After an uneventful flight, I arrived at JFK International Airport Friday evening to start my big summer in the big city. I shuffled off, hit with a wave of humid air, feeling like this was my time and my city. I tried not to get too far ahead of myself, as I still had baggage to collect. I've been to New York before, and each time I've been in JFK, but it didn't feel familiar, and my stomach was still filled with butterflies as to what I was going to be doing this summer, where I was living, whom I would meet. I was at the tip of the iceberg of the unknown, and I was here, no turning back. I grabbed my bags, got a taxi, and told the driver the coordinates for where I'll be staying: Manhattan.
Driving onto the island, I couldn't help but thinking of Madrid. Touching down, I thought of my first few minutes in that fine Spanish city: how sparse and desert-like the surrounding area was (think the interior of California). I was struck by how all the buildings seemed to be of the same red-and-tan brick design. Indeed, I saw some apartment buildings which looked like those in Spain, but they were several among dozens and dozens of buildings. And of course, touching down, we flew over the bay and some beach and green trees. Nothing like Madrid whatsoever.
The traffic into the city reminded me a bit of Los Angeles, and a specific trip to L.A. I took with my volleyball team when I was 15 - a lot of slow traffic traveling beneath what I assumed to be an Air-link train. I was suddenly homesick for the familiarity of Los Angeles, and the tree-lined streets of my suburban College Town (really, the rest of L.A. isn't that great...), and the people and places I knew back there. As quickly as it had come, the homesickness settled down, to be replaced by excitement as I saw the buildings of Manhattan rising up.
I got to my living arrangements and was greeted by my wonderful sister (I'll be staying with her the rest of the summer) as I ungainfully tried to open the apartment door. I threw down my stuff, we made a lovely little dinner together and dined on her balcony, surrounded by several of her little shrubs. There is no better antidote to fear and trepidation than food and family, I thought as I nestled back into the patio chair I was sitting in. I had all the opportunities of the city open before my feet. Needless to say, I was suddenly very happy and all my cares were wiped away, safe and sound as I was with my sister.
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| Me in Grand Central Terminal! I feel like I'm part of a greater history of New York and America every time I go inside that hall. Which has only been once so far, but that will change. |
After dinner and a little unpacking, we took a little walk around so I could get my bearings. Walking near the UN and into Grand Central Station were included! (Note: still have not gotten my bearings yet. Figured out that the bigger the numbers on your cross streets are, the more north and west you are. Mostly I walk around an area until I figure out which way I want to go - took a lot of time getting out of Grand Central today because I ended up on the opposite side of where I wanted to go. Still like mountains to tell me my cardinal directions.)
In the morning, I met my sister at the Lexington and 51st subway stop in order to meet up with some of her friends and take the tram over to see Roosevelt Island. If you've never heard of this island, do not worry: there is a reason you haven't. It's mostly residential, and (according to the people I was with) oddly suburban for Manhattan. There were plenty of parks where small children were playing a rousing game of baseball late on a Saturday morning, people gathering for picnics, and people gardening. Indeed, gardening. We stumbled upon the Octagon Garden of Roosevelt Island, and it was quite magical because it not only contained a Rose Garden, but members of the Garden Club tended their own plots. That took me by surprise in such an urban city like New York.
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| Octagon's Rose Garden |
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| Lighthouse on Roosevelt Island |
I went back to the apartment and did some grocery shopping, took a nap, and made myself dinner before receiving a text from my sister to go see the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris. I met up with her and several of her friends, saw the movie, and at about 1 a.m. decided to go karaoke-ing with one of the friends who had seen the movie. Karaoke at 1 a.m.? Good choice, especially since it was a block and a half from the apartment.
In the morning, I baked a cake for a dinner party I was attending later that evening. I went to church, where again I met up with my sister, met more people, and in general had a nice, fulfilling time. We went to our dinner group, where I got to meet more people in-depth, have good food, and see a bit more of the city.
Sigh, now I'm going to go and see where my office is so that I don't freak out and miss it and be late tomorrow - eep. My status right now is nervous restlessness, and I am hopeful that being somewhat nervous and wishing to do well will lead to good results; but I've been trying not to think about it too much or too long, because then I will start freaking out, and freaking out is not conducive to producing good work. Wish me luck!
I'm looking forward to Monday and Tuesday, to say the least - aside from actually getting started in my internship, I'm planning on going to "A Taste of Times Square" (cheap food in the big tourist attraction!) and Yo-Yo Ma in Central Park (free world-class classical music? Yes, please!).
Seriously, I feel very blessed by the people and opportunities in my life right now :)
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