I Am Your City

I am your city.

I am where you live, you work, you play.

You know my heartbeat, it is unlike any other.

You know my sights. You know my sounds.

I am your city.

There's a construction company in Zambia called Lafarge, and over the last few days, I have heard their radio spot many times. I usually catch it about two lines in as I think to myself, "This is really good, I like this." I obviously can't find a cut of this commercial because it appears it only plays on one Zambian radio station, but the first two lines are something like that, at least in spirit (I'll update this post if I ever hear it again and catch those lines), and the last three are definitely that.

What makes this commercial even better is that it is said in a deep, even voice over music that I can only describe as triumphantly sentimental. I honestly can't think of a better way to phrase it. It makes me hopeful for the future and proud of who I am, in a similar manner--yet not as brassy and bold--as the Olympics' theme.

Georgetown University, my home for 4 years

Why am I writing about this? Well, every time I hear it, it makes me miss my town/city. I know this sounds completely bizarre, but while I know Lafarge is talking to Zambians and people in Lusaka, I imagine it is DC speaking to me, or my little town in Virginia. Or even my hometown in New Jersey, where I spent the better part of 17 years. Every place I've truly lived, this sentiment rings true. I'm not sure I'm feeling that in Lusaka, in part because I'm not mobile here and living in a hotel, but even the sounds on the streets still sound foreign to me. I've adjusted quickly to other places, knowing their sights and sounds in a way that makes me think I could pick them out of a lineup, but I'm just not getting there in Lusaka.

So thank you, Lafarge, for getting me thinking about home and what makes home feel like home. When I leave Zambia I'll be going back to a heartbeat I know, a place where I know the sights, the sounds, and the smells. A place I work, play, and live. Now that it's May, the journey home is much more in sight, with the Zambia adventure ending in just about a month. I'm starting to get excited to return to "my city."

I stumbled across a girl on YouTube who puts songs through several layers of Google Translate and then sings the results, and sometimes she brings friends along. Not only does she actually have a really good voice, but I'm always left chuckling, brightening any day. So enjoy one of my favorite Broadway songs and check out the rest of her videos in the Google Translate Sings playlist. And on this one, I don't exactly know why, but I lost it at around the 3:20 mark...something about that line is incredibly funny to me: