Jen in the City

It's official, I have spent my first summer and semester living the city life. It has been quite a comical journey as I try to navigate what that means having grown up in the country my whole life. So here is a list of "firsts" and weird encounters:

1. Recycling! My first true chance to recycle was back when I was in Governor's School and there was a recycling bin at the lobby of our dorm room at Salem College. But for the first time ever, I have my own recycling bin!! And to top it off, the city of Durham has upgraded from blue recycling bin to a blue recycling trash can with wheels!! Double thanks to my neighbors who politely moved my bin to the correct side of the road.

2. Trash pick up. Apparently you have sign up for these things. Living in the city, you must put out your cans in specific places, if you don't then it won't get picked up. So long days of the trash man taking your trash to the street for you and returning it to its proper place. I found this out after desperate attempt to explain to Durham Waste Management that I'm a country girl and needed help to understand the process!

3. Street Sweepers??!! Seriously?! I have never in my life heard of a street sweeper! It used to terrify me when it came by at about midnight along my alley and streets. It sounds like a vaccum meets a power plant! I'm still confused as to why we need this.

4. Seeing traffic and racing emergency vehicles was a relatively new experience. I no longer run to the window to find out what frightening thing might have happened.

5. There is a mysterious brown trash can that is used for clearing brush in an urban area. And the other super weird thing about it is that everything that goes in the trashcan must be put into landscaping bags!! I started to wonder about this as I was trimming things in my garden, curious as to what to do with it. My gut instinct was to throw it in the woods behind my neighbors house (sorry Tyler, Parker, Tommy, George and Emma!) Where I come from, we compost out in the woods!

6. I never had to think of this question until now...how in the world does the city get rid of everyone's Christmas trees?!

7. At any hour of the day, city workers can show up outside your home to check how various things are functioning. And I'm still getting used to the fact that they can come and cut down trees in your yard. I always wanted to watch how you get rid of a stump. Apparently the city wants new "prettier" trees to line the streets. When I was a kid, we used to pull out the water hose and water guns on civil workers who we thought were infringing on our land lol!!

8. City buses are quite a sight! And even cooler, there is a new hybrid bus!

9. I thoroughly like watching parents and children walking to school. I also enjoy watching the kids play on the playground at one of the elementary schools on my own walk to campus.