Haverford House

In no particular order:

1. Monk’s: Center City Belgian cafe and bar. Recently in the news for having a city bus crash into it. Apparently named for the monks who brew many Belgian beers like the ones served here. Eight different kinds of moules frites, aka mussels and french fries.

2. New Delhi: University City Indian since 1988, so you know it has to be good. $11.95 for delicious and surprisingly classy dinner buffet. A pitcher of ice water at your table, so no waiting for refills!

3. Rx (BYOB): University City brunch and dinner spot. Came in for brunch. Loved the decor, the corn flake french toast, and the free coffee (the waiter spilled milk on me).

4. Le Bus: Rittenhouse bakery and sandwich shop. Apparently this place supplies the fresh bread at many Philadelphia establishments. Grab a sandwich and eat it in Rittenhouse Park (only a block away) before the weather gets too cold.

5. Pizzeria Stella: Old City/Society Hill pizzeria. One of the venerable Starr Restaurants, but not out of the college student/non-profit fellow price range. Delicious thin crust pizzas that are “artisanal” without being “pretentious”. Try the asparagus appetizer. It involves a fried egg. ‘Nuff said.

In the midst of a men’s pants  inventory and clean-out the likes of which this thrift store has never seen, I stepped into the office to peek at my Microsoft Outlook calendar. It was at this moment that a customer of less-than-stellar repute came poking her head (and entire body) into the office looking for shoes that she “left here”. I, not knowing what to tell her, attempted to direct her kindly out of my office. But her eye was faster than my mouth, and she spied a shiny bauble on a high shelf and took it down, asking how much it cost.

“This is an office, not a part of the store. The things that are in here haven’t been priced yet. The merchandise for sale is out in the store.”

This unleashed a fury the likes of which not even William Faulkner himself would have believed. I listened to the unhappy customer’s tirade and then went to hide under a pile of men’s pants.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a minature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer Sister Mary, founder of Project H.O.M.E.!

The good Sister dealt with the customer from Hell admirably, and just as I was watching her leave from behind a rack of dungarees, she turned and asked me, “What is your name?”

“Rosie.”

“And you’re Mercy Corps?”

“Haverford House…”

And then the good sister asked me to take the customer’s number and call her when Gwen had decided a price for the item. She did not pause long enough for me to interject– But the customer was in my office, and she was rude, and she was bad mouthing Gwen–and when she had said her peace, the good Sister thanked me–

“I appreciate it more than words can say”–

and was done with it.

From the time in which man first gazed at the heavens until now, the belief has been that the end of the universe exists out in space, seems logical, but it doesn’t, it is here in the United States.  And oddly enough it is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…

The center of the universe is at the same place in Philadelphia where most of the Haverford Fellows get off the trolley on their way to work each morning: at 15th and Market.  To the untrained eye, the most impressive thing about this spot is City Hall, the second tallest masonry building in the world.  However, it is on the corner of 15th and Market where companies often just give their products away for free.  So far, in the month that I have been working in center city, this seemingly ordinary corner has magically produced 2 chocolate milks, 2 granola bars, 2 Dr. Peppers, and an “I hate mean people” sticker.

And I thought I was doing pro bono work.

Since softball season has ended, I have been exploring the many different places to eat/drink in Philadelphia.  Here are a few that I have really liked so far:

1. Saad’s (middle eastern food)
philadelphia.menupages.com/restaurants/saads-halal/

2. City Tap House (60 beers on tap that change frequently)
www.citytaphouse.com/

3. Mixto (Central/South American food)
www.mixtorestaurante.com/

4. The Gold Standard (really good and cheap food all day, and also my jump off spot)
www.abbracciorestaurant.com/

5. Dock Street Brewing Co. (Great pizza and beer in an old fire house)
www.abbracciorestaurant.com/

There are some things I still don’t understand about this Philadelphia life.

Q: Why do Philadelphians make such a mess at the Shore that a giant beach combing machine has to follow them picking up their trash?

Q: Not to air our block’s dirty laundry in a public forum but… Who are the water ice slinging youngsters on the corner? Are they licensed small business owners?

Q: What ninny came up with the name water ice, anyway? If butter were invented in Philadelphia, would it have been called milk cream?

A: Yes.

Other mysteries I’ve encountered in our fine city have been easily solved.

Q: Why is there a Noam Chomsky mural on the corner of 19th and Fairmount? Isn’t Noam Chomsky from England?

A: No, you ninny. He’s from Philadelphia. As for the why, Philadelphia Weekly quoted mural artist Peter Pagast as saying that Chomsky is censored by the mainstream press, and that maybe the mural will inspire passersby to Google his name.

Q: What is that lovely garden covering an entire city block in Fairmount? I think I will sit in the garden and eat my lunch.

A: Wrong again! This garden does not admit the public.*

Q: How did 1515 Fairmount go from casket factory to Project H.O.M.E. headquarters and workplace of yours truly?

A: A force of nature. Google that name, Peter Pagast!

*Except Saturdays from 9 to 1.

Most days in Philadelphia are ordinary, but some are extraordinary! Here are some special moments:

Great Moment #1: Returning from the thrift store at Project Home on Fairmount Avenue, where Haverhouse fellow Rosie works, Haverhouse fellow Becca and I heard the Broad Street subway pull into the station as we descended the steps from the street. We quickened our pace to a mad sprint, swiped our cards, and burst through the turnstiles just as the p.a. system belted out “doors closing.” Seemingly ending our chance of catching the train. Becca however would not be denied. She lunged forward at the narrowing gap and jammed her wallet between the closing doors. For a moment, the doors remained clamped shut, holding Becca’s wallet in an iron grip.

Time stood still, my mind raced…

What would happen? Would the train take off holding the wallet wedged in the door. Would Becca refuse to let go and vanish down the tunnel hanging on to the side of the train? I didn’t know. How could I know?

Then the unthinkable happened. One of the dozen people sitting inside the car, their routine of lifelessly starring out the windows at the dark tunnel rolling by beneath Broad Street now interrupted by our very foolish attempt to get on the train, actually got up out of his seat. The man took two confident steps across the car and with two thuds on the palm of his hand knocked the wallet free and back into Becca’s hands.

A moment later, as if someone was rewarding Becca’s brave willingness to sacrifice her wallet, or simply felt bad for us, the subway doors swung wide open and we walked aboard. We gave the man a big-fat Haverford thank you, and settled into a pair of orange plastic seats.

Next time, we agreed to each other, we would use the $3 bag of thrift store clothes to jam the door. Nothing is ever worth having to wait 16 minutes for the next train.

Great Moment #2: The birth of A BABY GIRAFFE at the Philadelphia Zoo. She is 6 ft. tall, the first newborn giraffe at the Philly zoo in 13 years, and she loves to cuddle! 9 year old Stella and 4 year old Gus are the proud parents.

Help name her:

Philadelphia Zoo – Home.

Great Moment #3: If you ever talk to Dio for more than five minutes, you will learn that he is from Long Island and he considers himself to be a ‘New Yorker.’ For years, he has liked to juxtapose this with the fact that I am lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, a bitter rival of his favored local team, the New York Mets.

This past weekend, we finally got the chance to attend a Phillies-Mets game together here in Philadelphia, and naturally, Dio decided to wear his Mets Jersey. I was a bit worried about what might happen, but then again I was too timid to wear my Phillies shirt to a Washington National’s game in DC, which is about as threatening as Sesame Street.

At the game, the only remarkable event was the Phillies scoring 7 runs in the 8^th inning off the Mets bullpen to win the game. But for all the stories about rude, surly, and sometimes disgusting Philadelphia fans (NOTE: Pukemon and the baby who drank the beer on TV were both from New Jersey!!), nobody said anything to Dio worse than calling him a ‘stupid Mets fan’ and telling him to ‘sit-down and shut-up.’

That is until we were walking around center city after the game. Here we encountered not a bunch of drunk 20-something insurance salesmen or die-hards clearly in need of a higher purpose in life, but rather just good, decent men, woman and children hanging out on their porches, walking their dogs, or casually dining at Philly’s many excellent sidewalk restaurants and enjoying a pleasant summer Friday night.

Poor Dio, as we traversed the idyllic neighborhoods, some people told him to ‘go away and get back to New York’ as he knelt down to pet their Dogs, most gave dirty looks and murmured ‘boooo’ as we passed, others caught sight of his shirt and said things that I can not print on this blog. Each time this happened, I could not hold back from smiling, where else can you find such loyal people? If you don’t like it I suggest you move to Denver.

I’m sure there will be many more great moments in Philadelphia. Share your own if you like!

One of the things that’s different about the “new” Haverford House (the new physical house, as of last year) is that it’s closer to the SEPTA trolley than it is the Market-Frankford El.  The trolley goes right into downtown Philadelphia–and since all of us have our work placements in Center City this year, each morning we all head a couple blocks down to Baltimore Ave to take the 34 trolley into work.

It looks like this:

…apparently, Philadelphia has one of the last working trolley systems in the country.  I didn’t check my sources on that, but I’d believe it.  The tracks can be kind of treacherous if you’re biking!

Memo/rant to Haverford students: despite what it may seem like, taking public transportation in Philly (besides the R5) is not actually more difficult or time-consuming than turning your finals in on time.  In fact, it’s about as easy as swiping your card at the DC.  It’s easier than sitting through an a cappella concert!  It will take less time than your Poli Sci reading! I was super guilty of public transit avoidance as a student too, but couple months later I can say: if you can take the SAT, you can definitely handle dropping a token into its receptacle. Ok, end rant.

Anyway, the point of all of this is that taking the trolley to work every day has so far proved to be mostly relaxing, periodically adventurous (as when they close the trolley tunnel when it rains and drive you helter-skelter around West Philadelphia), and occasionally thought-provoking.  The other day I was riding home, sitting behind these two little girls who were playing hand clapping games.  I vaguely remembered one of the games/its song, and the whole thing was unbelievably cute so I was secretly paying close attention.  But apparently a line’s been added in West Philly in recent years: “brother in jail, checking his e-mail.”  Despite relying on a somewhat antiquated public transportation system, then, I guess here in Philly we really are part of the 2010 United States.