Reflections on NYC

I got lost again. William told me her church was "between 16th and 17th, and 1st and 2nd, on a street with a name too long to remember." Well, I found 16th and 17th, but couldn't find 1st and 2nd, but eventually found 3rd and figured 2nd must be near by. I wandered until I found "the street with a name too long to remember" and walked in the back of the church--for the final 2 minutes of the sermon. Turns out the church is between 2nd and 3rd, but it's not like that would have made a difference for me to find it easier.

My third time out by myself was a charm, though, and I found my way to where I wanted to go with no problems at all. And back home again. Look at me, the grown up big girl in NYC who can get around all by myself. Insert 6 year old missing tooth grin here.

-------------------------------

New Yorkers love cupcakes. I don't know why, I just know it to be true. The famous place to get cupcakes is Magnolia's--but I've never gone there. The last time I was here, William took me to Buttercup instead, and I loved my Buttercup cupcakes. Last week, we were on the subway, and she ran into some people she knew, who mentioned they were going to Crumbs. William made the comment that Crumbs' cupcakes are so good that they make her head spin, because of the cream in the middle of the cupcake.

We went to Crumbs after I'd already been here a week, and it was so good that I kinda got mad at her for not taking me on my very first day. Crumbs inserts icing (that has some cream added to it so it's not so thick) into the middle of the cupcake...and it is, well, I can't even think of the word to describe how heavenly delicious it is. I might go to Crumbs every single day for the rest of my time in NYC. I do heart cupcakes.

-----------------------------------------

I find New Yorkers so interesting. SO interesting. Here are some things I've observed.

--They really do love to wear black.

--They are so much more friendly than you would expect.

--While they are trying to be "earth friendly" and this made me expect to see everyone carrying their own travel coffee mug, it so very New York to carry a disposable to-go cup from the coffee shop of your choice, which is not earth friendly. Shocking.

--The myriad of accents due to the myriad of people groups is pleasant to this nomad's ear.

--The men all dress extremely metro. You'd think I'd be used to this, as men in France tend to dress really nice and tailored, and so that's what I've seen for the last few years. But I guess in my head, I expect to see American men dress less tailored, and so it's thrown me for a bit here in New York.

--I'm learning about this thing called "the hipster." William's still pointing them out to me, so I can make sense of it all. But they are interesting.

------------------------------------------

I came up out of the subway the other night unexpectedly right at the foot of Ground Zero. For someone who hadn't seen it before, and seeing it still very much under construction, it was as though it had happened very recently. William asked if I wanted to go look at it, and I just said, "No," and scurried away from it as quickly as possible. I'm not really sure how it made me feel, but I didn't want to be right there by it at all, and have no desire to stare at a whole in the ground where our whole world changed in one morning.

------------------------------------------

I haven't been being a tourist at all. William even laughed at me last night about it. She said, "Have you done anything touristy yet since you've been here this time?" I responded, "I took a walk through Central Park tonight with you." The first time I came to NYC (spring break, 1994), I went to all the Broadway shows (Seven of them!) that I could ever dream of. The next time I came (May 2008), I saw Brooklyn, and the Empire State Building, and Union Square, and Coney Island, and well...I did the tourist thing then. This time, I've been resting--just like I'm supposed to be doing. Sleeping in, reading a whole bunch, writing some, watching DVD's, and just basically chilling out. I did go shopping a whole bunch, but it wasn't on 5th Avenue, so it didn't feel touristy. I walked by the Columbus Day Parade, but avoided it as much as possible because there were too many people.

I might go to the Met and walk on the Brooklyn Bridge sometime in the next few days, I suppose. But I think I'm just as content to curl up with a good book.