My second day in Los Angeles

I started my day by texting one of my best friends at 7:30 and we arranged to meet each other at noon and he is going to help me in buying my dream bicycle. After taking a shower and having breakfast with my parents we prepared to go out. I am going to write my feelings. The carpet in my parents apartment is very thick and soft and I am sure that it is clean. When I am going to take a shower in the mornings, I do not need to worry about cleaning everything. When I am opening the frig and it's full and I know that I do not need to think about shopping and cooking, it's wonderful. My father gave me 25 cent coins to pay for the bus ticket and he gave me a map of the line which I was going to take. For an older generation, his preparation is like mine in digital world and I am happy to see him active and outgoing. There are some friends of me who have not used public transport after long time of living in US. We went to Burbank mall with my father's car. The first thing I noticed was that the windows were not clean and shiny like Milan. The second thing was the door handle which was disgustingly dirty and the third thing was the vitrines, all dirty and full of fingerprints and that was enough for me to understand that people are not paying attention to such things here. I am not going to judge it yet, I need to see other areas and other malls. One is not going to give a conclusion.

There was an Ikea shop there which was strange for me because in all European cities Ikea shops are very far from city center. Actually in Los Angeles you can not tell where is city center, the concept of city is totally different in here. In front of Ikea there was a big bookshop called Barnes and Nobles which I found it very much like Feltrinelli in Milan. I even found the same books and I show them to my parents and asked them to get them from Burbank public library. Then I bough some LEGO and the membership card which I needed to pay 25 dollars for one year and it was a little strange because in Europe these cards are coming for free. We drank a cup of coffee in Starbucks and I used the bathroom which there were fountains for drinking water very much similar to ones in Tehran and it was both nostalgic and interesting. I checked "Here" application for going to 21133 Victory Blvd and see my friend. I found out that No 164 bus is going directly there and the station is very close (my father was going to take me to another station but I used the closer one). Because of being my first time I did not trust the time and I went there 20 minutes earlier but the bus came exactly on the given time. My first experience of public transport in Los Angeles was very interesting. First of all, I asked the driver to help me in getting a ticket and at first he was a little non friendly but very soon he changed his attitude and became very friendly. He was a very big black man. I don’t know why I wrote this but I think it is important to mention it because I was very much interested to see the relation of whites, blacks and actually all other races. In the next station, while I was still searching my phone to tell him my destination, a homeless entered the bus, paid his ticket and lied down on three seats in front of the bus. He was smelling very badly and he got off in the next station. I gave my destination station name to the driver and he told me to go and sit because its was a very long journey. The civic number of Victory Blvd was 1119 when I started my journey and my destination was no 21133. I had not seen something like this in my whole life. After about one and a half hour I got off the bus and called my friend. He came out of his office and we met and hugged each other. We went to his office and they were having Christmas party and a game called white elephant. I checked the bicycle shop from the office and I saw that it is very close to where we were and I became restless to go there as soon as possible. My friends wife came after half an hour and we headed out to Wheel World shop. This was my second shopping in USA. I actually had no choice because with my budget and featured which I wanted I just could buy the basic one which was a Giant Aluxx 6000. I tested it and added some accessories which were a helmet, a lock, tools, pump and an extra tube and the most important, lights. I paid 870 dollars.

We opened the front wheel and put it in car and went to my friend's home. We drank Turkish coffee and I smoked my first cigarette in US. I also bought insurance and printed the confirmation letters. We listened to some music and watched a TED speech and at around 8:30 we headed towards Burbank to eat something out. I forgot to say that we were in Chatsworth.

We went to an Iranian pizza shop and we were all very hungry. I liked the nostalgic taste of Iranian style pizza (it's hard to call it a pizza anyway). My friends brought me home and I showed my bicycle to my parents and opened the packages of the accessories. I was very excited for my next day's riding. I slept at around 1:00.

My First Day in USA

I can’t sleep. I am jet lag. Last night I slept normal and I thought it is finished and I am not going to experience jet lag but on my second night, I slept at ten which is very rare for me and is happening only after a day of heavy cycling but I woke up at three and these lines are its result. I want to write all about my experience before forgetting it. Because of having Iranian passport, I double checked in all gates and flight connections. The flight from London to LA was easier than I was expecting. I did not sleep at all and I watched four complete movies: Amy, Learning to Drive, Ricki and the Flash and Bridge of Spies. The last one was the best and of course Ricki and the Flash was also worth watching because of my lovely Meryl Streep. We landed at 18:50 and I came out of the airport at 23:30. It was the worst part of my trip because we had nothing to do, we have just had to wait in a room called Immigration Office without our cellphones and just wait and wait. I think it is necessary and I am not going to talk about it anymore but let me tell you how I was feeling. I just remembered the movie scenes of Elise island and new comers from all around the world and how they were using chalk to mark not healthy and weak people and some other science fiction movie scenes in which the world was separated in zones and how people were trying to pass the security controlled gates.

I saw the big welcome sign with American flag before security check and 5 hours of waiting and I was thinking about it when I immediately faced another line and I forgot about it but now I am thinking of its impression on me and I can not recall it.

I very much wanted to use public transport for going home but my family and friends insisted on picking me and now I appreciate that very much because when I came out at 23:30 LAX was actually empty.

Yesterday which was my first day in LA I was with my family all the time, in the morning we called on my aunt and I saw her after 17 years. I did not let emotion to take control of me. Then we went to my sister's home and saw her and my lovely nephew after a year and we went to my niece's school for their Christmas group singing. The school and parents should have some impression on me but I was too confused and everything was so new that I can't make up my mind. I may write something about it later.

Tomorrow is going to be my day because I want to buy a bicycle and see the world with my own eyes.