quite a marathon day...

for cityboy, yesterday, and amazingly he made it through! As I stated in the last post, six classes during the day, ending with a long proctoring session in the upper school. Then, off to Stuyvesant High School with the upper school debate team, and one of two "chaperones". Tired, but it did not seem to matter, made the long trip, including a "crosstown" walk from the City Hall 4 station to the school. Arrived there, very hungry, settled in---then left again because I was starving--- found a whole foods store nearby (really not a store, more a universe) and grabbed a piece of chicken. Returned to the school and my chaperone duties---tired but saw it through. Watched a few of the debates---students worked hard, but the subjects seemed a little too imposed. Still, the kids enjoyed it, and when we left at 7:30, they were very enthused and grateful that I had remained with them.This also meant that I had been working at the school since I first came in around 7:30 A.M. to my last step at Stuyvesant at 7:30 P.M. But I did it!
  So there I was, tired, but the evening was incredibly mild, almost summary after the cold of the last few weeks. So as I reached the nearest subway station, I realized that I could not go in---my body and soul demanded a further walk. So I traveled north on Hudson street, a major arterie of Tribeca  Although cityboy loves to travel around this city, he had not visited Tribeca in a while, so the walk north on Hudson was full of revelations. Lots of doorman, expensive apartments, very tranquil, is it possible that around 35 years ago, this area was just empty? Amazing! How did I feel, a white person, moving through this elegant area, pleased with myself for my actions during the day, and slightly forgetting the displacement that all these high rises in the area had caused, or the segregation that was part of the change. Well, the walk continued up to the Film Forum (Houston and Varick) and then finally into the subway to home. A day full of wonder---always love walking through different areas of the city and "pondering" their meaning. Good or bad? More to discuss at another time.
  Today, one session then off to see What to do When it Goes Down, the play on west 53rd street that is a kind of black ritual with anger and hope. What will it be like. Felt that I had to see it---several people that I spoke to who saw it (all of them white) felt the play was very strong. A little apprehensive, but will be there and participate.
  All of which will be reported in the next post-when? We will see.