NY Life

After a short stop at home, I have arrived at my next destination – New York. I got here the evening before last on the most comfortable transatlantic flight ever. I was upgraded for FREE. We had buckets of leg room, leg and foot rests, and those big, ear-covering, noise-cancelling headphones to use. It felt like business class, and was quick and enjoyable. I guess that’s what happens when you only fly to NY and not LA.

So I arrived in NY, not refreshed, but not cramped, hot and grumpy either. I grabbed a cab (typical NY) to my hostel in Brooklyn. The hostel was small and quiet, which is exactly what I wanted. I nearly fell into bed I was so tired. I woke up the next morning on my own at 6am, fresh and ready for the day. I called Paul to chat (it was, after all, noon in Switzerland). He was STILL asleep! That made me feel at least I hadn’t conformed to NY time too badly, if I was in Switzerland that Sunday, I probably would have been sleeping too. After a quick chat, we said goodbye and I started working. I wanted to get as much work done as possible before I fly out again.

Despite all my work, I did make it out into NY City yesterday. I have only been to NY once before, back when I was in college. We saw all the touristy things like the bridges, the statue of liberty, empire state building, central park, and the met. This time I got off the subway about 10 blocks from my destination so I could just walk around, see the real city. I have come to the conclusion that NY is NOT a place I want to live. It is VERY dirty, and smells quite bad. People leave there trash everywhere and the smells just come up off the street to attack you, like rotten eggs and dirty socks. Another part of NY I could do without is all the noise. Saturday night it sounded like there was a party outside of my dorm room. People were yelling, horns were beeping, music was playing. I understand it was 12:30 on Saturday and most people were just starting their party, but I needed to sleep! Maybe I am spoiled in Switzerland. It is very quiet after ten pm, and the streets are clean and smell free. I don’t know if this is a product of the people who live there, or of the government that hushes people who are loud and cleans up after the messy ones.

Despite not wanting to live here, NYC is sure interesting to visit. There is some very interesting graffiti in Brooklyn, the kind that belongs in an art museum. The people who are here dress the weirdest I have ever seen. They wear things I would not be caught dead in outside of my house. Actually, I wouldn’t be caught dead OWNING these pieces of clothing. I know I am not exactly fashion savvy, and my idea of going crazy is… well… jeans and a slightly more interesting t-shirt. I have seen people here wearing jeans cut off around the bikini line, ridiculously high shoes, tons of flower patterned dresses of all shapes and sizes, shorts and skirts that are 2 inches too short. Does this mean Switzerland is very conservative, while NY is very risky? Or a little bit of both? I will have to discuss this with my parents when they come to meet me after the trip.

Speaking of the trip, I leave today! I have been so excited for this ever since I was notified that I was given a place. It seemed like it took forever to get to this place, but it also took a moment. Isn’t that funny how time moves like that sometimes? Well all my bags are packed, with the exception of the clothes I need to wear today. The clothes I am wearing on the plane are the same ones from when I travelled here on Saturday and wore around NY yesterday. They definitely  need a good washing, so I got my clothes together and headed down to the local Laundromat. Despite the fact that a yelp commenter claimed they were open 24 hours, I have just walked six blocks to find them very decidedly closed. Until 7am. Oh did I mention I woke up at 5:30? I am starting to like waking early. So here I am, sitting at a bagel shop in Brooklyn. I am eating a delicious everything bagel with plain cream cheese. I forgot how much I love bagels and cream cheese. I know they really aren’t so good for me so I guess I should be grateful that I can’t buy them in Switzerland.

But again, I get sidetracked. So I leave today but my clothes are all dirty. I plan to head to the Laundromat and quickly do my small load. Head back to the hostel, get some more work done, then at noon I have to check out. I don’t need to be at the airport until 3:30, so I am not sure what I should do for those three hours. I certainly don’t want to walk around NYC in this heat with massive backpack on my back. Either way, this evening I will be on my way to Israel. On a Delta flight (ew). But still, going to Israel will be fantastic. I promise to update my blog whenever I have internet. Now I’ve got 15 more minutes before the Laundromat opens so I will finish my yummy bagel and head out. Life is pretty good J