Arrival

Having just read Aloni's blog, I am currently inspired to write my own. Time will tell if I keep up with it. I had the intention of maintaining a photoblog ("phlog"?) anyway; some writing can't hurt. Naturally, I named it after a Jason Mraz song.

My first few days in New York have been wonderful. Here is a play-by-play (and probably the longest post I will ever write):

Thursday:
After 12 hours in transit* I arrived at LaGuardia Airport and made my way to Murray Hill, where my new roommate, Elana, was waiting for me. I was greeted with a hug and a warm welcome, putting me entirely at ease about having a roommate I only met over Skype. After unpacking and arranging the couch as a bed (my own bed had yet to be delivered) I headed out with a friend I met in Chicago, who has since moved to New York and is now a DJ.

We went to Gallery Bar, a bar that also functions as a gallery space. The DJs, Murdertronics, were spinning a mixtape they recently made and my friend introduced me to a bunch of his friends who were there. I was also finally introduced to DJ Moptop, whose name I heard all over Chicago and now he lives here.

We went to one more bar and stopped for some quick delicious Indian fast food before calling it a night, and I finally made it to sleep around 5:30am. Needless to say, I needed a nap the next day.



Friday:
I woke up starving and headed out to explore. I stopped at the first diner and ordered a scramble and potatoes. Guess I looked exhausted because the incredibly sweet, elderly waitress asked if I was ok. I was.

After that I was off to locate groceries. I stopped at two bodegas, buying whatever came close enough to what I was actually looking for, before I discovered a large grocery store with a decent variety of products.

Not long after, I headed to an area that Google Maps tells me is the Flatiron District. I killed some time there and then headed to the cousins' apartment across town for Shabbat dinner with the three cousins (Galete, Dalya, and Nora), the significant others (Jonathan and Henry), and two of Nora's friends. After a huge delicious meal courtesy of Nora (crispy baked eggplant with ricotta, penne in vodka sauce, warm zucchini salad, and garlic bread) and Dalya (caesar salad with homemade dressing) we played a game Nora calls salad bowl. Lots of fun was had!



Saturday:
I started Saturday off with a trip around Astoria to pick up housewares. The 99 cents store served me well, but 99 cents stores are everywhere. The beauty of going to Astoria was Site, a store that might as well have been teleported from Division & Damen (in Chicago, where one can find handmade specialties, artsy crafts, and overpriced details for the home such as monogram soy candles; yes, I bought one) to its current location.

On my way to the train I picked up the best shawarma I've had in the U.S. My camera phone doesn't do it justice, but a picture will soon be posted. Thanks to my recent trip to Egypt I was able to make the street-corner chef smile by saying "shukran" ("thank you") before walking away.



Sunday:
Today I visited some home decor stores in Hell's Kitchen to finish up buying the things I need in my room (desk lamp, oscillating fan, dream catcher... the basics). During my stroll I discovered an amazing health-smoothie and tea bar, which I wrote a post about from my phone but apparently it didn't go through so expect it shortly following this post.



All in all, a successful first weekend in New York.

As for the worst winter they've ever had, I think everyone here should give Chicago a try and then see how much they complain about the weather. 36 degrees and sunny today; I couldn't ask for better!


*On Monday, I realized that I had not yet booked my flight to New York. The only affordable flights made several stops; the one I chose made three. After a 5:30am (PST) wake up call, one flight from LAX, and one flight from Nashville I was delayed in Baltimore with only Pennsylvania standing between me and New York, where I finally landed at 8:30pm (EST).