I arrived in Oakland, California on Oct. 6th at 1:30 pm.
It is fair to say that the reality of the situation didn't hit me until I landed. I was chatting it up to an older rich woman on the plane from Columbus, reading my maps, and playfully daydreaming the whole flight. But, once I landed I began to feel that familiar desperation that grips me at the beginning of any move.
When I got my bags, I lugged my three huge bags (one of which was 53 lbs. and cost me $25) to the AirBart bus stop. This bus would eventually take me to the Bay Area's public transit rail, the BART.
The first thing that struck me was the temperature. I had been sweating my ass off the night before at the Arcade Fire concert in Columbus, Ohio but now it was a cool 60 something degrees. I also could see huge mountains in the distance - I know they were beautiful but the fear of getting to my destination seems to have blocked the memory of being able to describe them.
After fifteen minutes or so, the AirBart arrived and I paid the driver $3 and lugged my bags over to the middle of the bus. I eventually got a seat and spent the next ten minutes staring at my first sites of Californian neighborhoods.
When we eventually got to the Bart station, I bought myself a $5 ticket...I'm not sure if that was more than I needed, but I was so disorientated at this point I couldn't really tell you. I lugged my three bags up the escalator (thank god for that genius invention) and waited for the BART.
After ten minutes or so, the BART arrived and I lifted my 150 lbs. of personal possessions on to the train, sat down, and congratulated myself on a job well done.
After twenty nerve-racking minutes I got to Powell Street. From there, I was to walk five blocks to Leavenworth. And that’s where things got real difficult.
San Francisco has a lot of hills. I know that, alright. But, holy shit…
Caring that 150 lbs. through a city you have never been to, while steadily going UPHILL the whole time had to be the hardest part of the whole ordeal. Step by agonizing step, I walked by homeless people, tourists, and other vagabonds.
Mel, my very gracious host and friend, had warned me about homeless people asking me for cash and trying to follow me into her building. But, the funniest thing was that not only did no homeless people ask me for cash, some homeless worker dude tried offering me free food! Yep, I just gave off the air of unemployment I guess.
After what seemed like hours, I made it to Leavenworth Street…only to find I had to walk two more blocks up a hill so damn inverted that people were getting off their bikes just to walk up this damn thing.
After an insane physical workout, I got to Mel’s apartment building, pulled out the keys she had fedexed me a few days earlier, pulled those three monsters into her living room, laid down on the bed, and closed my eyes.
