But despite that, the day turned out super well. Instead of wandering around the streets of Philly, we found Jason, one of our homeless friends, in the Free Library. He was busily working on some project and told us they were serving lunch out in the park at 3 and that we should meet him there. We wandered the library for awhile, exploring rooms titled "literature," "art," "philosophy," and "music," and skipping over the ones with names like "business", "science," and "finance." After we had our fill, we headed over to the park and got some rice and bread with Jason and sat down in some shade. Jason is homeless by choice -- he's an incredibly educated man trying to bring a voice to the people he chooses to live amongst. And dang... can that man talk! He went on for hours. I'm pretty sure we sat there for two hours listening to him talk about the brilliance of John Quincy Adams and starting revolutions. He's working on this court case right now that's focused on advocating for the poor. Half of the things he said flew over our heads as we tried to grasp it all and take in his knowledge. And most people just pass this man by, judging his brain and his heart by the big, worn backpack he carries around.
After we were done hanging out with Jason, we met up with a friend from Mission Year that was in town from Seattle. Even though we had to head back to the train station a lot earlier than expected, it was good to catch up with her.
We happened to land on the same train home as two other Eastern students and while we were talking to them, this kid walked up to us and asked if he could draw us. Embracing all awkwardness, we agreed. He told us he did this often and really enjoyed meeting people this way. Over the course of 5 minutes of conversation, he drew me. As he was getting off the train, he introduced himself as "Crazy Josh". Strangers are the bomb.
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