New York 2005

It has been a week since I have arrived from my trip to New York. There is a mix of frustration and joy in my bones as I sit here and type this. The frustration is from knowing that I’ll be missing out on the greatest city and weather, while the joy is from realizing that I spent those 3 days without inhibitions on where to go within the buroughs of the Big Apple. I already miss the street performers who played their instruments without a care in the world. I miss walking down the street and seeing the little clumps of snow near the curbs and bushes. I miss the food from the vendors on each corner and the restaurants on each block. I miss the Brooklyn accents and the Manhattan rush. I don’t know that I would have felt complete even if I had stayed for a year. There’s so much to do in that place.

I talked to so many strangers and walked away with a smile every time. Especially when my two travel mates and I met Saul Statman, the 70-year old native who was pleased to show us around The Village. Each block had a piece of history and he knew it front and back. He talked about authors, wars, generals, food, culture, and geography without stopping. This man was a walking talking encyclopedia with a New York accent. We departed with a handshake and he bid us farewell.

Chinatown was stressful. Fun, but stressful. Every five seconds I made eye contact with a vendor who whispered offers of Rolexes, Movados, Luis Vuitton, Chanel, and any other European designer brand. Naturally we gave into a few and went into some secret corridors for some bargain shopping. After we bought what we needed, all the whispering became annoying.

We also attended a punk show by the Zombie Vandals in Brooklyn. I heard about the show through the guitarist, whom I hadn’t seen since middle school. He lives in Queens these days and performs with about 10 different bands. It was great to see Felipe. He seems happy to be living the dream: playing punk in New York. We plan on keeping in touch for a long time.

I miss the broad scope of people there are in New York. We went from a museum in the Upper West Side to a punk show in Brooklyn. We ate breakfast with a teacher from Queens and shopped with an investor in SoHo. I took pictures with street performers and posed for a photo with the former mayor of New York.

Anything can happen in the big city, ya know?

Unfortunately there were a few things we didn’t see: The Statue of Liberty, The World Trade Center, and the Empire State Building. Now that I look at the list, it seems like we missed the most important landmarks. But that’s ok. It gives us another reason to go back.

My favorite thing about this New York trip: the snow. I frolicked and played in it the whole time I was there. Ok, maybe not the whole time. But the majority of the time I was doing something snow-related. Like eating and drinking and tying my shoes and throwing snowballs at Angel and ice skating. Good times.

I can’t wait for my return to New York. There’s no certainty when exactly that will be, but I’ll be sure to bring along some great friends again. Thanks for the good times, Kristel and Angel.