it was a 13-hour bus ride to indianapolis. it wasn't something i was thrilled about but it was the cheapest option. the amtrak ride was actually longer, at 15 hours. as a person who has never flown, flying wasn't an option either.

a bait and tackle store, overlooking downtown

riding the greyhound is always a chore. you have to arrive an hour early and wait in line with strangers wondering when the bus is going to come. i also had a month's worth of clothes and other necessities packed that i had to lug from my apartment to the greyhound, so i took a cab. i left the dc greyhound station at 7:30pm and arrived in indianapolis at 8 the next morning, after stops in hagerstown, md; breezewood, pa; pittsburgh, pa [bus change]; dayton, oh; and columbus, oh. it was a long and grueling ride, but i slept most of the way which made it manageable.

the first four hours on the way to pittsburgh, i sat next to a graphic designer from reston, va. over the next few hours we discussed design aesthetics - or lack there-of in a lot of websites, jobs in design, and how he was getting "ripped-off" at $50,000 per year where he worked. the conversation amused me to no end. after our discussion was over, i went to sleep.

it was interesting talking to the other passengers on the bus. there was a boy from new jersey who was going to los angeles to try to look for a job in the music industry, a girl from ohio who missed the bus twice and had to stay in dc overnight while she waited for the next bus. she was moving to florida and only had two suitcases to go with her. there were four deaf students who were visiting family in columbus, a woman who was going to a bridal shower in detroit, but being picked up by her daughter in dayton. it was an eclectic mix.

    
across from marion county library, on meridian street

my first stop in indianapolis was the library. the marion county library was quite possibly one of the nicest libraries i have ever been to. i was able to check out books, cds and videos like most other libraries, but the selection and the availability were amazing. they had a great selection of photography books, too, something i found fascinating especially since a lot of the photography books in the biggest library in dc [mlk library] are considered "reference" and impossible to check out. the library was only four or five blocks from where i was staying, so i went there on a daily basis to catch up on my reading.

i did a lot of urban exploration while in indianapolis. most of my time was spent near the town "speedway," an area just outside of indianapolis. it is where the indy 500 is held. the area reminded me a lot of where i grew up in pennsylvania, and allowed me to reminisce. at the same time, it was depressing in that a lot of the houses in this area were abandoned. during my first two weeks in indianapolis, i was photographing a dance company called dance kaleidoscope, and before practices, i would drive around indy finding areas i thought were neat.

my favorite of all the photographs, entitled "i loved you, so what?" was an abandoned home with the word "bitch" scrawled in the front, as seen to the right. to me, the photograph was very emotional.
i speculate what the circumstances were surrounding the house and the person(s) who once occupied it, and think of imaginary scandal that could have happened.

the other photographs of the surrounding homes remind me of middle america, and a typical working-class neighborhood. it is interesting to note, that in my opinion indianapolis was very segregated.

in dc, where i am currently living, there are definitely certain areas that are wealthier than others. but there doesn't seem to be as much of a definitive breakdown between these neighborhoods [with exceptions]. you can be walking in any given area and find a five-hundred thousand dollar rowhouse, and on the next block find abandoned houses occupied by squatters.

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