As I stepped off of the train onto the platform I found myself engulfed with feelings of sheer optimism and possibility. Though I was eager to explore the city, I paused momentarily to take in my surroundings. The station was bursting with travelers. They paced toward hosts with outstretched arms and raced excitedly toward their next trains. An astonishing number of peddlers called out to me, waving everything from socks to cigars. I purchased a newspaper from a woman with an arm full of gold bracelets and a red shawl around her hair, and with it, I felt I had procured a little piece of my new home.