own might. Being that I
don’t live near an ocean, I might not know how frequently the ocean asserts
itself. In any case, it was pleasant to have that tranquil time near the sea on
a quiet morning.
I
shouldn’t give the impression that there was no noise, however, as there was
still music blasting out from several of the casinos and stores along the
Boardwalk. There was everything from pop music to Latin-inspired to country. It
seemed like such an anomaly at that time, though. I do have a few pictures from
my phone camera, so I hope they will turn out okay. The light was poor, and I
couldn’t really adjust it that well on the camera.
One
of the cool things about this trip was that my rental vehicle had satellite
radio on it. I couldn’t be bothered to surf through all the channels as that
would have taken a long time, but I was able to find—no, not a salsa station,
as you might guess—a bluegrass station. That was great! There used to be a
bluegrass program on CKUA at home, and whether or not it still exists, I don’t
know, but it doesn’t come on at the same time as it used to, so I’m not in
touch with that scene anymore. I must admit that I do love a good banjo-pickin’
song!
November 13
This
is the first chance I've had in a while to update my blog now that am
travelling again. I spent much of my free time napping or just resting watching
TV. I flew into Washington DC on Sunday and got to my hotel quite late, which
is becoming somewhat normal in my travels. My flight was delayed out of
Montreal, so I wasn't able to have as relaxing a Sunday evening as I had hoped,
and I was quite tired the next day as I had a 7:45am school visit. I didn't
even make it to that, though. I had calculated the time I needed to get to the
school, and I factored in what I call "getting lost time" as I
usually do, and allowed myself an extra 15 minutes to find the place. But I
needed a half hour even beyond that on account of rush hour traffic and making
one wrong turn in the middle of DC where there are lots of one-way streets. I
managed to get quite turned around as a result. I got to see the White House
and the Monument while I was frantically trying to figure out where I was going
in heavy traffic, so I wasn't able to take any photos while driving by, nor did
I get a chance to see them later on, except for the White House view from the
Canadian Embassy. In any case, I forgot to bring my camera on this trip! I
haven't seen much that I would want to photo yet, but Atlantic City would
afford some interesting shots, and I may spend some more time in DC tomorrow to
enjoy some of the many things to do there.
Baltimore
seemed pretty boring to me, although I like seeing older cities like that with
lots of brick buildings. The fair was also close to the Inner Harbour, so I
walked down there on one of my lunch hours. It was a harbour like many others.
I had been recommended to go to the aquarium there, but I didn't want to spend
the $21 entrance fee. I instead drive out to Atlantic City instead. My GPS took
me on a bizarre trip where I didn't follow any of the signs to Atlantic City to
get here. I ended up going on the New Jersey Turnpike, which I have to say was
kind of exciting because there in the song America by Simon and Garfunkel,
there is a lyric that goes "counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike,
they've all come to look for America," and I was curious to know if there
was something special about it or some cool lookout point from which you could
count cars passing. But I didn't see anything like that. It didn't look like
there was any such place, so I was a little disappointed in a way, but at least
now my curiosity is satisfied.
I
had also been told that the properties in Monopoly are named after streets in
Atlantic City. I didn't know that, and sure enough, you see Ventnor, Baltic
Avenue, Kentucky, Atlantic Avenue. It's kind of fun. Besides the beautiful
buildings and casinos--in terms of architecture--I find the city to be somewhat
decrepit in appearance, like a run down city. I've been told that there are a
lot of bad areas of Atlantic City, so I'm being careful where I go. I haven't
been able to stray far at all today, however, as it's pouring rain. I had been
hoping to go out for a walk during my break this afternoon to see the city, the
boardwalk, and the ocean, but there is no relief for the rain in site for the
moment. I hope tomorrow will be better so I can at least see a bit before I go.
3:02 PM | Permalink | Travel
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