We went from the fast pace of the very first day to Mike speed, which is more like what my friend and I were used to. The pace of a very distinguished British gentleman with a cane is more like gimp speed. So, on a day soon after, we transitioned from one of London's most well-known areas to one of its least known areas, the East End, more well known for being home to the water and, according to Mike, some of the best ethnic neighborhoods until about 100 years ago when gentrification started to come in.
So today, in this area with a very large Muslim and East African population, you can see some of the most luxurious buildings and high-rises going up beside some of the most rundown sidewalks I have ever seen. I remember one of the places we stopped was a park that was famous for being bombed during World War II and several people have been killed there in recent years. It stood right across the street from a German Methodist Church, I believe, if that sounds right at all I can't remember, that looked more like a hollowed out warehouse and a cross between one of those ugly apartment buildings from the 70s. The place was so adorned with graffiti, you can hardly believe anyone had ever been in there. I remember Mike standing in the park, the name had something to do with MLK I believe, and telling us that there is a very distinct line here between the neighborhoods. You could almost see where the West End stopped and the East End began (or any neighborhood closer to it for that matter.) The construction and the upkeep of the city was so distinctive between the two streets
I began not only to empathize with different communities that had slowly been pushed out of their original home, but there were very obvious similarities to Seattle and the way the economy is going. Perhaps in London you can notice the more extreme class gaps side-by-side, but there are also many similarities in the ways that both London and Seattle use their water resources. A staple of the East End was what they called the Docklands (the Port). Also, I wanted to mention that, ironically, it had some of the best accessible transportation in the whole city because it was nearest to where we were staying. The DLR (or Docklands Light Railway) was the only form of transportation that has level entry on all vehicles without using any sort of ramp or alternative entrance.
I think this was one of the parts of the chair where I learned that the problems at home are the problems everywhere, and it could be just as bad if not worse for people with disabilities. It is intriguing that even with mandatory disabled toilets and the socialized health system, the income gap is still as great as any, and that could be me in any place. Not to mention the very clear separation of religious and ethnic groups. I remember Mike told us a story about how he would take his summer classes on a mandatory field trip to a mosque in the East and, to participate in a call to prayer and worship. He recalled that the student said he was one of the most memorable experiences of their entire time there, to truly experience from another's point of view. This got me thinking about how I would be perceived, with physical weaknesses, as it were, as that is very taboo in many cultures. not to mention the fact that if I had to kneel down I'd probably be screaming and wouldn't be able to get back up at this point! This was the first of many experiences in Mike's class where we would be asked to think from this perspective, and one that stuck with me, there's another one that occurred much later, and the story will follow!
But for now, back in “America,” as he affectionately called our group, many of the students were too busy to notice this because they were looking at the results from the American World Cup match on their phones (those of us who were lucky enough to have data in another country, anyway! Myself not included). So, because the day is not properly ended without a pint and some football, as it were, we went into one of the most historic pubs in the area and Mike was gracious enough to buy the entire group a round while we cheered for the USA on the flat screen. Let the record show that this was one of the only times I drank something that I enjoyed on the entire trip (Balmer's raspberry lime cider, if you must know, I was a horrible college student :-) ) That was indeed a true cultural experience, only to be outweighed by the time we ended up watching the final on a small TV in a room with the wrong words on the screen. Looking back now, I can only say that that spirit is comparable to the Seahawks playoff season in Seattle, I have never seen anybody get that excited about sports and don't plan to anytime soon.
Until the next adventure…
(Image: A picture of a dismantled toilet that somebody was using as a garbage can. The toilet has the back taken off with several boxes and plastic garbage bags next to it in the middle of the street)
I remember when I took this picture, my friend said “You better use that on your blog!" So this one's for you, Hannah!
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