Atlanta

I miss you! Sorry, it has been a while. If you can understand Portuguese (or you want to try it) go to destrinchando.com.br and look for me on “colunistas”. If you didn’t know, I’m Debora Blanda Ferreira, BeBee, no secret identity.

Last week (actually two weeks ago now…) I lived my California Dream: I skateboarded, despite not being good at it, in Venice Beach )not at the Venice Beach Skate Park, though) , I saw this beautiful sunset, I saw the Pacific treasuring the sun. I learned more about myself and about affection. I decided not to wear make-up, not to worry about my hair; I didn’t even have my camera on me and most of the time I also didn’t have battery on my cellphone. It felt like freedom, joy and beauty. It was awesome.

And here I’m now, leaving Atlanta, going to Knoxville, considering the things that I now regret. But more than that, I want talk to you about Atlanta.
I’m in the beginning of my East Coast adventure. This time, I came with my camera and without my skateboard: I’m here to see new places and visit some beloved friends. Before that, I ended up stuck in Atlanta for 24h, and I’m here to tell you more about it.

Atlanta is cool, there is not that much to do or see. It is not the most beautiful nor the largest or the cutest city, but it is a nice place.
The first thing I saw was the skyline from the airplane. It is so nice to see the tall buildings piling up together, surrounded by shortness: green, small constructions and a few tall buildings in the center. I like this scene; it reminded me of Chicago and LA.
Here is the South, the weather won’t let me lie: I am not used to 88°F anymore, it is too hot. My host’s accent and the woman watering the garden – with a hat and the iconic watering can – were the two scenes that made me think: “I’m not in the Bay Area anymore”.
There are many crazy people, especially the ones living on the streets; they are not threatening but they will talk to you. Also, there were a lot of restaurants wherever I walked.

 

The Oakland Cemetery was cool, though I made a short visit. I had a lovely time on a bench/swing at The Piedmont Park, my dearest place in Atlanta. Well, my second. I walked from the Central Park to the Cemetery and, on my way, there was one viaduct, from which you could see the downtown skyline. It was in the middle of nowhere: no trees, not many people and a few cars. There was nothing different, beautiful, nor special; but for some reason it was special to me. I sat down on the floor, by the shadow provided by this weird metallic wall: it felt cozy. That sidewalk is definitely my dearest place in Atlanta. It is my place – it is not like a tourist will put that spot on the “must see” list. It’s mine. And, probably, the biggest reason why I could stop there and make that spot mine, was because I was alone: there was no one else to tell me that sitting down there was crazy, uncomfortable or dirty. No one else to say: “let’s keep walking, we have a place to go”. I was able to simply rest on that shadow and see the skyline again. It felt good. That is the Atlanta that I want to share with you.

I’ll try appear more around here. I’m also trying the Twitter again: @dehblanda . See ya !