i arrived in the bay area today. i felt a little bit like i was in a movie. a movie where all the locals recognize the outsider by her palpable inner tension. dude, chill, they say with their eyes.
i rode the BART from the airport to west oakland. after about 10 minutes riding the train and making a mental checklist of similarities between the BART and the metro in DC, i realized i had no idea of how long the ride was going to be. i got nervous about missing my stop, so i got up to check the map. i had like 8 stops to go. phew. i sat down and started drafting a text message to my friends in DC, but i was interrupted by the realization that a young bearded white guy was standing in front of me. i looked up.