Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Buses, Rainbows, and Volunteering...Oh My!


Hey guys! We just finished our third day of service and exploring San Fran! We went to the Castro District—which is considered the gay capital of the U.S. The whole area was covered in rainbows! It was cool to see different places that were prevalent to Queer history in San Francisco. We had the opportunity to go to the Human Rights Campaign shop and buy some sweet HRC stuff! Then we went to the Mission District and explored some more. The street art was beautiful and we took many, many pictures. Although we had a fun time in Castro and the Mission District, we noticed how gentrification had effected these neighborhoods. We ran into a person who worked for a local non-profit who referred to the Mission district as the “former mission district” because it had been so gentrified.  We noticed that there were a lot of shops that appealed to tourists with disposable income rather than the original communities. In our group we discussed how big companies have moved into these Queer neighborhoods because it’s “trendy,” which have pushed some of the queer residents out of the neighborhoods. We also compared these high-end neighborhoods with the Tenderloin district, which is where we’re staying. There are huge socio-economic disparities within the city of San Francisco which is something that many of us have discovered within our time here.

After exploring, we had the opportunity to volunteer with SFWAR, an organization that helps mainly women of color who have experienced sexual violence and helps to prevent future sexual violence within the city of San Francisco. We put up flyers that promoted SFWAR’s upcoming walk against rape. We split into different groups that traveled to different areas of the city to put up flyers. Some of us got lost…but we all made it back to the hostel.

We’re looking forward to continue exploring the city. We’re returning to the Castro district to go to the GLBT museum on Friday. We’re also returning to Hot Cookie to get some nice genitalia-shaped macaroons. :D

Tune back in tomorrow to hear more about our adventures!

Till next time,

Moira, Megan, and Mel

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