The Adventure (Part 1)
Day 4: The History (part 1 of 2)
Its the people who make a city what it is. At least thats what I believe. Living in LA for the past five years Ive met my sure of exciting new people. However pretty much all of them have been UCLA students or West LA residents. Today there is still a whole city out there that I continue to block myself off from.
About a year ago my car broke down (that's another story which involves diesel fuel in an unleaded tank). My only choice to get anywhere was taking the bus. I should let you know Im a pretty closed off person who is pretty quick to make negative and cynical judgements about pretty much everyone. Because of this my busrides had been pretty uneventful, I usually would just sit alone messing with my Ipod in a state of half-sleep, while trying to avoid others. One day though an elderly lady sat next to me and noticed me messing with my PDA and started asking me questions. The conversation would move quickly though from mundane questions about electronic devices to this woman's history. I learned about her life growing up in Haiti, her movement to New York to become a nurse, and her eventual move to LA so her husband could start his practice as a dentist. Her family had faced their share of hardships, including her children's health problems and her husband's failed dental practice. Despite whatever issues she may have had she seemed to be one of the most positive people I had ever met. From her I was also able to learn about the Haitian community that was huge in Palms, and I was completely unaware of. I also learned of her own generosity, as the eldest member of her family she was supporting most of her family on whatever income she had and was soon planning to move back to Haiti to support her mother in her last years of life. I may not be able to express or explain this in my writings but I still believe this was one of the most amazing ladies I have ever met.
I havent rode the bus since that day. Thinking back to that day in particular made me realize that there is an entire city of amazing people I have yet to meet, and worlds that I have not been exposed to. I decided that the best way to meet these people and to see these worlds, would be to take bus rides across the city of LA and try to meet as many people as possible from all different walks of life. On day 4 I wanted to force myself to open up and take in the entire city.
To View Picture from Day 4
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