Up at 9, showered and then breakfasted in our room. Sounds luxurious? Not especially. A cup of muesli each, followed by bread + jam, then banana + milk. We were going out to visit Meher + Bill today, so we had decided to leave our ruck in the Greyhound station, so we packed everything up, and lugged it round there, found a locker, and stowed away all that we did not need. We walked downtown from there, stopping (again) to watch some buskers – a rock band this time – and then to finish off our wine in Union Square. We continued on to the Spaghetti factory, arriving just in time for the class with Jim Crenna at 1. There was a short warm-up, and then we split into pairs, and tried out some improvisation where the first 5 lines were given. They were terrific, every one, and all so different, despite the identical beginning. Val played an old woman whose relatives thought she was rich in hers, and in mine I was a retired spymaster who couldn’t break the habit. They were tremendously enjoyable, both to watch and to do. We had to leave at half-time, which was a shame, but otherwise we would have been too late. We caught the bus and then BART out to Hayward, ate our free coffee + donuts (courtesy BART for Independence day) and then called and waited for Bill to come and meet us.
They were having various people over to dinner that evening. The first were David, a colleague of Bill’s, and Terry his wife. We all ate at about 6 or so, and then at about 7.30 a whole host of Indian friends of theirs arrived. Ramadan had just begun, and they were not allowed to break their fast until sundown, so at 9.00 another meal was served and we ate again. Firework displays were beginning all over the area, and we were able to watch them from outside, before all the kids enjoyed the private show. We felt, I think, a little out of things, since for much of the time the guests spoke Hindi mixed with English, but nonetheless we were able to chat with various people, and they were very friendly. Terry, earlier on, offered us a place to stay in SF.
Pamela J Blair
Photo is a very sleazy part of SF. Much of downtown SF is like that these days–with the beautiful UN Plaza filled with drug-addicted and/or mentally ill homeless. Homelessness is so out of control that I wonder if it will ever end. It’s the same in Berkeley and Oakland. And probably many other cities in CA. And probably NYC, and Seattle, and everywhere! It’s so depressing. Even an enclosure like Moria is better than what the US is like now.