Sunday/Monday – Day 122/123
December 4, 2012
Sunday was a last day of quiet. One that I much appreciated. Most of today was spent in, after waking up too late to get much done! To add to this, Tammy’s deployed friend was visiting home for thanksgiving and she needed to spend at least a little time with him. On her return we started packing up things and a few more of her friends visited before everyone returned to their schools and homes. Again, I packed by bags and, was driven to the Greyhound Station by Tammy, with her friend Anthony, in tow.
The bus back wasn’t quite as good as on the way there, it was cramped and I hardly slept, working on the operating systems project for most of the ride. After waking up from a brief nap on one particularly unpleasant leg of the journey, I skyped one of my closest friends in Melbourne to wish her a happy birthday and we ended up chatting for ten minutes at 3AM while I was travelling along the middle of nowhere.
I arrived back at Market Street Greyhound Terminal perfectly on time, at 8AM. Just enough for me to catch a taxi back to Penn in time for my first class, algorithms. I struggled through what work I could and ended up missing Glee Rehearsal due to illness and tiredness from the bus ride combined with an urgent meeting for Operating Systems.
I went to bed far too late, coding well into the night, in an attempt to move the team along somewhat. This was going to be an unpleasant week.
Spring Semester 2012
November 28, 2012
This post is a very short update on me.
I am confirming the news spreading around slowly, I am in fact remaining at Penn for one more semester, Spring 2013.
I have very mixed feelings because though I love Penn I am missing home lots. However, this done mean an extra six months of (hopefully) interesting updates and reflections on life in America!
Friday/Shabbat – Day 120/121
I was intent on not letting any of today go to waste. Thus it was up as early as possible, despite the late night, in order to go into the city of Detroit and see all it had to offer.
First up was the ‘Black Friday’ sales at the local mall. Even arriving at 10AM people were still going a little mad and the place was packed. Every store was full of people queuing up for bargains that weren’t all the great and sometimes not even there. For me, this reflected one of my less favored sides of the US. The rampant and needless consumerism. Everything everywhere on the streets implies and impulse to ‘buy, buy, buy’ without bound.
However, despite all that, there was one product I couldn’t help but find mildly adorable: Lord of the Rings Lego!
Following that we drove to the Heidelberg project, an outdoor art installation designed to highlight the challenges that Detroit is facing, poverty and dilapidation amongst them. The project encompassed a number of houses, adorned tastefully in castaway items.
Someone’s house!
In between the houses, on the ‘sidewalk’ and on nature strips in the center, objects were nailed to trees and signs posted, with religious and eschatological themes.
We walked in the cold for a few minutes however the chill was soon too much for us and after finishing the length of the street we raced back to the car.
Next stop was the newly reopened Detroit History museum that chronicled the life and times of the city. As today was its grand reopening, entry was free and we spent a good few hours in the many exhibits! Grace and her boyfriend met us there after lunch and I was glad to see them both after having gotten along so well with them the night before.
A genuine Detroit car
Amongst the things I learnt in the museum was that Detroit was once the capital of stoves, with a large stove manufacturing industry through the mid to late eighteen-hundreds.
Who would’ve thought?
Amongst the things I already knew was that Detroit was famous for its auto industry with a number of the world largest manufactures calling the city home. In fact, I was later privileged enough to visit the Ford Rouge manufacturing plant that takes raw materials and processes them, eventually producing a car. All at a single plant.
Museum Exhibit – Lowering the body onto the chassis
The tour of the Rouge factory that we later went to was fascinating but at the same time scared me a little.
The rest of the evening was a quiet night at home with Tammy and family.