NYC

Omg I love New York so much! I feel like a little school girl!

Coming here after Haiti was one of the best decisions I could have made. At first I was so anxious to get back and lounge at my parents’ house, thinking, ugh, I should have just come for a day and 2 nights to do my class and then left instead of staying a few extra days…. ha! yeah right! From the minute I’ve gotten here, I’ve been bouncing off the walls with glee. A city that to me might normally seem cold, distant, crowded, and dirty, after Haiti seems very friendly, clean, amazingly orderly, so very accessible, and so filled with wonder and abundance and joy!

I am happily zipping all over the place on the subway. Today I went to Harlem and walked around looking for a clinic. It didn’t faze me at all being the only white person I saw and I found the people to be very friendly—yes granted a couple men called me baby or “pretty” or otherwise, but compared to Haiti, me sami! It was like heaven! When I told my old college roommate, Britten, this over lunch at a fancy Japanese restaurant expensed to her law firm for which she’s an attorney, her jaw dropped, and she told me I probably should be hanging out there, haha. If only she could see where I just came from though. As I told Violet, my friend whom I’m staying with in Brooklyn: I just want to lick the subway polls and roll around on the cement! The streets and everywhere looks so glorious and pristine comparably! Haha.

Today I bartered in Haitian creole for a hat in soho. I also discussed routes with a guy who was looking for east broadway on the subway, haha. 1 day here, and I’m feel like I fit right in. I never ever ever pictured myself loving NYC and even having the thought: “I could live here!” I’m sure my amusement would quickly wear off when reality of paying rent hit home…but then again, you can find things so cheaply here too! I bought sunglasses for $5 today. Street food abounds for cheap. And Violet and her roomies find a lot of good scores dumpster-diving. Plus there are so many free exhibits and classes and cool stuff that would cost a lot in say Santa Fe or would not even exist in Iowa. BUT the one huge draw back of course, is there is no green chile here… the breakfast burrito I’ve longed for, I feel is unattainable here. I tried to have Mexican food last night and was very sorely disappointed. Sigh… I got to see James, my buddy from Santa Fe (Actually from Jersey, but we knew each other from Santa Fe), and he agreed that Mexican food is very disappointing here, and it is a fact that you cannot get New Mexican food outside of the “Land of Enchantment,” where the chile consumption is so great that none can be afforded to leave the state.

Well I’ve been here not even 24hrs and I have eaten 4 or 5 apples (I’d been so craving cool weather fruits), drank many glasses of water out of the tap, taken 2 hot showers, and have thrown many pieces of toilet paper into the toilet…and some into the trash can out of habit. I have also been delighted to leisurely stroll across the street, gazing up at buildings or texting or smiling at a passer-by, instead of clutching my bag and looking around in every direction so as not to get run over by a moto taxi, jumping over piles of rubble or garbage or sewage. Damn, life is good!

Tomorrow the journey continues with a full day class in neonatal resuscitation followed by dinner in China town.