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!
