East coast musings

Well...I'm back from visiting Joy in her new hometown. It was sooooo wonderful to spend time with her...laughing mostly, contemplative conversation as always. That was a "joy" truly, no pun intended.

So...you want to know how the trip was itself. Well....it was an experience for sure. I had no idea before arriving, that Baltimore is ranked the 3rd most dangerous city in the United States in terms of violent crime. But...it seemed that once there everything served as a reminder of that title. I cannot tell you how many times we were warned (by any and everyone) with grave seriousness to "be very careful" when simply sightseeing. I have few pictures to develop because I was scared to pull out my camera, for fear of targeting myself as a tourist. Joy relayed a story of when she first moved and pulled out a map on a city street and a woman rushed over to her and pleaded to let her help her find something..."but for God's sake don't pull that map out again" or the time a knife fight broke out on her busride home from work. It was comical in some ways just how "not from here" the two of us appeared.

Don't get me wrong...it was a really good trip, but it really gave me a picture that life is very different there and that simply smiling at someone you pass on the street is something we take for granted here. I had some great food...lived it up at a gay bar, saw the Baltimore inner harbor, got to see the Capitol Building and the buildings of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, spent some very enjoyable time with the family that Joy is living with, and most importantly caught up on very missed sister time with her. She is looking great and becoming independent and self assured and I am so proud of her!!!!