Detroit, Michigan

"Here I am > Detroit, Michigan.  I've heard more bad things than good ones, but I cannot go back now, I'll do it and I'll be strong. . ."

I'm sure you had some words like mine running through your mind when you arrived to your field.  Is not easy just to be put in a strange place where you don't know anyone, without friends or family, and need to start all over again with only who you are.   Now you'll see of what you are made, your fears, how it feels to be with yourself, what you really want, where you are going: how does it feel?  Now you say the prayers you forgot to do so long ago.

It all started so sad for me.  I just left my DC friends and went to a strange place all alone.  I just arrived and already wanted the internship to end.  I thank God because I meet a beautiful family here and they were my most valued friends.  When I arrived they let me stay the first two days in their house, then they found me my apartment, and they drive me to work everyday.   Their names are James and Michelle Rhodes and their beautiful daughter Simone, and they live on the same street I do. 

My apartment was in Parkstone Apartments (1415 Parker Street) the room number 552 -with a nice view of the parking lot- & a monthly fee of $450.  Not too much to do after 9:00 p.m.; the Downtown area is all office buildings which are deserted from 5:00 p.m. on.  You need to have a car to travel here because the bus service is not very good and you should not travel alone on the streets.  There are some Shopping Malls around, but the closest one was 40 minutes from my apartment.  And the worst, meeting people was like hoping that "tomorrow will be a better day!"

There is an island named Belle Isle, and it is quite beautiful.  People went there to see the sunset on the Detroit River.   The neighboring city is Grosse Pointe.  It has the most beautiful and expensive houses I've seen, and has great stores and cafes.  Detroit is at the Windsor Ontario, Canada border; you can travel to Canada by Tunnel or the Ambassador Bridge.   The week before fourth of July, Detroit and Canada celebrated with fireworks on the Detroit river with three boats full of pyrotechnia.  It lasted for 45 minutes.  It is the largest fireworks display in North America. I saw fireworks I had never seen before; it was great.  On the fourth of July weekend I went to Windsor to the Rhodes family cottage in front of Lake Erie, and went riding a canoe.  Detroit has some beautiful museums; one is the Detroit Institute of Art.  Is has three floors with lots and lots of fascinating art; I loved it!

My friend Candido came to Detroit on the 4th of July.  He stayed for a week and we went to a lot of places; it was a lot of fun.  We went to a club in Canada named Cafe Amsterdam with another friend named Charles McIntyre and his girlfriend Tiffany.  They were great people too.  We went to eat Chinese food in Canada, and we saw the X-men Movie.  We went out many times and thanks to them I felt more like home.  I was able of going out with people of my age and having fun: thanxs guys!

The last day arrived...  as a lot of other interns, I liked my stay in Detroit Michigan, but I was already prepare to leave.  I needed my land, my sun, my beaches, my puertorican cuisine (rice and beans), my grandmother, my brother, my mom, and everything I grew up with.  It was a great learning experience: I learned to know my self better, to miss the people I love, I learn that loneliness is just in my mind, and overall: that I can survive in Detroit Michigan.

Detroit Pictures Link