Through new York City, Again

Through New York City, Again
JFK Airport, New York, USA
September 5, 2007

Going to the Sahara. I have been wanting to go there for a long time. Mauritania, my thoughts fill with romance. But I know deserts; and I know that they are dusty, hot, and stifling; yet beautiful, open, and free. I am enthusiastic. But I probably will not get too far into the desert for a couple of months. For the meantime, I should be going into the mountains to hang out with sheep.

I visited my academic advisor, Kathleen Modrowski, at Friends World’s headquarters in Brooklyn today. I am really impressed with her. She is an anthropologist who conducted her fieldwork in North Africa, and she was able to provide me with more than a few insights to chew on. She found records of Isabel Eberhardt while going through economic archives in Algiers, so she investigated and wrote a research paper about her life. I read a book that reproduced Eberhardt’s diaries a few years ago, and have been fascinated by her ever since. The knowledge that my advisor seemed to have an extraordinary amount of knowledge about Eberhardt prompted me to do a little interview with her. I will post some writings about her once I get to a solid base.

New York City. I cannot figure this place out. It does not seem to be part of the USA. It seems to be its own country; no, its own world. But anyway, I still can not tolerate any thing more than a brief pass through that great beast of a city. Maybe someday I will try to get a feel for it, though this is a grudging hope at best.

But I did get to meet up with an old China friend, which was a highly rewarding experience. I though that I was in for another night on the second floor of the Jet Blue terminal reading a book under a plastic palm tree, but JoJo rescued me and invited me to stay at his apartment.

His apartment is basically a long corridor with a couple small rooms popping off of it. He pays $1700 a month for it. That amounts to over $50 a day! That is unbelievable. His place is also considered modestly priced and is in Brooklyn. I cannot comprehend such expense.