I woke this morning, showered, and headed out quickly. My friend Eli, who lived in the same dorm as me my freshman year, had come up the night before, along with his girlfriend Alisha. My friends Ben and Tanupreet were with us as well, for the block party.
Before leaving, he had mentioned his plans to go to the International Center for Photography, and invited me to join along. This I did, and was glad about it afterward. The exhibit upstairs featured portraits of movement figures in the civil rights movement. I loved seeing people I’d heard about, and also reading about their interconnectedness. I saw how it was more of a collective effort as I glanced at the photos.
Downstairs were pictures taken by a man who traveled from the lower east side across America three times, carefully documenting the drab existence of it. He would photograph his hotel rooms, and diners, etc. He would even make prints of some of his pictures, and sneak them onto racks of postcards, which I found humorous.
The other exhibit was of photos taken by a man during the World Wars not of the battle lines, but of the effect war had on children behind those lines. Many pictures were gripping, but the most provacative to me was one of a blind boy who’d lost his arms, and had learned to read braille with his lips.
We then left this exhibit, and went to 2nd ave and 3rd street, where Eli was staying the night. After a bit, we left to a corner store to get what cab drivers claim are the best somosas in NYC. They were pretty good. Across the street, we ran into Phillip Glass, brother of Ira Glass of NPR fame. Then we walked to China town, where we bought fresh lychees and walked around. Eventually, we parted ways, so they could go to the car, and drive back to Baltimore, where I’ve now an open invitation to visit.
I walked from there down to Fulton along the East River, and met my friends Ben and Srijan downtown. We went back to their dorm at Pace, watched the end of the Indycar race, then Ben and I walked west to the coast and looked over to Jersey City.
Now I’m back home, and my friend Lindsey may stop by in a bit. My mom comes tomorrow, and I’m quite excited to explore more of the city with her.
