Constantino Diaz-Duran is a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University. He is chronicling his walk from New York to Los Angeles to celebrate his eligibility for American citizenship. Follow Constantino’s progress.

The first day was intense – certainly, a Fourth of July I will never forget. Saying goodbye to New York and the friends who make that city special was harder than I thought it would be. Two friends, Susie and Lee, stepped up to make the day easier and more memorable.

Susie, is an immigrant like me. She came from Guyana when she was in her teens and finished high school in the Bronx. She works as a waitress at the First Avenue Coffee Shop, a small restaurant near my home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I see Susie literally every day, and we have had many conversations about American citizenship and what this country means to us. Susie loves the US, and she remembers the day she became a citizen as the realization of a dream. “I don’t like all these hyphens,” she said to me once, as we discussed the Greek Heritage parade. “We should all just be Americans. I’m not Guyanese-American, I’m American!” Something tells me she would have gotten along well with Teddy Roosevelt.

Susie organized a fundraiser for me among the regulars at the First Avenue Coffee Shop. They raised enough money to buy my tent and sleeping bag, so I’ll be thinking of them every night I camp out. Everyone showed up at the diner to see me off.

My friend Lee walked with me across the George Washington Bridge and into New Jersey. Having him to chat with along the way made the trek a lot easier. And it was comforting to have him there when I got to the closed motel. I know I will be facing a lot more of these situations in the future, and I am prepared for them – I just wasn’t expecting it to happen the very first night. I’m sure Lee’s feet are still in pain (about 6 miles in, he announced that “Pradas are not the best walking shoes”), but he was a good sport, and he was able to catch the last bus back to the city. He has promised to come walk with me some more at other points along the way, wearing better (and probably cheaper) shoes. So I’m sure you’ll hear more from one of my closest friends and favorite Americans.

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*Photo by Constantino Diaz-Duran.