American History

Wow, there really are some places in the big ole United States of America that are truly beautiful. It helps that the weather has been agreeable, and the sun is shining wherever I have been these past few weeks. I'm now in Boston, intellectual capital of the Americas with Harvard, MIT, Boston Uni, and also, the birthplace of the American Revolution ("the cradle of liberty"). This place has an amazing vibe. I like this town. Before getting to the home of the Red Sox I spent a few great days in the nation's capital, Washington D.C., where I stayed with Ari, a friend from grad school, his wife Lena and dog Kia, and also met up with J.B., my frequent houseguest in Cairo. It was a great time getting to know a really cool and laidback city. Did you know in D.C. that approx. 17% of the population are lawyers? I learned that.

I'm a such a tourist geek here in the States. Why the hell not eh? In Boston I went on one of those hop on hop off bus tours and then proceeded to walk the Freedom Trail. Its basically where they have the famous sites mapped out in a 2 mile not-so-straight line. I saw the navy ship USS Constitution, Paul Revere's house, the church where he made the signal that the enemy was coming, Bunkers Hill... etc. The famous things we hear about but never actually know what they are or why they are important and for whom. Sometimes I am quite amazed at what historians tend to forget to mention or simply omit because it doesn't fit in with the nice story they have built for themselves. I am learning more about the other side of American history through the great book by Howard Zinn "A People's History of the United States". A leftist history from the perspective of the Native Americans, women, slaves, liberals and other disenfranchised members of American society. My Dad is gonna love it...

Me and Ari on a paddle boat on the Potomac River. There are also a few monuments close by... Jefferson? Lincoln? Washington? Can't remember which is which!

George Bush wasn't in on this day. Apparently he was at his ranch in Texas. I wanted a tour of the White House, but there is a 90 day waiting list!

A not so unusual sight in NYC.

And, what better way to learn about America then to try out my hands at a local shooting range? Thanks to Aki for suggesting this as our adventurous activity in NYC! But I'll never shoot a gun again.