Walking Through the Eyes of a Stranger

I step off the 8 Bus at Monroe and Halstead and the first thing I am truly drawn too is how lively the street is. It is bustling and just people are rushing by. With how bustling it is it makes me feel energized. I feel automatically more awake than I was on the dull bus. It is evening and the streets are covered in a golden glow from the sun. Furthermore, I was drawn to the Greek culture around here. The first thing along those lines was that the CVS had Greek writing on it. This is something that I have never experienced before in my life. I saw a man walking in shorts and a t shirt and he was hustling and obviously had a plan with where he was going. I also can see people coming out of the CVS heading to the bus stop that I just got off of. Then I can see people going into their apartment buildings with groceries and other random items. The apartment buildings are very obviously gentrified buildings and seeing them gives me a deep pit in my stomach. I feel bad for the community that was obviously moved out of their homes for the buildings to be put in. Others walk that same path to get into their apartment buildings and then also people before them walking into the houses that were in the place of the apartments today. All of these observations make me think about East Dallas, East Dallas is a very gentrified neighborhood in Dallas. I am walking down Adams and on one side of the street is a new looking park and then on the other side is a modern looking apartment building. The sun is setting now and it gives a nicer aesthetic. For some reason the sunset distracts me from the obvious gentrification that happened in this neighborhood. The neighborhood is well kept and as I look around I can see the sun coming through the buildings and the trees making me feel like I am in a movie. I zone out and I feel like I am moving in slow motion and the sounds of trucks and cars going by. The clues left behind are definitely remnants of the community here before gentrification. The leftover parts of an early Greek town.

Losing yourself in the city is very easy to do and is very very easy to describe. All you simply need to do is forget your phone, forget maps, just keep your head up and walk. When you keep your head up and forget all technological connections. You walk down the street and immerse yourself in the street you are on. Which means that you look around and just keep your eyes on what’s around you. I have been lost in the city multiple times. Almost every single time I walk I feel like I get lost in the city. It is funny, when you get lost in the city you really do not remember what you walk by and see. You just zone out and even the longest walk feels short. I remember the first time I was truly lost in the city was our walk down Division during immersion week. (152)