Where Am I?

I traveled today from our flat in central London to a couple of friends' homes in East London, trying out some alternative transportation routes in order to avoid the dreaded transfer at Bank station. For reasons related to my own incompetence and stubbornness, I ended up walking much more than I had intended, through some interesting neighborhoods. Not really dangerous neighborhoods - just more industrial than residential. It got me thinking -- Greater London is a relatively small area, consisting of 609 square miles of land out of the approximately 57 million on Earth. But on almost any given 90p ($1.80) bus ride in the capital, you can pass wide green expanses next to row after row of (aptly named) row houses. There are crumbling warehouses around the corner from extravagant hotels. There are stones from the old Roman city walls tucked in between shiny new skyscrapers. So my tube, light rail, light rail, walking, bus, walking, bus, and tube journeys today took me through dozens of little mini-cities. There was a totally different feeling in each neighborhood, and frankly it was disorienting. Trying to make sense of these disparate pieces as part of a larger whole was mentally like trying to put together a puzzle with the pieces from several different boxes. Living in New York was like living in a mosaic; the neighborhoods were different, but felt like part of one grand composition. London is more like the collage of a madman. I've yet to process all the feelings that surfaced for me today, but one thing I have realized is that there is value in being caught off guard. I said to Micah the other day that I feel more at home in New York than here in London. That is true. But I also like London more. Maybe part of what I like about it is its ability to disquiet me.