This is my last full day. Sort of feel a little sick this morning. I went to the kitchen for some tea. Saw some of my favorites from last night, Chad and Josh. They weren't feeling well either! Must be a bug. :) After we sort of ate breakfast I watched a little of the news and went to my room to re-group. I ended up re-grouping for a while; Yesterdays sadness creeping slowly into today. The staff came to clean the room, my roommates had moved out.
I decided to take the bus to the beach but jumped on the #7 bus at the last minute headed to the San Diego zoo and Balboa Park . As soon as the bus took off I thought, "Do I even like the zoo?" It definitely wouldn't be on my top 20 things to do when I travel. But I do like monkeys and elephants and I probably could be distracted by some other zoo fav's for a few hours. The zoo proved to be mildly amusing. I spent at least a half hour with a cute little monkey. I kept giving him leaves and feeling his hands! So weird! They felt like old people hands, thin skinned and soft. I heard someone saying something about monkeys, diseases, and aids so I decided to wash my hands before pressing onward to stare at the rhinos. They were cool. They made me feel a little less chubby and a lot more moisturized. Poor things. I went on an aerial ride over the zoo (free w/ my ticket) and can you believe it? I was alone. This is getting old, I promise you. I left the park after having sort of lunch over the phone again with my mom (thanks again mom) . My phone died and then I really was alone. Whatever.
Decided to walk through Balboa Park. It was really pretty. It had super old buildings, allowed dogs and had water fountains everywhere. There was a strange miming act in the center of the park which intrigued me for about 30 seconds and then immediately creeped me out. I went back to the bus stop and asked a man what time it was. He had me read it for him. It was way earlier than I wanted it to be, 530. I started talking to the man and learned his name was, "Bebo". Cool name right?! Bebo clearly had Cerebral Palsy and was twisted up in his wheelchair. He said he wanted to stay longer at the museum which was in the park but his wheelchair battery was dying. We talked for about 20 minutes until the bus came.
The stupid bus was ill equipped for a wheelchair. The bus driver hooked the chair up with big metal hooks and cables. It took her at least 5 minutes. I started thinking about the graduate class I took recently about universal design- how our world should be set up to easily accommodate everyone. Bibo said it was hard going about his day but he does it and makes the most of it. He was so nice and genuine and the perfect example of resiliency. He was so interesting to talk to. When a man got off the bus he stopped to tell me that I was a nice lady and to have a very good day. I know the man meant well, but what did I do other than talk to a person who was severely disabled? My sullen mood was more devastated by this man's comment. I felt horrible that Bebo was a witness to someone thanking me for speaking to him. Bibo is the cool kid, not me. He got off the bus and we said goodbye. I truly hope I see him again. When I got to my stop, a lady got off the bus also. She again said, I was "a nice lady." I said, "thanks" but again felt horrible. Are we really this far behind in disability equality? Really? I guess I missed that bus, so to speak, since I was always taught to be comfortable around people with disabilities, and then of course, there's EJ. I still don't know what to think about any of this. I'm needing a comment from... Erin... you're up to bat.
I got back to the hostel and ate free dinner. It was alright. Potato salad and bread- interesting foreigners! After dinner, I grabbed my laptop and headed for the common room. I ended up watching family guy with the guy from Sweden and a new Autrain guy, named Roland. It was funny... three different strangers... three completely different cultures... all laughing at the same parts. We watched the Simpsons too and then started talking about the festivities tonight. I let the Austrian guy borrow a dress and I borrowed some man pants and a hat and called it good. My first cross dressing party. I looked awful as a boy but no one cared. The boys had sexy dresses and make up and a lot of the girls had beards, shades and hats. I just wore my pj t-shirt, along with the borrowed clothes. The night was really fun. We girls pretended to play poker and the guys played flip cup. The brave ones went to Henry's bar dressed "as is"- the faint at heart went to bed... I think that was just me. Ha! I had a flight to catch in the a.m. after all. I will miss these guys. Crazy how quickly bonds are made.
No comments:
Post a Comment