This past Halloween, Joanna drove both of us up to San Francisco for a night. It's safe to say that it's a string of odd memories- there was a dude holla'ed at me from a bar spilling into the street, and I caught glimpses of painted women with shining pink light behind their eyes at the LAX/SFO art show. There was a brief journey into a neighboring Wes Anderson art show (and boy, was that an odd place to walk into, Bill Murray staring with blank eyes in various costumes along the walls). On our way back to my apartment, there was even a back-alley driving tour of San Francisco's graffiti art on our way out of the city.
But the I-Hotel will always be my favorite part of that evening. Joanna and I had read an excerpt of the I-Hotel for a class last year, and we'd both loved reading about our culture. So she drove us over to the newly built center, where the previous I-Hotel had stood. What had been a thriving home for Filipinos and other Asian minorities in the area had faded from the intersection, with a Quickly's the only other marker of the Asian community in the block. It was hard to see where Manilatown had been.
Except for the I-Hotel, with a collection of lolos and lolas (grandfathers and grandmothers) taking a cigarette break outside its doors. There was a potluck going on inside (and how quickly did I feel at home.)
Here and here are articles about the opening of the new building- the original I-Hotel was demolished two years after the evictions of the elderly from the low-rent housing. We're all currently studying for our midterms on Tuesday, so I doubt we've cracked open Tripmaster Monkey, but I'm excited to start the reading as soon as I hand in my bluebook.
This made me think about the idea of "homes" in San Francisco. Even though many people come to the city as tourists, many come with the goal of finding their place there and finding success. Being such a diverse place, it seems like there should be a place for anyone to find someplace they feel at home, like you did seeing the people at the I-Hotel. It begs the question, is San Francisco acting as a place for travelers by reminding everyone of home, or is it a place to forge your own home?
ReplyDeletePlans to demolish the I-Hotel began as early as 1960-- a product of the second world war in San Francisco to "update" and expand the downtown district. The second world war changed SF's focus from a large population of shipyard laborers and accessible housing for them, to an economy focused on fewer and specialized jobs operating machines. Business offices also became a focus, changing SF into a headquarters for large corporations.
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