strange Baltimore part 3 -

Hopkins strongly discourages students from biking to the medical campus. Bikers tend to get robbed (someone on the street will say, "Nice bike. Now it's mine." And you either peddle like mad or hand over the bike). Same goes for walkers. Drivers fare a little better.

I'm not into donating my bike at gunpoint so I take the Hopkins shuttle, a convenient, clean and free shuttle bus that runs near my apartment. The first time I took the Hopkins bus, it was smooth. The second time, last week, was a little different.

On the morning trip to Hopkins, with the medical campus on the horizon, the bus made a gurgling noise and died. At first, students kept gazing mindlessly out the window as the driver tried to re-start the bus. But after about two minutes, panic started settling in. Kids in the bus began to notice they were in a ghetto and kids in the ghetto began to notice the kids in the bus.

Two Chinese students spied a man passed out with urine streaks down his pants. They looked at him, looked at each other, pursed their lips and said, "Oooooooooo."

Just when the nervousness started to take hold, the bus' engine kicked in and the driver, a middle-aged black man, said, "We outta here."

Later that afternoon, a different bus driver (a large, black woman) was giving about 45 students a ride home when she suddenly took a wrong turn.

"THIS IS MY LAST RUN," she announced to no one, and everyone. "EVA. This is MY LAST RUN EVA."

As the bus plowed past our stop, a nursing student said, "Okay, but on this last run, can you drop us off at our stop back there?"

"NO."

"What?"

"If you want off the bus, get off the bus here. Otherwise I'm gonna keep going. I AM DONE."

"But our stop was a mile ago..."

"..."

"Please ma'am, it's 97 degrees outside."

And here I realized that this was probably the happiest moment in our bus driver's shuttling tenure. Now, finally, after God knows how many runs taking over-educated, generally upper-class students between Academic Wonderlands and Leafy Neighborhoods, she could finally stick it to us.

As we hopped off the bus, the nursing student (a Baltimore native who studied at Hopkins as an undergrad and is now getting an MSN) said, "That was strange."

And I said, "Yeah. Strange. That's kinda my adjective for this city. Strange."

And then I kinda laughed to myself and my new nursing friend gave me an impromptu walking tour of the city.

Shannon

Bike the Drive, Chicago 5.25.8

Jonathan, sheepish smile

My friend Jonathan is a do-er. He always wanted to ride a balloon over Cappadoccia, Turkey. Done. To get a masters. Done. To travel through India with his Gram, learn to cook from her, share some of her tasty kitchen secrets. Done, done, done.

So when Jonathan said he wanted to do "Bike the Drive," I knew it would be done. Bike the Drive is a relatively new Chicago event where Lake Shore Drive is closed to cars and open to only bicycles. The event starts at dawn and lasts through 1 pm. When Jonathan insisted, insisted, that we be there for the start of the event (at 5 am), I balked but eventually said, "Fine, you're insane, but fine." Below is evidence that I was in the city at dawn.

I even got my coolest Uncle to join us- here he is, Uncle Tom, in Chicago's Millennium Park. Two points of interest in this photo: 1. the sun rising over the Lake is really making those buildings glimmer 2. Uncle Tom is beside his bike, not on his bike although the event has already started.

As the clock ticked on, Uncle Tom and I waited and my blood slowly began to boil. At first I thought, "Is that little shit sleeping in?" No, he wasn't, I knew because I had called him at 4:45 am to offer to pick him up and he answered and declined the offer. Then I thought, "What if he's biking down here from his home and a truck hit him?" So I called again.

me: "You picked up the phone. So where the hell are you?"

guilty one: "I'm on my bike and ON MY WAY."

me: "WELL IVE BEEN WAITING WITH MY UNCLE BY THE BANANA BOOTH WATCHING EVERYONE ELSE ZOOM OFF. PEDDLE HARDER DAMNIT."

and shortly thereafter, Jonathan showed up.

My poor, poor Uncle had to play the role of buffer for the first few legs of Bike the Drive. As the three of us peddled south to the Museum of Science and Industry, I laid on my attitude and Jonathan responded with his silent treatment.

"Soooo," said Uncle Tom. "It's really nice weather today."

Around 7 am, we arrived at the Museum:

And looped north, up LSD to Lincoln Park. At this point, Jonathan and I made a unspoken pact to be nicer. I'm guessing this was for my Uncle's sake because otherwise Jonathan is the most obdurate person I know, second, maybe, to me.

Below you can see Jonathan from behind, cycling north.

As the day came to a close, we still had not fully made amends, but a 6-hour bike ride managed to get the endorphins running. This is the last shot, from a bridge over the Chicago River. This is my favorite view of my favorite city.

To Jonathan: In our own way, we had fun.
To UT: I promise Jonathan and I are usually much nicer to one another! :)

xo

Shannon

strange Baltimore part 2

Helicopters hovered over my apartment today, like giant lawnmowers mowing the sky. Because the prison is just down the street (in the center of town, of course), I wondered, "What if a convict broke out?"

But then I remembered, I'm in Baltimore. A city that requires a little more creativity when dreaming up worst-case-scenarios.

In fact, the choppers were helping clear out downtown streets after "an explosion sent a manhole cover flying into the air, slightly injuring one person."

Flying manhole covers. And sewer systems on flames. Of course! Why didn't I think of that?

I love this town.

Shannon

Lupus

Mom told me today that our neighbor's daughter died recently from complications related to Lupus.

Michelle, 37, was a friendly, much-loved mother and wife who I met only briefly, but admired. She had a masters in education and her husband is, I think, a vice principal at a local school. Michelle always seemed so positive about life, despite a lifelong battle with lupus. She leaves behind beautiful, three-year-old twins.

I've donated to the Lupus Foundation of America in her memory and I ask that you do the same.

Some facts about lupus:

1. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and brain.

2. With lupus, the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign substances and its own cells and tissues.

3. More than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year. The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) estimates between 1.5 - 2 million Americans have a form of lupus, but the actual number may be higher.

4. At the present time there is not a cure for lupus.

My heart goes out to Michelle's family.

Shannon

First Impressions, Hopkins

My friend Anastasia once told me that she felt true bliss one summer on the sandy beaches of Spain, a few days after learning she was accepted to a graduate program.

In the back of my mind, I've been wondering when I would feel bliss. Or elation or - and I guess this is byproduct of bliss, but - relief.

Today's the day! It's arrived! I've arrived! I'm sitting in a monstrous building at 615 North Wolf St., Baltimore, Maryland in the Hopkins School of Public Health and my heart is exploding. I'm excited and relaxed. I can't stop smiling, and making small talk and eavesdropping on the most interesting conversations.

Today is also a day flush with luck. I just walked out of a wonderful job interview with this group which provides vaccines to infants in the developing world. And I just heard from Prof. Jane Bertrand who would like to meet to discuss part-time opportunities at her Center for Communication Programs.

Back in March, I came to Hopkins to check out the school but I couldn't bring myself to get out of the car. Having not been accepted yet, I was too convinced I would get rejected and the visit would only depress me.

It has been a long four months since that day, but now I think I'm right where I belong.

:)

Shannon