11.5.14
I’ve always been the one with the crazy commute. I lived in Staten Island and went to school in the city. This meant that I woke up at 5 AM for 8 AM classes, left my house at 5:55 AM and still managed to be 20 minutes late. It meant I took basically every form of public transportation to school: the bus followed by the ferry, followed by the train, followed by (power) walking. It meant I encountered and interacted with at least 100 people just on my way to school each day.
Now most of my classmates would probably still consider my commute a little crazy but for very different reasons the first, most evident, being that I’m in Brazil. Others include that my commute went from including every form of transportation to having no public transportation in it. Actually, when I am not walking my new rides are a horse-pulled wagon, a tractor, and maybe soon a horse.
My obstacle course of other equally rushed New Yorkers became a lone walk with the occasional passerby.
My 500+ meaningless interactions became 2-3 (if I’m lucky) conversations on the road.
My lamp posts became trees.
My grocery story became the closest peach free or blackberry bush.
My stores and buildings became farms and fields.
Even my destinations changed. My top 3 destinations back in the US besides my apartment were school, stores, and parks. Here my top 3 destinations besides my farm are the community garden, the bakery, and the community center. My world continues to be turned upside down, normal occurrences become rarities, and experiences I never thought I would have became part of my daily life.
