A lot of catching up to do...

I have been neglecting this blog. I blame jet lag. Here goes, it'll be a doozy. Deal with it.

NYC - Day 1

My transport to NYC was uneventful. I was proud that I was able to get to the airport on public transportation in Prague and didn't have to pay 500Kc for a taxi. The flight was a bit annoying. I was seated next to a huge Czech guy (thankfully he wasn't a stinky one) and a baby in front of me who kept turning around and staring, adn the mother didn't stop her. Anyone who knows me knows that this is one of my biggest pet peeves - babies who turn around in their seats and stare, especially in restaurants. Whatever, I ignored her as best I could. My cab driver to the hotel was from Morocco and we had a nice chat. He gave me his number, and I did call him later that night to talk about getting to the consulate, but he ended up standing me up on the ride the next morning :)

I got to my hotel that day around 3pm. I knew if I went to sleep I'd wake up at midnight completely rested and end up awake all night, so I forced myself to go get something done. I had told my boss I would buy a new Macbook for him, so I decided to go on an adventure to the Apple store. I got on a bus and a subway to get there, and I felt really accomplished for not letting the NYC public transportation freak me out. Whoever said New Yorkers were unfriendly didn't meet the ones I did - everyone was so kind and helpful. I really missed talking with strangers. I chatted with anyone who wanted to chat, and it was lovely. That's what I miss more than anything about the US - the friendly people who love to talk to anyone who will listen.

I took the easy way out on dinner that night and just had fast food - I really hate eating in restaurants alone and was really looking forward to a hot shower and some American TV, so I wanted something to-go anyway. They don't have Wendy's in Prague, so that was my excuse for not getting something more stereotypically American. :)


NYC - Day 2

The next morning I took a taxi to the consulate. It was uneventful. I chatted to some NYU kids who are coming to Prague to study soon. My visa business only took about 5 minutes, and Tara and Maira wouldn't arrive until about 6pm that night, so what did I do? Went SHOPPING. I found an area of the city that had my favorite stores and managed to get there via subway and asking strangers. Once I found the stores I realized I was pretty hungry, so I walked around looking for something interesting. Along the way I saw a Radio Shack and went in to browse around. I took a look at the cell phones and found something called a Go Phone - a prepaid phone through AT&T. The same phone was being sold here in Prague for over 5000Kc, and was only $100 in the store. I couldn't pass it up, I hated my crappy phone so much and was dying for a QWERTY keyboard. And this way, I have a US number for when I get home, via a sim card. The phone was easy to unlock once I was back, so I'm all set.

As for lunch, I walked around after Radio Shack and ended up in....Burger King. In my defense there really wasn't anything else in the area I was in, except some places that looked dangerous and poisonous (turned out I was in a pretty nasty section of Brooklyn).

I sat down with my chicken sandwich and soon a guy who had been staring said, "Can I join you?" I thought it over quickly - on one hand, he would probably hit on me and might be really creepy. On the other hand, I'd have someone to chat with and I could easily just tell him I'm not interested and that I live far away anyway.
"Sure."

He was from Jamaica and ended up being really pleasant company. He did give me some spiel about how he felt a connection to me the second he walked on, blah blah blah, but he was easy to deter. We sat and talked for nearly two hours when I realized I really had to get to my shopping so I could get to the hotel to meet my ladies.

I bought three pairs of jeans, two sweaters, a clubbin' shrirt, and a pair of earrings. I guess I went a bit nuts but it's stuff I can't find in Prague, so that was that.

I took a taxi to my original hotel to pick up my luggage, and then had the driver take me to the new hotel where I'd stay with Tara and Maira. Having about two hours until their arrival, I hit the hotel bar, where I met a friendly older guy. We chatted for a long time, and just shortly before the girls were set to arrive he got his weird side out. He started telling me how he likes to go to these Sunday morning dances where yoga teachers and people who are into meditation gather to "feel the music".
"So you're pretty into that kind of stuff, I take it?"
"Ohh yeah, I meditate every day."
Trying to make light of the situation I said, "Not me. I probably should though - I'm a pretty angry person."
"You? Really? You don't seem like it at all."
"Well, I have a bit of a temper. Like if someone cuts me off in traffic or something, I get pretty mad."
"Yes but in those situations, you have to remind yourself - anger doesn't really even exist. Ask yourself, where is the anger located? Is it in my chest? In my head? In my legs?"
"...where is the anger located?" This guy was wacko.
"Yes, ask yourself what color is the anger? What is its texture?"

Right then, Tara called to let me know they had arrived. We had a hug&screamfest in front of all the other patrons and didn't care at all. We went up to the room where we cuddled and watched TV for a while, then finally got ready to go out.

We headed down to Steinway Street, near a club that I found on the internet. We stopped in the restaurant next door for some dinner beforehand. All the latino waiters in this place were staring at us the second we walked in. Even though we only had one real waiter, they all came over to the table at least once to check on us, despite the restaurant being full. A mariachi band played and Tara and I danced. We had a pitcher of sangria - $28!! - and they brought us a whole 'nother pitcher for FREE!!! One of the guys, Fernando, asked us if we'd like to go out with him and another couple friends afterward. We told him we were going to El Noa Noa for sure, but that he could join us. So that's what he did.

At first, he was the only one there, but then another named Jorge who I'd thought was cute came, too. Maira left to go see a friend who lives in NYC that she hadn't seen for a long time, so it was just the four of us. We danced like crazy, until we were sweaty messes. It felt SO GOOD. Luckily both Jorge and Fer were great dancers, who could keep up with our cumbias and bachatas :) We had the best time, I missed that music SO MUCH. They even had a balloon drop for the girls where the balloons had money in them and we got to pop them to find it :) Super cool.

After that we were told we were going to another "club" but it was really a small recording studio connected to a hair salon. Jorge and I went to buy drinks across the street and Tara and Fer got the music ready. We had a nice time hanging out. We danced a lot more, talked, danced more, talked more, and then finally got sleepy and went back to the hotel (we even got a ride, Fer had a car, hooray for not paying for taxis:). We said good night and happily went to sleep.


NYC - Day 3

We woke up late, very very hungry. Managed to take a subway all together to Times Square, all in search of a churrascaria. It was so worth the wait. I had churrasco misto, which was chicken, steak, and sausage - plus potatoes and rice and beans and farofa. HEAVEN. We ate very happily and made our way in the rain back to our hotel. It simply wasn't the weather for sightseeing, it was cats&dogs all day.

We crawled into bed to take naps, then finally woke up around 10:30pm to get ready. Maira wasn't feeling so well so she stayed in, and Tara and I ended up at the same club as the night before. We stopped for some food beforehand and then got to the club, to pleasantly find that it was way more full than the night before. We danced like crazy with each other and with lots of other people. Met some nice people, hung out outside for a while after, and got back to the hotel around 6am. :)


NYC - Day 4 (the goodbye)

Nothing too interesting here except that saying goodbye to my friends was really hard. I had four hours to kill in JFK and upon a call to my mom, I was reminded that the Steelers were playing!! I found a bar that had the game, and even met from people from Pittsburgh who knew a bunch of the same people that I know!! They invited me to sit with them, and we had a great time watching the game together. They were super friendly and were very curious about my Prague life, and they were very interesting as well. They gave me their e-mail address to write to them so that we can get a drink when I go back for Christmas. That reminds me, I still need to write to them.

The flight was great - I had a seat between another girl and me, so I could relax and stretch out and sleep comfortably. I took public transport back to my apartment, since it was early enough in the morning that it was still empty. Had a relaxing day - slept, had lunch with Jose, slept more, washed clothes.


And that was the journey...