Ya'll Awake Now?
Yes, yes, I know. It's been almost two months since I've written anything here, but it's that whole time thing. I can't believe I 've been here for three months. I want to stay. The shiny newness is starting to wear off but it still remains a magical place. Since I last wrote I met lot's of people, went to several fun parties, visited a friend in Amsterdam-- my favorite part was th ride in the coutry, it made the place make sense to me-- and I met a beautiful Danish woman who has occupied a lot of my time. Everything is worth unpacking and writing about but there's been so much that it's almost daunting, no, actually it's hugely daunting.
I also stayed up the entire nigtht of the US elections. I followed a number of races on various websites, sometimes with contradictory information. I freely admit that when I realized the democrats had taken control of the house I actually cried. It's the first time I've ever cried tears of joy. I had been up all night drinking wine, but still. It gave me the feeling that I might have a country to still call home. from the outside it's especially obvious that things are not right with the US. The ridiculous number of obviously illegal things that this administration is doing and its recent attempts and success at making them legal (so far) is astounding; the fact that people have not taken to the streets is even moreso. It seems very clear from here that common people don't have all of the information they need, not just in the US but across most democracies. It seems that people have been voting their fears in Europe as well. People want security, physical and financial, so they vote for "conservative" leaders who are antagonistic to people who are different and essentially corporate shills, restructuring economies to favor the rich and the corporations, while dismantling services for the rest of the population. That's one of my favorite things, I'm getting to place the US in a larger context, as part of the world, less insulated than it seems. I love talking with people about the politics of their countries, the way that people live, their reasons for leaving. The illnesses afflicting the US is not suffered alone, and I think people are starting to wake up, try to heal it. For much of the time I've been here the US has seemed like a once healthy cell turned cancerous, metastasizing, spreading. I feel more hopeful now.
I will say one thing about the woman I'm seeing that I like a lot, it's not my favorite thing, but it amuses me. She talks in her sleep in Danish, English, and Spanish. I keep meaning to try to converse with her but when I'm awakened I can't get much past, 'that's so damn cute,' before i fall to sleep again.
I also stayed up the entire nigtht of the US elections. I followed a number of races on various websites, sometimes with contradictory information. I freely admit that when I realized the democrats had taken control of the house I actually cried. It's the first time I've ever cried tears of joy. I had been up all night drinking wine, but still. It gave me the feeling that I might have a country to still call home. from the outside it's especially obvious that things are not right with the US. The ridiculous number of obviously illegal things that this administration is doing and its recent attempts and success at making them legal (so far) is astounding; the fact that people have not taken to the streets is even moreso. It seems very clear from here that common people don't have all of the information they need, not just in the US but across most democracies. It seems that people have been voting their fears in Europe as well. People want security, physical and financial, so they vote for "conservative" leaders who are antagonistic to people who are different and essentially corporate shills, restructuring economies to favor the rich and the corporations, while dismantling services for the rest of the population. That's one of my favorite things, I'm getting to place the US in a larger context, as part of the world, less insulated than it seems. I love talking with people about the politics of their countries, the way that people live, their reasons for leaving. The illnesses afflicting the US is not suffered alone, and I think people are starting to wake up, try to heal it. For much of the time I've been here the US has seemed like a once healthy cell turned cancerous, metastasizing, spreading. I feel more hopeful now.
I will say one thing about the woman I'm seeing that I like a lot, it's not my favorite thing, but it amuses me. She talks in her sleep in Danish, English, and Spanish. I keep meaning to try to converse with her but when I'm awakened I can't get much past, 'that's so damn cute,' before i fall to sleep again.
posted by brotherbeat at
6:18 PM
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