philadelphia

My professors of history would be ashamed of me. My professors of Sociology and Anthropology would be esctatic to hear of my experiences in Philadelphia. I did not visit the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall, nor did I feel like I needed to. This excursion to Philadelphia left me with a strategy for how to travel anywhere. My advice, do it alone. Meet people.
I never would have went to the Philadelphia Pretzel Ride if I did not start talking to people. The Pretzel Ride is this weekly cyclist gathering at the steps of the Museum of Art (the rocky steps) at 11.30 every Tuesday night. The ride starts from the steps in West Philly and culminates in Southeast Philly at this pretzel shop. Amazing pretzels and ridiculously cheap prices. Mainly though, it's getting pretzels fresh off the oven racks warming you up from a cold ride. If I didn't start talking to people, I would not have gone to the weekly potluck of some Fishtown locals my age that I met at a coffeehouse. I arrived in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon and was intending on leaving on Friday afternoon. Thanks to the generousity of the potluck kids, I extended my stay an extra day. Truly wonderful people whom I would not have met at the Liberty Bell.
My stay was centered around traveling. I had arranged to borrow a bicycle before I arrived and picked it up on my first night. I do attest, bicycles are the best way to visit a foreign city or land. Every night, except Friday evening, was stayed with friends of my friend Stacy. Monday and Tuesday I stayed with a wonderful couple of....well, anarachists. Very hospitable and gracious. Very open and "do whatever you want" type of people. Wednesday was an odd day, for after arriving in the afternoon to drop off some of my gear, I threw out all my plans for the day. The place I stayed at was the Camden House in Camden, NJ, directly across the water. The Camden House is a new-monastic community, in a similar manner as the Simple Way in North Philly or Jesus People USA in Chicago. The friend of Stacy's that I contacted, in the house of 7, ended up being the only person I did not know. My friend Jeremy, whom I know from Minneapolis, was living there. When he left Minneapolis, he intended upon travelling and travelling and settling somewhere. It looks like he found Camden, NJ. I'm glad he's there because Camden needs a lot of help and healing. Statistically, it was was the most dangerous city in the U.S. 2003, 2004, and 2005, and isn't much better now. The other people that I knew were the Psalters, who are a band of nomadic wayfarers. They live on their bus, although they were finishing up a winter at the Camden House. I can't say I knew them personally, but I've seen them a good number of times in concert and are fantastic to spend time with. Thursday was spent with some college kids in South Philly and Friday, obviously, was spent with the potluck hobos/bohemians.
What I saw, I won't recount in detail. Just understand that Philadelphia was wonderful. After lots of coffeehouses, museums, and community, I connected some bits of information that I had been troubling me for several weeks. In my time in New York City, I've realized that I could never live here on a long-term basis. Originally, I associated it with being homesick of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. I reasoned that I was being biased toward the Twin Cities, linking great memories to minnesota and detaching myself from New York City. Perhaps, New York City is too manic, too intense. Writing this does not mean that I am not having an absolutely splendid time in the city. It is a wonderful and magical place, it truly is. After visiting Philadelphia, I understand that there is something about medium-sized cities that NYC will never have. It is somewhere between coffeehouses, bicycles, and community. Strangely, after four days of not showering, you start to feel really clean. Maybe these thoughts are side effects of those four days.