One month into my trip. A reflection.
My last day of work at Intel was on May 13, 2005. So on today, June 14, I reflect on my first month of my adventure.
Its definitely been a long and unexpected journey. Early on I was very fortunate to have Mihir, Dave and Lisa in Chicagoland for the brief time I was there. Once I reached NYC it was a different story. I was alone in a brand new place -- the only people I really knew there were my cousins and aunt who very recently moved to Queens from India. But that's the type of situation which I thrive in, and early on I was loving it. My first purchase in NYC was the 30-day unlimited ride subway pass (a steal at only $76, considering a one-way ride is $2), and I've been using that thing like crazy. Within a few days I had taken the subway all over town and walked around in the various parks and neighborhoods.
Manhattan is a unique place. Although its the big city, it has a very neighboor/local feel to it. And although its quite expensive and trendy, you wont see a Wal-Mart or Target or Safeway or Home Depot. In Manhattan there still is the local grocery store, the local hardware store, local restaurants, etc. But there are some major signs of standardization (McDonalds and Starbucks especially). Manhattan is also a world without strip malls and large asphalt parking lots. Its kinda nice to see people actually walk to a restaurant or a store -- i'm so used to seeing people drive between neighboring stores in strip malls. Walk people! The exercise will do you good.
The big challenge has been getting to meet people. I've been fortunate to have had some good luck on craigslist in meeting people to do stuff, and to find out more details on groups and volunteer activities. I have gotten involved in some volunteer opportunities to help me meet people, keep busy and to do something productive during this trip.
I've had 2 major problems since I've been here. First is allergies. Maybe its cause my apt is so close to Central Park, maybe its due to the stagnation and pollution, but my allergies have been pretty bad in NYC. The severity here is similar to what I experienced in Chicago. In Portland I never got severe allergies, and so it took me some time to adjust to them. Now I still have allergies but I'm somewhat sensitized to them and they dont bother me that much. Second problem is the heat, well actually the heat + humidity. The past 7-8 days have been HOT and HUMID. Yuck! Highs in the 90s, lows in the 70s. At 11pm its still 80 outside. Very humid on top of that. I was able to make it through most of last week being my hyper-active self, but unfortunately the heat caught up to me over the weekend and I got a minor case of heat exhaustion. So I was forced to spend most of the weekend in bed with the A/C running. But now I've somewhat recovered from that. I'm sooo looking forward to being in the nice cool weather in Portland.
So now looking at what i actually did today. I decided to try another museum, this time the Museum of Television and Radio. However the museum isn't quite a "museum", its basically a set of 4 screens with various documentaries on TV programs. I didnt feel like paying the $10 for that so I skipped it. Instead I went to go see Star Wars Episode III again -- it was really hot and I needed out of the heat. In the evening I stopped by Central Park to check out some of the Met Opera in the Park. I was only there for like 10-15 minutes -- it was still extremely hot and humid and I'm not cultured enough to enjoy Opera. There were a lot of people out there, and I wonder how many of them really know anything bout the Opera or if there were there simply because its free and they want to experience some "high" culture. I am looking for to hearing the Orchestra in the park -- that is something i can and will enjoy.
Opera in the Park.
Its definitely been a long and unexpected journey. Early on I was very fortunate to have Mihir, Dave and Lisa in Chicagoland for the brief time I was there. Once I reached NYC it was a different story. I was alone in a brand new place -- the only people I really knew there were my cousins and aunt who very recently moved to Queens from India. But that's the type of situation which I thrive in, and early on I was loving it. My first purchase in NYC was the 30-day unlimited ride subway pass (a steal at only $76, considering a one-way ride is $2), and I've been using that thing like crazy. Within a few days I had taken the subway all over town and walked around in the various parks and neighborhoods.
Manhattan is a unique place. Although its the big city, it has a very neighboor/local feel to it. And although its quite expensive and trendy, you wont see a Wal-Mart or Target or Safeway or Home Depot. In Manhattan there still is the local grocery store, the local hardware store, local restaurants, etc. But there are some major signs of standardization (McDonalds and Starbucks especially). Manhattan is also a world without strip malls and large asphalt parking lots. Its kinda nice to see people actually walk to a restaurant or a store -- i'm so used to seeing people drive between neighboring stores in strip malls. Walk people! The exercise will do you good.
The big challenge has been getting to meet people. I've been fortunate to have had some good luck on craigslist in meeting people to do stuff, and to find out more details on groups and volunteer activities. I have gotten involved in some volunteer opportunities to help me meet people, keep busy and to do something productive during this trip.
I've had 2 major problems since I've been here. First is allergies. Maybe its cause my apt is so close to Central Park, maybe its due to the stagnation and pollution, but my allergies have been pretty bad in NYC. The severity here is similar to what I experienced in Chicago. In Portland I never got severe allergies, and so it took me some time to adjust to them. Now I still have allergies but I'm somewhat sensitized to them and they dont bother me that much. Second problem is the heat, well actually the heat + humidity. The past 7-8 days have been HOT and HUMID. Yuck! Highs in the 90s, lows in the 70s. At 11pm its still 80 outside. Very humid on top of that. I was able to make it through most of last week being my hyper-active self, but unfortunately the heat caught up to me over the weekend and I got a minor case of heat exhaustion. So I was forced to spend most of the weekend in bed with the A/C running. But now I've somewhat recovered from that. I'm sooo looking forward to being in the nice cool weather in Portland.
So now looking at what i actually did today. I decided to try another museum, this time the Museum of Television and Radio. However the museum isn't quite a "museum", its basically a set of 4 screens with various documentaries on TV programs. I didnt feel like paying the $10 for that so I skipped it. Instead I went to go see Star Wars Episode III again -- it was really hot and I needed out of the heat. In the evening I stopped by Central Park to check out some of the Met Opera in the Park. I was only there for like 10-15 minutes -- it was still extremely hot and humid and I'm not cultured enough to enjoy Opera. There were a lot of people out there, and I wonder how many of them really know anything bout the Opera or if there were there simply because its free and they want to experience some "high" culture. I am looking for to hearing the Orchestra in the park -- that is something i can and will enjoy.
Opera in the Park.
posted by Monish at 7:05 PM
1 Comments:
when you get over the heat and allergies, you better be out clubbing! i want to know how the place that took over the former legendary twilo is...
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