New York part I

2003-01-13 / 6:30 p.m.

I'm at an impass. I'm sick of not updating, but yet I have nothing to write about because all I've done the past two weeks has been working at Penny's ::groan::. So, I've decided to begin the much-anticipated story of my trip to New York city! yaaaaay. you'll just have to wait another week for photos.

So I guess that Friday is the place to start. I got to the airport long before the sun was up, but I was definately more excited than tired. I was flying on a buddy pass, and I thought I might be seated in first class because the flight was practically empty, but I guess there were a lot of people ahead of me at the last minute, and I was given a regular coach ticket...no skin of my back, I was just going to sleep anyway. So I was on the plane, and had just started reading Love in the Time of Cholera when this beautiful man sat down next to me. He was about 6 feet even with Brown, curly hair and brown eyes...he looked Jewish. Beautiful smile, emo glasses, and a soft looking sweater. I watched him out of the corner of my eye for a moment, until he pulled out a textbook and my chattiness got the better of me. I asked him where he went to school, and along with the choirs of angels that sang when he opened his mouth, he answered that he was studying some complicated sounding branch of neuroscience at Yale. ::swoon:: cute-emo-jewist-looking-guy-who-goes-to-Yale-and-is-going-to-be-a-doctor. So then he turns, and asks me where I go to school. My mind went blank. I didn't want to say Scott, not because it isn't a good school (it's a great school) and not because I'm not proud to go there (because I am) but I just didn't feel like going though the sequence of obligatory questions when you're talking to someone that hasn't ever heard of the college. So, without really thinking, I say Princeton, because it sounds good with Yale. (d'oh! How am I going to keep this fib up? I don't know jack about Princeton). And you know, it wasn't just like my usual experiences striking up convorsations with strangers....this one actually keeps going, and we talk steadilly for the next ten or fifteen minutes: there is definate chemistry. We talk in breif about Love in the time of Cholera, school, classes, and his trip to Colombia the previous year. Yes, I can see it now....the ring, the reception, the house.....::sigh:: I snap out of it for a second, and realize that I didn't even get his name (ha ha ha, I wouldn't even know what my new last name would be! just kidding...) So I introduce myself, and just before he does the same, a flight attendant comes up to me, and hands me a new boarding card bumping me up to first class. I sort of stared at her in deer-in-headlights-fashion for a second, and CuteYaleEmoGuy smiles and says goodbye. Perhaps if I wasn't so groggy, I would have just asked to stay where I was, but whatever. I was struck by the irony of the whole thing. No matter anyway, I think he might have been turned off when he discovered I lied about where I went to school for no good reason...Doesn't that just sound like something off a freaking sitcom, and not my life? So I changed seats, ate breakfast, and passed out dead asleep for the whole trip, with the exception of a flight attendant having to help the stupid bitch next to me open her tray table.

When I arrived at LaGuardia, the weather was AWFUL. It was very windy and cold with freezing rain. Not a pleasant combination. Much to my amazement, I managed to navigate the public transportation system quite well, and had no trouble getting to my hotel. After I checked in, I changed my socks, and went out again. The first place I went was to shop some in China town. It was cool, though I enjoyed it more when we went in the Spring senior year because of the weather. A lot of vendors were packing some of their things up because of the dampness. I stayed for about an hour and a half, ate lunch, and then went back toward where we were staying...I just couldn't be outside any longer. My hands were numb and the rain was beginning to soak through my hat :( The next place I went was the UN building. I had planned on taking the tour, but there was a really long wait, so I just looked around on my own. There are a lot of interesting things just around the building, like really interesting gifts from foreign dignitaries. I also looked at a photography exibit about AIDS which was really depressing, but impressive at the same time. It definately gave me one of those 'count-your-blessings' moments. It was a bit after 3:30 by then, and I went back to the hotel to take a little nap, and wait for Will to get in. Ovbiously, this part of the day is uneventful.

After I met with will, the two of us went to The Asia Society. It took us awhile to find it, but it was an interesting museum and it's free on Friday nights. The big deal going on right now is an exhibit of Aboriginal (am I spelling that right?) art. It was sort of neat to look at in the beginning. It was bold and sometimes really intricate for something made with primitive tools, but I guess it just didn't hold my attention long. I know how bad this must sound, but a lot of it just looked the same to me. There were other cool things there too....like a large showing of ancient pottery that is painted in flat colors, and not the shiny glaze that I had associated with asian sculpture. It made me wish I had retained more from 10th grade world history....or at least the two days we spent learning about the entire history for Asia. : / there were more exhibits, but I imagine you don't want to go through each of them step by step with me. Still, I enjoyed it, and it was a nice start to my trip. The only thing I would have asked for is better weather...well, and maybe more money, but that's it. I'll post the more interesting events of my trip over the next week. Notably: an entry on seeing "LaBoheme" and one on The Metropolitan Museum of Art, because those were far and away my favorite parts of the weekend. Ciao.