Chinese New Year and More
This is what’s happening during my third week in New York City:
* Ariel and I rock out in proposal land all day Sunday, planning actions in the near future, and peace projects for the far future. Sitting on the couch, we devise movements and design cross-country journeys. At four p.m. on a sunsplashed Manhattan afternoon, anything seems possible. And indeed, perhaps, it is.
* Ariel and I go to Emily’s Superbowl party where we eat vegan philly cheesesteak sandwiches and perform the best halftime show ever. ‘Nuf said.
* One afternoon, Kyla, Ariel, and I wind our way through the congested streets of Chinatown, our feet scuffling through heaps of confetti and streamers, our path occasionally interrupted by long dragons. At an intersection, we hear loud blasts and see a cloud of smoke waft around a corner. All at once we are all running towards the noise, and I am thinking that if we were in almost any other country, we would be running away in terror. But this is Chinese New Year in New York City, and we are all eager to be asphyxiated with the bluish clouds of firework smoke that hover over the asphalt. We emerge on the other side of the smoke and we race through the crowded streets, pausing only to engage in a hopeful conversation with the National Guard troops, who tell us they are grateful for our friendly approach, and interested in CodePINK because they don’t believe in the war either. Dialogue is different from animosity. Then we are back on the hunt for food again and finally we land at a Buddhist vegetarian Asian food restaurant where we receive plates heaped with tofu and veggies and brown rice and spicy soups and dumplings. And we dine and talk politics and poetics and I recognize that I am with two of my best girlfriends and sit back to bask in their glow.
* I work the coatcheck and meet several incredible women.
* Meetings, meetings, more meetings, some CodePINK, some Barnard, some coalition building. Productive. Flourescent lights. Lots of e-mailing.
* Ariel and I rock out in proposal land all day Sunday, planning actions in the near future, and peace projects for the far future. Sitting on the couch, we devise movements and design cross-country journeys. At four p.m. on a sunsplashed Manhattan afternoon, anything seems possible. And indeed, perhaps, it is.
* Ariel and I go to Emily’s Superbowl party where we eat vegan philly cheesesteak sandwiches and perform the best halftime show ever. ‘Nuf said.
* One afternoon, Kyla, Ariel, and I wind our way through the congested streets of Chinatown, our feet scuffling through heaps of confetti and streamers, our path occasionally interrupted by long dragons. At an intersection, we hear loud blasts and see a cloud of smoke waft around a corner. All at once we are all running towards the noise, and I am thinking that if we were in almost any other country, we would be running away in terror. But this is Chinese New Year in New York City, and we are all eager to be asphyxiated with the bluish clouds of firework smoke that hover over the asphalt. We emerge on the other side of the smoke and we race through the crowded streets, pausing only to engage in a hopeful conversation with the National Guard troops, who tell us they are grateful for our friendly approach, and interested in CodePINK because they don’t believe in the war either. Dialogue is different from animosity. Then we are back on the hunt for food again and finally we land at a Buddhist vegetarian Asian food restaurant where we receive plates heaped with tofu and veggies and brown rice and spicy soups and dumplings. And we dine and talk politics and poetics and I recognize that I am with two of my best girlfriends and sit back to bask in their glow.
* I work the coatcheck and meet several incredible women.
* Meetings, meetings, more meetings, some CodePINK, some Barnard, some coalition building. Productive. Flourescent lights. Lots of e-mailing.
posted by rae @ 3:52 PM
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