Last Day
Today is the last full day of the trip, we leave tomorrow at 11am. I’m super super sad to leave. This trip has been so much fun! I feel like I finally found home. I love how gay is so normalized here. Not that gay isn’t normal but its more prominent. There are pride flags everywhere and signs that are welcoming to everyone. In addition, to memorials, plaques and museums. When I first got here, it was very shocking because all of the rainbows couldn’t sink in. When I was walking the streets, I would see two guys hold hands and no judgement and it was everywhere! I finally felt comfortable going into a public restroom and people referred to me as she! It sounds like so little but it means the world because those prejudges were gone. The ones that I’ve lived with my whole life. It’s the most comforting thing to be surrounded by those who are just like you. I can’t speak for all queer people but sometimes you feel alone and you’re the only one. I know this isn’t true but occasionally that feeling occurs. Before coming here, I always thought that there wouldn’t ever be a place where people would accept me for who I am and even not care about my appearance and sexuality.
Today was my favorite day of the trip. Although I really enjoyed watching all of the movies and learning about the Castro district’s history for the past two weeks. Today was filled with smiles and warmth. I didn’t watch any movies today, but a part of the cohort and I went to the pride parade on Market St. We took the muni there which was an enjoyable experience because I’ve never been on one. When we first arrived in the Castro, I knew I wanted to ride on it before we left and today, I got to! Anyways we arrived at Market St in the downtown area and there were SO many people. I was not expecting so many. I felt like I was in New York at new years or something. Okay maybe not that many people but there were a lot. We all walked for a while to find an open space where we could see the parade. Finally, once we arrived the parade began, and it was a hell of an experience. I had never been to a pride parade before. Milwaukee has one but I’ve never had the chance to go.
The parade began with various strong political statements of the queer community. We only got to watch the first 4 or so groups go by because there was a protest. Some people jumped over the fence and locked arms and protested the parade. I think they were part of the queer community but I’m not certain. We left for the pride celebration at the Civic center after the parade was stopped for about 30 minutes. When we got to the center we went through security and entered the celebration which was free! I’ve been going to Milwaukee pride for the past five years and I’ve always had to pay some outrageous price. Once we were in the center we sat down for a little bit and Aja and I decided to do our 180’s together. Right when we finished them, a few women gave all of us free Red Bull. We continued to mosey along to the dance pavilion sipping our inexpensive Red Bull.
My favorite part of the day was the girl gang all dancing. We went to almost all of the dance pavilions. The women’s stage was my favorite. We danced for hours. Pride in San Francisco is much different than the pride in Milwaukee, the people, the outfits, the size of pride and the events are all different. We decided to leave once we all got super hungry and were all danced out. We took the muni back to the Castro. Figuring out which muni to take was slightly confusing but we got it after a while. Back in the Castro I had Super Duper Burger for the first time and it absolutely delicious. We all hung out in the condo for a while but around 5:30 I left with Annie to go look at the ally of murals. We took pictures, analyzed the art and talked. We couldn’t stay long because she had to leave for the 7:00 closing night movie at the Castro.
Once I got back to the condo again the whole girl gang left for Corona Heights park. This park has the most beautiful view of San Francisco. The Park is a huge hill with rock on top. It’s a short hike but once you get to the top it’ll take your breath away. We stayed at the top for an hour or two and we just bonded. At about 9:00 we left the park and headed for Hot Cookie. On the way there, there was a lingering Backstreet boys song paying. I turned around to look at the group and the girl gang was all bopping and singing to the song. We stopped walking and bopped until the song finished. Eventually we made it to Hot Cookie. I got a chocolate chip toffee cookie. The night was ending, and I knew I was eating my last Hot Cookie for a while. I had the best day today, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to go on this trip with. They truly have made a positive impact on my experience here, I’m very grateful for that and them. We had a relaxing and memorable day.
Thank you freaQs
