South Bend's Target

The first week I was in the Bend I searched out the Target of the area, particularly because my lovely Ecclesia friends had given me a Target giftcard as a goodbye gift. It was both strangely nice and strangely disorienting going to the Bend's Target. Nice because it is set up almost exactly like the Target by Rice. Disorienting because by "almost exactly" I mean that it was exactly the same except flipped like a mirror image, so everything was backwards (like being in some parallel universe or something!)

The Target by Rice is noticeably in a big city. It is down the street from all the stadiums and arenas, and practically next door to Reliant Stadium, the huge and gorgeous new stadium that was finished just a year or two back. (I used to pass the stadium on my drive to school every day sophomore year when I lived off campus at Holly Hall). When you walk out of Houston's Target, you look up and see the stadium bright and looming in front of you, and around there all sorts of (somewhat seedy) stores and apartment complexes.

Walking out of the Bend's Target that first week, I looked up was confronted with a pitch black sky, and a horizon of trees. I was so used to the stadium and city surrounding my old Target, I had a moment of absolute shock when I saw such nothingness all around. I can't remember exactly, but I bet I almost teared up, since those first few weeks I missed Houston so very much.

I still miss the big city. It's less on my mind now, and it's not that I can't deal with living in a place like the Bend. Sure, I can deal with it. But I don't enjoy it or love it... in my heart I am still lusting after the big city. I can't exactly say why. There are a hundred things: the diversity, the constant activity, the endless number of things to do, always learning something new, always finding new fun places, having hundreds of restaurants to try, finding people of every race/country/persuasion/interest, exploring all kinds of neighborhoods... Oh, sweet city life, how I crave thee!