Reflections on Los Angeles

While I was trekking through the city of Los Angeles one thing I noticed was how spread out everything was, especially in comparison to Boston. It was vital in owning a car if you wanted to go anywhere. From what I gathered the public transit system is pretty subpar. Besides the urban sprawl I also noticed the use of space. Notice in the picture above where you can see how the walls have been covered in artwork. As I travelled through different neighborhoods in LA I noticed that there was artwork everywhere. This was something that was very different from back home. However, I'm not sure what was a legitimate use of space versus graffiti. But, the point I'm getting at here is that what I saw really added life and color to the surrounding environment. I wish we had more designated spaces for creativity like this back home. The only space I could think of was the alley way by Central Kitchen in Central Square in the city of Cambridge where different artists come and paint the alleyway every few months.

On a different note I got to spend a few days with the little guy pictured above. Over the past few years I haven't had any interest in having a dog, or cat, or any other kind of pet for that matter. But, after hanging out and playing with this little monster I started to reconsider. While he fetched his favorite rope toy around the house and in the yard I thought about when I was a kid, and about the pets I had. It definitely brought me back to feeling like a kid again so much so I might actually look into getting myself a dog in the not so distant future.

I wanted to post this pic up of Mike and I to prove that I was actually in Los Angeles (thanks Annie), and although neither of us look to ecstatic it's only because we hadn't had any coffee yet. One of the things I wish I had done more of before I left home was to snap pictures with family and friends.

I have one more thing to reflect on that crossed my mind. Not to far from my friend's place is an elementary school. Now being an outsider I didn't know much about the school or the community. However, a few mornings when I woke up I observed the parents walking their children to school, and I would say that 99.9% of them were of Latino/Latina descent. Yet, the dynamics of the neighborhood seemed to reflect something very different in comparison. From what I noticed, and as Mike put it; "the neighborhood is mostly white girls who wear Lululemon." I'm not judging or making any assumptions, but I'm curious to know if that in fact the neighborhood is made up this way, and if so how far are these parents and children traveling to come to school. Why is it that way? I wish I had more time to learn and explore the dynamics of the area, but unfortunately I only had time to catch a brief glimpse.