Motor City without the Motor

Ok, so actually I'm in India now, but let's just pretend I'm not so I can catch you all up on what Detroit was like first.

Detroit was interesting. Of course I was weary in the beginning, new people, the normal "get to know you games," and the daunting feeling of spending 4 months traveling. But it turned out to be great! I learned a lot about Detroit and met a lot of people who were very optimistic for Detroit's future. It was really good to hear that side of the story, but sometimes I didn't feel like we were getting an acurate view of the situation in D-town (does anyone call it that?). Some quick high/lowlights from my two weeks there so I can move on to my India entry.

-Well obviously, not a lot of internet action. Detroit was barren really. We stayed right down town and it was pretty creepy how no one was there. So many people have moved out into the suburbs but even beyond that, because Detroit is so large that even the neighborhoods that are still vibrant are so far from downtown that the city seems empty.

-We had a many speakers come and talk to us about different issues and sometimes even great panels. Topics include: auto industry (kinda, not as much as I would have liked...), food systems (there aren't any major grocery stores in the city of Detroit, mostly just convience stores and "party" stores), race and class (huge white flight effect and the city is 85% African American) and much much more

-Went to two tigers games!!! One I organized for the group, the other we got in for free!

-Went to Eastern Market, a wonderful farmers/flea market downtown. The second time got fabulous bbq

-The last weekend we were there it was the international jazz fest and I saw great musicians, including Dave Brubeck and Chit Corea. Good times and it was interesting to see people coming into the city

-We didn't get to cover the auto industry, really at all. The one panel was more on transportation systems but I did find out that the coordinator for the Detroit progam owns a...Toyota (gasp!) Don't worry, daughter of Bob, explained to him how he was hurting this city that "he loves so much" by buying a foreign car. After that talk, he was cool...

-The people have been really amazing. Of course in the beginning was I was worried, but the more I get to know people the more I really like them. I get along great with my (former) roommate, Rashida, and there are others too. But it's still the beginning and while I know everyone's name and have definitely had conversations with them, I still have time to bond with more people.

-Hmm, any more highlights? Things definitely happened in Detroit (such as our little late night excursion to Windsor) but I think for the most part it was low-key. We met with some techno guys (cause apparently techno was created in Detroit) and that was cool. Also a night bike tour of the city which was really awesome. Great way to see the city and get around quickly. Everyone we met with was so surprised we didn't have cars and most of the city doesn't think it has a public transportation system, and while it's not great, we did ride the people mover (their elevated very limited rail) and the buses.

Ok, well I would write more on this but I wanna wrap it up so I can do another entry about India.
xoxo