Sunday, August 3, 2008

Culture Shock

I've been back on the East Coast for a little over a week and have spent the last two nights in beautiful Baltimore. After four days at a health spa with my mom last week, I've got my mind on health... more on my own private health. Not so much on the public's. But, that will all change next Monday when I start school.

Coming from LA to the health spa in the Berkshires to Baltimore is so far quite a shock. After spending six hours a day at the spa exercising along side thin Long Island mothers trying to convince their slightly overweight daughters that exercise is fun (!), I'm now in Baltimore, reminded that yes, there are fat people in this country, and no, they probably don't care about Yamuna foot fitness. I forgot about that. Sure, the news talks about the obesity epidemic, but I couldn't find any sign of it at the spa or in LA. But here in Baltimore, poverty and thus fatties are all around.

Yes, this is one poor city. Noticeably poor. And, in contrast to LA, as far as I can tell at least, the poor people live amongst the not-so-poor. Poverty is out in the open here. It's quite different from any place I've ever lived, including New York, and I must admit, I'm not used to it yet. But, again, I've only been here for two days, so I've got a lot more to see. My Biomedicine for Dummies class (not its actual name, thank you very much) starts next Monday, so I have a week to figure out which cafe has the best coffee, where the closest bank, yoga studio, and bodega are, and how the hell the so-called Hopkins shuttle works.

So, stay tuned for more adventures in Baltimore. I plan on taking my camera with me on my explorations and uploading pictures soon. That is, if I don't get mugged and have my camera stolen first. (insert nervous laugh).

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