last night, our first here, we went out for dinner w/ charlie, josh's seattle roommate, and arian, an american-iranian friend of his from denver. we found paradiso pizza and ice cream w/ hot fudge on the streets of georgetown in the freezing winds of this snowathon here in washington, dc.
it's actually quite incredible how much snow there is on the streets here. there was hardly any in NMH, in fact a lot of green grass was showing on the campus up by the vermont border, then a fair amount burrowing in the cars on the mean streets of NYC, the one transit night ez and i spent there. first taking an hour++ to get across the bronx, then dropping the car at hertz on 95th street, then, whoosh!, me up to ed and sherry's in harlem for a night on the couch while ez took the subway out to queens to see adhish and sudip (silash had gone for losar to boston).
it was great to see ed and sherry in their new digs in harlem. a spacious restored townhouse w/ huge spaces and tons of books w/ a little fireplace. very rustic and intellectual in the BIG city. quite a change for our friends from their vermont and kathmandu worlds...
then, ez and i took the bolt magic bus from nyc mid-day yesterday after a quick but absolutely delightful hour w/ malika leiper munching bagels near columbia. she loves it there and didn't quite feel the same in cambodia when she was there over new years. it's always cute to see ez and malika together. they are birds of a similar feather, global kids, worldly, smart, self-confident. much life ahead for these young souls...
now we've run straight into near-arctic conditions here near the mason-dixie line. this used to be a southern city, but climate change has everything upside down, it seems. i just came from tea at michael and karen's home in nw dc. each person had dug out their own car in front of their home, then placed a plastic chair there to keep others from parking in their private sites. some cars are still fully buried under the snow... and five more inches are expected tomorrow!
time, i guess, to wake up josh, who's been working hard and loving this semester at g'town. he's deep into his south asian politics and state building classes! i get to guest lecture at one of his classes on tuesday about my work on the constitution in nepal. i love these opportunities as it pleases the ancient academic in me and the fun of being w/ students in a more intellectual, stimulating environment. fantastic to see how engaged josh is, as well, now with his studies. i couldn't wish for more.
so it's time to catch a taxi to the folger shakepeare theater by capitol hill, where i booked tixs this afternoon for a modern interpretation of 'orestes' by euripdies in that beautiful classic stage. i thought a bit of kulture for the boys wud be even better than a movie tonight. good for josh, too, to know some of the amazing places in his new town. i was last there to 'midsummer's night's dream' in 1978!
then, tomorrow we'll see what's up depending on how much homework josh has to do. he's got one afternoon class on tolkien (a good balance to his four governance/politics/philosophy classes) that's being made up b/c of the last lost week due to snow days.
i head to mom's on tuesday evening while ezi has an 8 am train back to springfield. how much and independently these young souls travel around our world. i guess it runs in the family or through my genes, if i look back at my youth, as well...
then, as quickly as we are together, poof, it's over the we all head in our own directions. such is life. but, as you can feel, it's so good to be together, even briefly, as much and as often as possible. america has been good to and for these sons of ours, no doubt about that! much credit to NMH and their gentle yet demanding tutelage up in the cow pastures of rural western massachusetts.
of course, i wish we had more time with these awakened young men as we miss parts of the transitions in their lives at this stage of youthful promise, but that's the way it is right now. still, they are good. very good. josh loves his studies and life. he's really fit into georgetown now and it's been an excellent, challenging, stimulating world for him as he makes his way in the world. he's got this cream in his wavey hair, wearing both his black earring studs. very slick and big city.
ez is casual and laid-back about his future. telling malika that he doesn't think he'll get into any of his schools and then he'll head to europe to take some writing course and learn a language. not a bad plan B -- actually, can we join him? lago como? but malika smiles, shakes her head and like most of us, says, 'ezi, you'll get in somewhere!' laughs and looks at him with a kind wonder.
these boys. great sons. great young men. a joy to be near them. hug them. get a kiss from josh on the cheek. meet their friends. live. love, dance. it's a wonderful way to spend valentine's day.
No comments:
Post a Comment