maps

I've been thinking about how I'm totally having to reconstruct my mental map of the layout of the city. Or rather, start all over again. I've been feeling rather disoriented now that I don't know where anything is. But it's not just the layout, it's also the rest of the information that goes along with that mental map. Like "where is the best place to get mangoes" or "where can i get a decent bottle of wine" or "which branch of my local bank has the nice teller"? It's really exciting to have so many new options and so much to explore.

But sometimes I just need to get a toothbrush and I wish I knew exactly where to go. (still haven't figured out where the pharmacies are in my neighborhood yet...)

I've also been thinking about how I knew a million different alternate routes to get around in Boston, all the little shortcuts, etc. Now I've got to figure out that whole thing again, with an even larger geographical area to cover. Sheesh! Five years of knowledge down the drain. Sort of. It'll just have to be a few months of stumbling around and consulting five maps before I can make those connections again.