I fled my home state of Connecticut in the summer of 2010. A letter was issued that May from the state governor to all UConn graduates, pleading with us not to leave. Two months later, my Jeep Liberty was packed and I was en route to California (sorry Jodi Rell). If nothing else, I learned to think and plan long-term during my undergraduate studies, so my wheels were greased and an AmeriCorps position was already waiting for me on the West coast by the time dear Jodi’s letter landed in my hands.
Now I’m back, for 2 months. I’ve been back prior to this, but for a week visit, which is different. Two months may seem short, but to me -- in the wake of leaving a community of fun people and my first improv team, my friends and a city brimming with arts where I could go dancing or see comedy any night of the week without a car -- well, two months suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.
Last night, I went to the Hartford Improv Festival and saw 9 different improv teams perform. And I ate at an awesome Puerto Rican restaurant beforehand.
Hartford is Connecticut’s state capital, FYI. It’s a 20 minute drive from my hometown and it’s got arts and diversity, yet I’ve spent almost no time there. I moved away nearly 7 years ago to be in an urban space, with more social capital and less sprawl; more walking and public transit and less driving; more diversity and less comfort, convenience and homogeneity. That stuff has all been right under my nose, 20 minutes south of where I grew up, but I drove 2,000 miles away to find it.
I could go into all sorts of personal details about why that is, and I could talk about my upbringing in the ‘burbs and how I falsely associated everything I despised about the suburban way of life with the entire state of Connecticut, but I won’t. Oh shoot, I kind of just did. My point is that I’m seeing more positives to being in Connecticut for the next two months than I initially did on my first night back, while I cried like a bereaved spouse over the weird city and cool people of Portland, Oregon.
I’m also not unaware of the irony that I just returned to a very homogenous (white) state, yet there’s more diversity in the local WalMart here than I saw on a daily basis in Portland.
Yes, I’ve already been in the WalMart here. It is still the ‘burbs, after all.
kianamaiart
izzy806
romaincrisis
2087
gracieabrams
prguitarman