Wheeeewww! That's all I have to say about New York! It's completely
overwhelming - from the minute I stepped off the train in Penn Station
until the minute I passed the through security I felt like I was on edge
the whole time, actually, that is not completely true - I did take a
walk along Brighton Beach today and felt like I had finally escaped the
craziness of city life.
Honestly though, I do not get the fixation on New York. It's an
amazing place to visit, yes, but to live? Stuck hours in traffic to get
5 miles, feeling like cattle being shoved into the metro stations, and
trash being set out on the street just don't appeal to me. Don't get me
wrong, I think New York has some incredible things but I am not sure
those things make the high level of stress that come with it worth it.
Another random thing that struck me as I was riding the rail out of NY
was how ugly most of it is - if you are not in the nice neighborhoods,
all of it looks quite scary and ghetto because even the inhabited
buildings look abandoned.
Anyways, enough about my rant lest I make it sound like I did not
enjoy my time there - I actually had a terrific 24 hours with some
amazing people. Last night I met a friend in Manhattan whom I have not
seen for 9 years. I know, I don't feel like I am old enough to be saying
that i haven't seen someone for almost a decade, but it's true. We met
when we were 15 and have been penpals ever since. She was my hero fro
many years as she traveled the world teaching Englsih while I reamained
landlocked. Now are positions are switched and she is terrifically
jealous of me :) *said with a somewhat smug smile*
We met at an amazing Indian restaurant where I partook of some
delicious spinach and chicken soup whith garlic and cheese stuffed naan
bread...oooohhhh yum! What was truly magical about the evening though
was just how naturally 9 years of not seeing eachother faded away, it
felt like a few months after about 5 minutes of catching up. She too was
from a community growing up so it was really cool to talk about my
sentiments from the previous post. After finishing dinner we walked
around the city (and I will admit that it's pretty darn cool to do that
at night :D) until I had to jump on the metro to get back to Brooklyn
before my host went to bed. *I always stay with Ukranian friends
whenever I am in NY and am always amazed at their hospitality.
Ok, I have to go start boarding for Dublin but I have to conclude
that the today was awesome! Oksana and I walked Brighton Beach,
explored Coney Island, and then returned to her house where she stuffed
me full of sweets, (Ukranian of course) fruit, and martini champagne.
Even though her english was really poor we had such a delightful day
enjoying each others company and she made me promise that when I come
back I have to schedule a weekend in NY to spend with her :)
Alright...OFF I GO!!!! Flight 116 from JFK to Dublin (with a 2 hour layover in London)
Pictures to follow!
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