Time Flies in the Big Apple!

Sheesh! Where did the time go! It seems like I just got here a few days ago. Though, at the same time, it feels like I've been here for months. Since my last post, SO much has happened. It would take me about 3 days, to write it all out. Here are my efforts to condense.

The day after my last post, May 21st (gah, it's been THAT long), I moved to the Upper East Side to stay with a good family friend for a week. Kim has a beautiful, nicely-sized apartment overlooking the East River, Roosevelt Island, and Queens. The breeze off the river is perfect. My weekend was pretty low-key. Saturday morning, I took the train downtown and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was great! The bridge was packed with tourists and others making their way to and from the Manhattan. I got a little freaked out once I realized that the only thing keeping me from the water (and death) were these thin strips of wood. Nothing was under them. Just the water. But, I made it across and began to explore Brooklyn. Now, first I knew that I would HAVE to go back. The parts of Brooklyn I saw were very quaint. It was quite neat. Sunday it was supposed to rain, so I tried to stay inside at Kim's and get a little work done. Well, of course, since I stayed indoors, it never rained.

That week brought on another of work. The commute from Kim's took about 45 min-an hour (twice as long as from Amanda's almost). At work we were preparing for our big event, the Central Park Challenge. I'll talk more about that in a later post probably. Work went very well that week. Like I said, everyone is extremely helpful and nice. Somehow, on the way home from work a few days, I still kept taking the wrong train. On the upside though, I did get more familiar with the bus system. Ha. The week was pretty uneventful, I was still trying to get settled (and find a place to get a haircut). I found a supermarket, bought some groceries and cooked a few meals that week. Speaking of purchases, everything is SO expensive here! I expected it overall, but the price differences between stores here is ridiculous!! On Friday, I finally found a decently priced place to get a haircut (my first since February).

The weekend was great though! A friend of Kim's was kind enough to take me out on Friday night. I had a lot of fun. The city has a lot to offer as far as night life goes! Saturday, I woke up late and went exploring. I ended up walking through Central Park on a gorgeous day! The weather was perfect. People were everywhere - laying out, playing sports, having a picnic - doing it all! I was walking around in Midtown looking at some shops when my friend Amanda and I discovered we were only few blocks apart. So, we met up and had lunch and ended up spending the rest of the day together. The next day, we and a few of Amanda's friends took a train to Long Beach (only about 45 minutes) and spent the day there. Again, another beautiful day. It actually was pretty hot. The water, however, was freezing! Honestly, I was looking for ice cubes to be floating around. It was great to be on the beach though.

That Monday was Memorial Day, and I spent the day moving from Kim's into my new place at the New Yorker hotel. The place is small...very small. Basically, it's two loft beds (like a bunk bed with just the top bunk, a desk and dresser underneath the beds, a mini fridge, and one closet the size of a small kitchen pantry. But, It's literally two avenues from work - about a 5 minute walk, so i'm not complaining. I'm right in the middle of everything too. Times Square is a short walk away. Any subway train I want to get on is either right outside my door or a block or two away. The next week at work (last week) was a 4 -day because of Memorial Day - but I still managed to work almost 50 hours.

When I got back to work on Tuesday the Central Park Challenge was 4 days away, it was crunch time! Tuesday evening, a woman in our department was celebrating her 25th anniversary with the company. After work, the department had a reception for her a block away. There was refreshments, thankful speeches, and an OPEN bar! That's when I knew these people would be a good fit for me. Ha, but seriously, it was a nice evening. It was really good to get to see another side of everyone that I had been working closely with for two weeks. Seeing everyone in a different element was refreshing. We had a good time - some of us, had too good of a time. Wednesday and Thursday brought more work. I stayed until 7 pm both of those nights. I was really too tired to want do too much in the evening. Thursday, they made me leave at 7, because they would need me late on Friday. I thought 7 WAS late....I was scared of what their definition of the word was. Friday, I showed up to work at 8:30 am and didn't leave until 2 am. Saturday was the big day and we had a LOT to prepare for. It was quite fun though. There was about 5 of us who stayed late. Delirium set in around 8 or 9 pm. After a while, EVERYTHING was funny - from people's names on registration lists that we couldn't pronounce to the disaster that was us trying to make copies. We rolled out of the building at about 2 am, only to have to be at Central Park for 7. What we were in for was nothing short of a heart-warming, spectacular day. That's it for now. More about the event and my weekend soon. Promise

I want to be a part of it...New York!

My internship in NYC started this week! I’m working with the YAI/NIPD (National Institute for People with Disabilities) Network. We are a not for profit organization that works with people with disabilities and help provide services (group housing, jobs, medical, etc.) for them and their families throughout the city and surrounding states. But let’s rewind a minute. My trip started on Monday. Mom and Haley came in town to take me to the airport in New Orleans. While I was finishing packing up my apartment and packing for 3 months in the Big Apple, they shopped and such. That evening I said my goodbyes to my roommate, Carly, and The Love Shack, the oh-so-fitting nickname for our apartment, and we made our way to NOLA. Mom has a friend with a condo in downtown New Orleans who offered it to us for the night. We were staying in “C.” When we got there we saw an “A” and two empty doors, so we assumed the last one was “C.” The key unlocked the door, confirming our assumption (or so we thought). It was a very small, narrow place. It once was a brothel. The place was basically separated into 3 rooms, each with a door leading outside (including the door marked “A”). We went and ate sushi at Horinoya (very good) and came back for an early morning. About 12:30 we get a knock on our door. We hesitate to answer as Mom returns the missed call from the guy who owned the place. I opened the door to see a young man who informed us that we were, in fact, staying in the wrong apartment. “C” was located upstairs. We were breaking and entering!! Even thought the key unlocked the door…We loaded up, and made it upstairs to apartment “C” and settled in for a very brief sleep, my flight to NYC left at 6 am.

Mom dropped me off at the airport at 4:30 am Tuesday morning. Everything was pretty uneventful after that. I was in and out of sleep on the flights. When we landed for my layover in DC, I flipped out for ½ a second because, in my slumber, I thought the plane touching the ground was major turbulence. I landed in NYC and took a taxi to Amanda’s (my friend from college). I’m staying at their place for a few days. I called work shortly after and was going to go visit around 4, so I could meet everybody. It was 2 pm at this time, and I decided to lie down for a nap. Well, I guess I was more tired than I thought, because I ignored my alarm and woke up at 4 pm! I jumped out of bad and RAN down the block to the subway station, in the rain. I had to stop at a little store to get an umbrella before I soaked myself. Took the train downtown and got to the building at about 4:40. I made sure to be extra early the next morning.

Amanda’s sister and her friend were in town, so we all went and watched Next to Normal on Broadway that night. I didn’t really think I would like it, but it was great! Next morning, I was at work before 8:45 am. Beat my boss. I was thrown right in. Our big event is the Central Park Challenge (a 5K run/3K walk raising money for people with disabilities) is just over two weeks away, so the office is buzzing! More about that later though. Immediately after I arrived, we had a department staff meeting, where I got to meet everyone that I didn’t meet on Tuesday afternoon. These people are incredible! Everyone is so friendly, constantly laughing. No one was stuffy or seemed to hate their job. I guess when your job has a positive impact on society and you are working to help people, it’s pretty hard to be miserable. A woman in the office was very elated because they had just enrolled their first student for a school in the fall, specifically for children with developmental disabilities. She’s played every role in setting this school up: lawyer, receptionist, recruiter, admissions officer, the list goes on. This is what these people do!

My first day was filled with new faces, new names, more meetings, IT problems, more names I can’t remember, taking the wrong subway. I loved it. I got back to Amanda’s about 5:45 that evening and we trekked downtown to eat at a famous Ethiopian place. The food was…interesting. I’m really glad I had that opportunity and got to try it, but if I never have it again, I think I’ll live. Today brought yet another wonderful day at work, and almost another wrong train. It’s weird, because I never have trouble in the mornings. I really like what I’m doing and am looking forward to taking on more responsibility and bigger projects in the months to come!