Return from NYC

Back from a wonderful trip to NYC, which I’ll admit made me miss the East Coast! Everything fell into place so well and was interesting and fun. The public transport was a breeze, save for one day when my train got rerouted and sent me in a completely different direction than I had been intending (the faint, long-winded announcements are completely useless over the din of mechanical noises and subway car conversing, which continued without a break while the announcement rattled on). I first found the city to be horribly dirty and it’s admittedly not clean by any means but as time passed I found that all the other great things about the place more than made up for that. The amazing diversity, the languages, the food, the sites, the scenery, the men (sorry but Midwestern men don’t hold a candle up to the yummy, interesting, and intriguing guys I saw all over NYC), etc. I spent this time around exploring areas of NYC I had not been to in my previous visits – Brighton Beach, Central Park, Roosevelt Island, Brooklyn, etc. and they all had a completely different, more laid back but still cool vibe. I had a celebrity sighting, which for me means not an actor or pop musician but a leader of a foreign country. Unfortunately it was Benjamin Netanyahu, who is probably my least favorite Isreali Prime Minister ever. I chuckled at how goofy people get when there is a famous person in their midst. Admittedly, I was curious to know who was warranting 30 or so security guards at the bookstore I had gone to but when I saw who it was I just rolled my eyes and went back to looking at the books again. It was weird to hear his voice as he asked if anyone had read any good books. Got to spend a lot of quality time with an old friend and meet in person for the first time another friend I have been corresponding with online for years. Had Russian and Polish and other interesting selections for lunch and dinner and discovered a convenience mart that was open until way late into the wee hours of the morning that had organic and foreign munchie items. Had the opportunity to go to a Lithuanian festival across from where I was staying but my plans took me to other places in the city, which led to other discoveries. The weather gods once again smiled upon me through the entire trip. I’m so grateful for that. My airbnb place was in a perfect location although I found the host to be odd and distant. In the end, after a few interactions, I think it was a language issue as English isn’t his first language. Again, as with most trips, what I loved so much about traveling is that I was so present and into each passing moment that the five or six days I was there felt like weeks. I look back at when I arrived last Wednesday and that seems so long ago! Like a lifetime. It’s given me perspective on life and ideas for change – basically reopening the can of possibility that lethargy, apathy, and routine can sometimes twist shut.