Good early morning from Philadelphia! We arrived here on Saturday night and spent the whole day here yesterday. We'll push off for Princeton, NJ in just a couple of hours - we are now only two days of riding away from New York City!
I have spoken in Philly before, but often that just means I have seen the inside of a very nice hotel or the convention center, or in this case both, so I have been excited for this stop the whole trip. Becky and I set off to explore the historic district: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and all of the buildings in which the framers holed up to discuss the birth of our nation. Because the 4th is upon us, the area was even more decked out in red, white, and blue than usual and there were more tourists than at Disney Land. We grabbed some sushi at the food court, which sounds horrible but was actually the best thing I have eaten during the trip, and started walking away from the center of chaos. We didn't get far. Instead, we found a shopping mall...and were in heaven.
I know that sounds like a very typical tourist thing to do, but for us it was a radical act of rebellion. Everything we packed reeks of a special blend of mildew, sweat, sunscreen, bug repellent and even though we wash it out in campground sinks or even an occasional washing machine, nothing can be too clean after we hang it from the top of SheBeast (the van) to dry while rolling down the highway. The finale party in NYC is set to occur only hours after we arrive, so I couldn't even go get clothes at my apartment - and the others don't even have that option. Anyway, enough justifying - it felt fantastic to walk into the meeting last night in my one-size-smaller-than-two-months-ago jeans and black halter. Now if I could only get my eyebrows waxed...
The meeting was one of the best attended, and so many interesting women are working in the field in Philadelphia. One woman I talked to is working on affordable housing, but is interested in screening my film to promote community wide discussion about sex education and religion. Another woman in our small group is a queer doula/abortion hotline counselor who talked about having community in each of her worlds, but no larger community in which the worlds are connected. This is one I will definitely post more about, either here or over at the group blog, but once again I am pressed for time.
Sorry for all the posts at once yesterday - internet is scarce in Wanderlust land, so I decided it's more important to write every day and post when I can, rather than waiting to have that magical internet connection.