Starbuck's, Walnut Street, Philadelphia

I had my doctor's appointment this morning. They poked and nudged me for a while until they were satisfied or bored or something, and then I was released. Katie, my hostess, is very busy with classes and work so I have been left to roam the city. Which is perfectly fine. Being around her helps me remember how happy I am to be on spring break. I was really expired by the last week.

You might ask, left to roam the city and now you're sitting in Starbuck's? I have been lured to this deplorable establishment by the siren of wireless internet, allegedly for the purpose of doing homework. Anyway, there are lots of students around and it's nice to see people of a slightly different variety than Williams-folk, where purple blood tends to run thick.

I was in the student center for a while before (I left because there was no wireless internet.) I think I'd like to make an effort to visit more colleges whenever I'm around them. Sitting amidst all of the studying, sleep-deprived Penn students, I realized that I blend in perfectly and that I likely would in most campuses across the nation. So really, there's quite a network for a college student to crash in, do work in, or whatever else, without attracting a second glance. And soon I'll be an old guy and that will no longer be true, so I should take advantage of it while I can.

Speaking of coffee, Penn gives out free coffee! Just for the record. Williams gives out free coffee to faculty, but students have to pay $1. Which I suppose isn't that much.

My doctor's appointment was in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. It is a very neat building with lots of gadgets and decorations, presumably so that the children (such as myself) are amused. To get to the third floor, I rode in a glass elevator!

My train leaves for Washington tonight at 8:30, so I will stay here for dinner. Supposedly I am eating lunch here, but it's already after 12 and I just ate a delicious omlette at the student center. I hope that my sister is awake when my train gets in at 10:30. I think it will be past her bedtime. If she's not awake, I will have to sleep in the train station or on the Lincoln Memorial, which I would expect to be very cold at night!

Right now I am in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but some day I would like to explore western Pennsylvania. Perhaps I could get a job there some time. I suppose we drove through western Pennsylvania on the way to Oberlin, but we were only there for about 30 minutes. But it seems like there is a lot of history in that area - coal mines, Amish country, Appalachian music, railroads, the Pittsburgh Pirates...

Here is what Wikipedia says:
Although the Commonwealth does not designate Western Pennsylvania as an official region, since colonial times it has retained a distinct identity not only because its geographical distance from Philadelphia, the beginning of Pennsylvania settlement, but especially because of its topographical separation from the east by virtue of the Appalachian Mountains, which characterize so much of the western region. In the 1700s, this separateness caused some to rally for the formation of a 14th state in this region named Westsylvania.

Westsylvania! We would have 51 states. Our country is so interesting. So many unique people and places, more than someone could ever really see in a lifetime.