New York City

New York City is like something out of Wonderland.

I stayed at a hostel in Harlem. The first day I was so exhausted that I went to the bank, and went to bed. Fortunately as I laid down I met some great people who kept me up talking and joking otherwise I would have been crashed out by 6:30pm. I think I made it to about 8pm, but I can’t remember falling asleep. I regained consciousness at 4am.

I set out at 7:30am on Wednesday May 6th for a lovely day of shock and awe. I walked through Central Park, and I wanted to spend all day their, but the city was calling. I adore the juxtaposition between Nature and city. I ate a delicious American breakfast for the first time in 7 months, and then I was the first in line for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It was a dream to go to the Met. I spent six glorious hours their, and I didn’t even scratch the surface. The Met has paragraph long descriptions for nearly every piece of art, and there is over 100 hours of audio commentary. By the time I left was super hungry. Additionally I was experiencing information and visual overstimulation. I think I have an art problem, I should have left earlier, but there was always one more thing to see. When I finally reached a breaking point, I was utterly lost and had to ask two people where the exit was.

After the Met I approached the giant buildings. I have never felt so insignificant next to man-made objects. It’s normal to feel insignificant next to the ocean, mountains, or in an open meadow under stars, but feeling smaller than a speck amongst buildings seems twisted. I felt like I was in a giant house without a roof. I was supposed to meet a friend, but without a phone communication was difficult and I think we were both confused as to where we were meeting. So after the art I floated around for several hours and I made it back to my hostel at around 8pm.

I made plans to go out Wednesday night with one of the people I was chatting with on Tuesday night, and by the time I got back to the hostel I was ready to make my excuses for staying in, but another chat renewed my energy. So off we went with another amazing lady to a jazz club. It was awesome!!! I want to come back to NYC and work in a jazz club. I’ll spend my days in the MET.

The three of us had such a good time together Wednesday night that we spent Thursday together too. We rode the Satan Island Ferry, wandered Times Square, and Wall Street. Thursday was incredible! Good company and fantastic sights.

Time Square is outstanding in every sense of the word. I’ve never seen anything like it. There are billboards everywhere. The shops in Time Square compete to be the flashiest too. The Toys R Us has a ferris wheel and you better believe we rode it! Time Square also has an entire three story shop dedicated to the cult of M &M’s. It includes a mood reader based on the colors of M&M’s. You can buy M&M’s by the color in dispensers that run from the ceiling to the floor. There is M&M; t-shirts, jewelry, office supplies, toys, and much more.

We walked past the World Trade Center site. It’s shocking that 8 years are already gone. The firefighters memorial was impactful, especially the notes and pictures that people left. Before we closed out our day we watched the moon rise, and the sun set.

Friday the 8th I was all to happy and relieved to be with my family.