I was barely able to fit the majority of my wardrobe into the two very, very large and heavy suitcases. In fact, the suitcase that Leigh checked for me was about 75% filled with socks and underwear and still weighed 50.5 lbs. There is something not quite right with that...
Being a stubborn and somewhat stingy individual, I surmised that upon arrival at JFK Leigh and I would take the AirTrain to Jamaica Station, then the E train to 53rd St, then the 6 train to my neighborhood at 116th St and Lexington. This brilliant idea only cost us a total of $14 in AirTrain/subway fares, but it also required us to lift each 50 lb bag over the turnstiles to enter the subway. Coming from JFK requires going through 3 sets of turnstiles. Couple this activity with an early morning flight, only 4 hours of sleep and no breakfast and you have a very tired Leigh and Emily. Needless to say we took a 3 hour nap once we got to my apartment.
My room is really adorable- bright and clean with just enough space for me to live here for a few months. It's forcing me to be neat and organized, which is a nice change from the last few months. I'm dying to really start organizing but I shipped all of my wall hooks, boxes, etc so I'll have to wait at least till end of tomorrow to really get settled. Unfortunately it is possible that UPS has misplaced my box/futon frame, which could lead to me losing my mind momentarily over the phone with them. Long story, hopefully with a happy ending...
So Leigh spent the weekend here in NYC with me helping me get settled and generally having fun. After the 3 hour nap I took her to dinner in Chinatown at a place called Shanghai Kitchen. We got tons of food for about $30, which is great because it was the first thing we'd eaten all day. After dinner we walked over to Little Italy for something sweet at Farrara's, a 115 year old dessert place that my cousin Paul introduced me to. I had a chocolate cannoli and it was awesome.
Sunday was spent shopping and getting turned around, which lead to learning a few neighborhoods on the 6 train line pretty well. I spent A LOT of money on clothes and shoes for my school program (it's business casual or nicer) but ended up returning a few things today after buyer's remorse set in. We hit Union Square, SoHo, and Rockefeller Center. In my defense all of my purchases were good deals and I only paid full price for two items at H&M, which is ultra cheap anyway. It was a lot of fun and my ankles are still a little sore.
For dinner we tried the very authentic Mexican restaurant on the street level of my apartment building called Pipos. It's a really cute, family-owned place with reasonable prices and excellent food. We ordered some guacamole to start with and it was taking a while to be brought to the table. When it finally arrived we realized that the cook had just whipped it up by hand, hence the 10 minute wait for chips and dip! Easily the best guacamole I've ever had and my taco dinner was pretty darn good too.
Today was low key. I just made a few returns then hunted down the Patagonia store in SoHo to buy a really nice semi-casual shoulder bag to haul my computer and files around in this semester. It's nice enough that I am pretty sure it will morph into a "lawyer bag" after graduation. Leigh and I grabbed a slice of pizza at Ben's Pizza on Spring and West Broadway, went back to the apartment to chillax before getting dinner at a Spanish Harlem establishment on 100th St called Joy Burger, "where the sauce makes all the difference" (it really does, and they have killer milkshakes too!).
A few hours and one horrendous ride on the E train later (first train brokedown, forced onto wrong train, transferred to correct train then FINALLY at Jamaica Station) I dropped Leigh off at the AirTrain entrance so she could catch her flight back to Buffalo.
Tomorrow I am taking a standardized test for a fellowship program and waiting around for my UPS stuff to come (please God let it come, I really could do without a major hiccup in my plans) and likely making calls about possible jobs/temp agencies. I'm trying to make the most of my free week here by getting completely set up for the semester.
The only thing missing at this point is my UPS stuff and a job!
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