My Last Weeks in NYC

That's right folks, the end is near. My semester in NYC is almost over and graduation is right around the corner. It really snuck up on me, like so many semester-length experiences have in the past (summers in DC and Alaska, final semester at Hollins writing two theses at a maddening pace, last semester preparing for moving to NYC, etc). Three months seems like a long time and it really is long enough to get a healthy dose of a situation and give you an idea whether it's for you, but generally it just sort of ends suddenly leaving you to say, "what the hell just happened?!"

So last weekend Leigh came to visit me and we went to Boston for an overnight and had a great time. On Monday my team and I kicked our final project into overdrive (some more than others, but I digress) and really started realizing how soon everything was due. We did a lot of writing, talking, even some arguing but ultimately turned in a decent rough draft. This week we have to submit a more finalized rough draft to our sponsor, our professors, and a rough draft of our power point presentation on the same topic. All of this must be done by Wednesday. Commence nervous breakdown!

The thing is that if I were working on my own I'd be done already because that's how I roll. But lawyers work in groups a lot so it's important for us to learn to delegate and produce massive projects as a group of four or five. So I'm sure you can imagine it slows and complicates the process.

In other news, things are going pretty well for me personally. I bought my ticket to fly back to Buffalo. Leigh and I are planning a southern road trip to see some historical sites (Monticello, a few National Parks like Fort Sumter), stop offs are planned for Charleston, Savannah and Jacksonville (to see my brother and his kids) for wandering around and some beach time. The general idea is 1) we need some quality time together before I go west and 2) we wanted to see parts of the south we never got around to while living there before we both end up living out west. 

I've been spending a lot of time with some new friends I met from Long Island. This past weekend they took me to the Hamptons to a bird sanctuary and to see the beaches and huge houses. It was really nice to get out of the city, the weather was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed myself. However, I found it very difficult to be impressed by the Hamptons after being so spoiled with scenery in places like Alaska for hiking and coastlines, Costa Rica, Hawaii, and the beaches of Virginia and the Carolinas. I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I'm much harder to impress since I have been so blessed to travel so much. I only wish that everyone had the chance to see some of the more dramatic places in the world so they could experience the way the beauty wells up inside you and the intense feeling of being so small and insignificant that is at once both humbling and freeing.

Graduation is coming up really soon too. My dad and step-mom are driving up for the ceremony, which nobody really wants to attend but we're all doing it to say we did. Then two days later I'm on a plane to Anchorage, AK to study for the Alaska Bar Exam. I got a job helping to run the class, which is awesome and will cover my rent for the summer. Yay! 

I also got a job working for my grandparents in Washington for the time period between taking the bar exam and leaving for France, which could be any time period from 3-8 weeks, depending on information I won't have available to me until mid June (*sigh* I blame French culture for this annoyance...). I'm hoping my position doesn't start until October but it may very well start September 1, which would be tough both financially and personally, as I really need time to visit the east coast before I fly to Europe not to mention the time I need once I arrive in Europe to get an apartment!

My whirlwind summer plans are set, which is nice so I can just focus on the end of the semester and know that I will have so many great experiences to look forward to. It's all a bit overwhelming, but I suppose if I take it all one step at a time and am mindful of my goals everything will work out alright. 

My time here has been a lot of fun, but I'm not even remotely enchanted with NYC. I never was, really, more curious than anything and wanting a new experience. The school experience fell below my expectations, but I did learn a lot and I got a semester away from Buffalo, which was a nice change. Socially I met some interesting people and experienced the night life, which was a lot of fun but I doubt I could make a habit of it. I've been very lucky to get to live in Manhattan, Spanish Harlem at that, experience the subway, the neighborhoods, the walking, the shopping, the food, the people. Now I'm ready to get back to my roots- smaller cities and towns, cleaner air, less pretentious attitudes, less focus on the material. Basically I want to leave before this place can change me, which I am sure it could eventually do. 

On that note, I think I should get back to my homework...

Boston Abbreviated

Leigh flew to New York City last weekend for the last days of her spring break so we could spend some time together. The first few days I had class and work, so we didn't do much around the city aside from running errands and grabbing a few meals out. The central plan for her visit was  to indulge with a side trip to Boston and get our historical fix by visiting the John Adams Estate. Leigh loves John Adams and, being from Virginia and both eligible for the DAR, we both have a soft spot for Thomas Jefferson and the Revolutionary War in general. 

We caught the 7:30am Fung Wah bus from Chinatown NYC to Chinatown in Boston, arriving in Boston around 11:45am. The bus was kind of crazy because we stopped midway at a McDonalds for bathroom/food breaks and the driver made no attempt to do a head count before pulling out of the parking lots after a whopping 10 minutes there. Thankfully we had time to pee and grab breakfast before the bus left us!

Once we got to Boston South Station we had some time to kill so we took the T to the Sam Adams brewery in Stony Brook. The wait for a tour was over an hour and we were pretty tired and there's not much in Stony Brook, so we took the T to Quincy to check into our room early. After walking .6 miles uphill to reach the hotel we found out there was a shuttle to and from the T stop, but oh well. We'd gotten our exercise for the day. After checking in we relaxed until about 4pm and then headed back to Boston for some touring and dinner. The goal of the evening was to walk the Freedom Trail and eat dinner at a really old tavern. 

Boston Commons, and the start of the Freedom Trail. Leigh and I bought a fried dough and a soft pretzel to share because I was getting "hangry" and Leigh can't deal with me when I'm like that. Then we started the freedom trail by following the red bricks on the sidewalk and reading the placards at each stopping point. 

Old City Hall- a nice point on the Freedom Trail. The front courtyard had statutes of Ben Franklin (born in Boston, though a Philadelphia man) and Josiah Quincy, Mayor, Governor, soldier, etc and related to John Adams through his wife Abigail. 

Old Meeting House (I think)- the balcony you see here is where the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston. I think this picture is cool because of the juxtaposition of a really old building against the newer buildings of downtown Boston.

Paul Revere's House near the Italian part of town and literally around the corner from Mike's Pastry Shop. This was the point when Leigh and I admitted to one another that we were exhausted and did not care to walk across the bridge to Bunker Hill. We decided we'd rather have an excuse to return to Boston at a later date for that. 

So we went back to a little alley near Haymarket (easily the most authentic and "colonial" outdoor market I've ever seen) called Marshall St where all the oldest taverns were to get some dinner (fish, chips, and chowder, and Sam Adams beer of course!). After dinner at the Green Dragon Tavern we walked back down to this neighborhood to stand in line at Mike's and got 4 pastries for $10 to chew on throughout the weekend. Good stuff and cheap too! After dinner and pastries we were just about tuckered out, so we took the T back to Quincy to relax and enjoy our nice hotel room. That big soft bed felt amazing after 4 hours on a bus and a full day of touring Boston. 

The next morning we found an amazing place for breakfast in Quincy at a restaurant I can't remember the name of. I had one of the better breakfasts of my life (french toast and sausage, but it was made especially well and came with caramelized banana and strawberries- yum!). Then we walked to the national park office to buy our tickets for the John Quincy Estate and trolley tour. My ticket was free with student ID and Leigh's was $5. It's times like these that I especially love this country. 

We had about 2 hours to kill before our trolley arrived so Leigh and I went next door to the United First Parish Church, not part of the National Park but still open for tours. This is the church where the Adams family has attended since John Adams, or at least the same congregation. The building we toured was built after John Quincy left office. It's a beautiful structure and the pews are original with the one purchased by the Adams family still marked with a brass plate. A local volunteer tour guide told us some stories, disjointedly but with good intent, about the building of the church and the families who attended. Then he took us downstairs to the crypt to see the tombs.

The crypt downstairs at the UFPC. Here John and Abigail Adams are entombed alongside John Quincy and his wife. 

It was at this point in the tour when our very Massachusetts-centric tour guide made reference to Thomas Jefferson by saying, snidely, "not exactly one of my favorite patriots." Leigh and I, standing opposite one another with the tomb of John Adams between us, shot one another genuine looks of horror to hear our statesman and shared historical boyfriend spoken of in any ill manner. The tone in the tomb changed instantly and we excused ourselves at the conclusion of the tour to console one another by reciting all the great things Thomas Jefferson did for our country and western civilization, not to mention being a complete badass and ladies' man.

Leigh and I posing in the United First Parish Church, an active Unitarian church in Quincy, MA where the Adams family attended since John Quincy's generation. Leigh and I were a little upset we didn't know about the church because this was a Sunday and we would have liked to attend a service that morning (especially after seeing the rainbow on the sign indicating they're an open congregation).

The Birthplace- the houses where John Adams and John Quincy Adams were born.

The private library of the Adams family at their Peacefield estate. Easily one of the coolest libraries I've been in, and I've seen some cool libraries in my day, just because it's a private family library filled with books from the early 1700s until more recently, in 14 different languages at that. It also had the original law desk (the tall, skinny standing type with a roll-top) that Adams used when he wrote his defense for the soldiers in the Boston Massacre. I told Leigh I want a traditional law desk one day.

Peacefield- the family used this residence as a summer home from the 1790s until about the 1960s when they gave it to the National Park System for use as a museum. It's filled with original furniture and artifacts from colonial times. It was really cool to walk through and see everything and, honestly, a little erie too.

Almost immediately after our tour of the Adams Estate Leigh and I took the T back to South Station and caught the 6pm bus back to NYC. The bus ride was incredibly full and uncomfortable but we were in Chinatown NYC by 9:30 pm. Leigh and I had hoped to meet up with a few of my friends from the area but they weren't able to come into the city at that late hour on a school night so we happily headed home. After a very long subway ride we grabbed Halal food from the street cart near my apartment building to eat while we unwound from our trip watching The Reader. The next morning I had class and Leigh left for Buffalo that night on a late flight. 

In all a fantastic whirlwind tour of Boston in just over 24 hours and a fun weekend with Leigh in the City. 

Plush Gun and The Cliks

Not the state the obvious, but I LOVE The Cliks. I also LOVE the lead singer, Lucas Silveira. He's a great singer/songwriter, has great hair and tattoos and is generally a total badass. Anyway, they played the Mercury Lounge last night for an early show. I took my new friends Michelle and Kate, even though they'd never heard of The Cliks. 

The opening act was called Plush Gun. They had a nice house/rock blend sound to their music. Kind of like Fall Out Boy but less commercial sounding. It was a nice surprise to hear a good opening act and the band members were extremely friendly.

Then my lovely Lucas and the girls took the stage. He's even sexier in person, but I digress. I've heard The Cliks live once before and thought they were good, but the venue sucked so I didn't get the full effect. This was a very small venue and I was RIGHT UP FRONT, so I got to fully appreciate the music and the view. Michelle and Kate made fun of me for my crush throughout the evening, but I didn't mind. 

The band played several new songs for an album that comes out in June including one called "Emily." Yes, that made my day completely. Plus they did a great version of "Oh Yeah" that started out acoustic and midway through they plugged in a rocked it out big time. 

The bassist was great too and she and Lucas seem to have a great repoire on stage. 

Oh yeah, and Cindy Lauper and her sister showed up! Cindy is a friend of the band and has actually done a lot to promote them and booked The Cliks on the True Colors tour last year. That was awesome. The crowd went nuts. Cindy and her sister sang backup for a song and did a little dance. 

Cindy again.

Lucas talking to someone in Cindy's crowd after the show. He's really friendly. I talked to him really briefly while he was wrapping up his chords and he was really cool even though I was being an annoying fan ("can I get your picture?!"). 

At the merchandise table the band was doing pictures and selling tshirts. I got a few pictures (this is the only good one) and bought a tshirt. In all a great show and really fun experience. 

The Past Few Weeks

Somehow I have managed to completely ignore a few pictures I took over the past few weeks that I feel are worth sharing.

As I mentioned previously, I went to Buffalo to visit Leigh, Juneau and our mutual friends a few weeks ago. During that visit Leigh took me hiking at Eternal Flame Trail. We failed to find the eternal flame, but I did demonstrate an important survival skill for Leigh's benefit:

This is how to properly drink from a flowing stream while hiking when you forget your water bottle. Clearly this is a very technical skill that must be practiced with care. 

This is Emerson Giselle Lopez McCann, my roommate's cat. She lives in Spanish Harlem with Lorrie and I. When Lorrie is out of town Emmy and I throw little slumber parties. We watch movies in my room and wait for pigeons to land on the fire escape. She's a sweety pie and very talkative. Since Lorrie was out of town a fair amount this past month Emmy and I spent a lot of time together.

One of my very few culinary successes. What we have here is a Tico-Mexi Partfait. It is refried beans topped with gallo pinto then topped with mole-infused white meat  chicken. Yum. I was so proud of my creation that I took a picture!

Last weekend my new friend Michelle invited me to visit her in Ronkonoma, NY on Long Island. I really needed to get out of the city so I happily accepted her invitation. I took the train from Penn Station to Ronkonoma Station. About 45 mins after leaving Penn Station we passed Hicksville, which really only underlines the New York City attitude that NYC is not only the center of the universe, but everywhere else is Hicksville.

French Teaching Assistantship

Yesterday afternoon I received a highly anticipated but also very early email regarding my application to teach English conversation and culture for the French public school system. I didn't expect to hear back until next month, possibly in the midst of studying for the bar exam in Anchorage.

I got the job! I'm moving to the Nice area in the south of France sometime in the fall to work for 6-9 months, depending on my assignment. I haven't received the job details yet but I have been accepted and replied confirming my participation in the program.

So EXCITING!

The job doesn't pay a lot but it's enough to live on and I don't have to work full time so there's plenty of opportunity to make extra money tutoring or something on the side. Hopefully I can find inexpensive housing, that's my primary challenge.

Anyway, this is great news because now I have a tangible plan for the next year of my life and I still get to do some serious traveling. 

Coming back down to Earth- I have a ton of homework to get started on so I should do that now. Counting the days till graduation...

This City is Loud

Today I really need to start buckling down with my final projects for the semester or else I am toast. I had class this morning until about noon then I knew I had to complete an assignment for tomorrow's class and make some progress on my group project prior to meeting friends to see a movie later. 

Our class gets our room at SUNY Stony Brook until 3pm, so I tried staying in the room to eat my lunch and start reading. Obviously this wasn't going to work because other groups were having meetings, which is fine, so I finished my sandwich and made my way to 34th and Madison to a public library. This required taking the subway because it was raining and I'm the fool who doesn't know where her umbrella is at the moment, but that's fine too.

Anyway, I get to the library and find a table near the circulation desk and start working. Then I realize that the volume in the room has crept to a dull roar. What the hell? This is a library! I look around giving people my patented "you are so rude" look and realize it's not the other patrons who are disturbing me but the library staff! They are having a little giggle fit over at the circulation desk, then more staff members join in and next thing you know it is taking an incredible amount of effort to focus. At this point the person who is bothering me least is the older, and possibly transient, man sitting to my right who keeps falling asleep at the table.

Determined to rise above and not be curmudgeonly at my young age, I keep working and finish my first assignment. Then a new patron sits next to me. He is another older man who is definitely transient because he had a certain odor. Again, trying to be a decent citizen I plan to rise above, then he gets settled in and so does his odor. I can't handle it, really, so I quickly snap my laptop shut and make my way into the depths of the study room. 

Finally some peace and quiet. I am surrounded by other studious types. Lesson learned: if you want peace and quiet in New York City just keep walking toward the back of the building.

In other news, I've found housing in Anchorage! I will be renting a room from a very kind couple who live near the University for a very reasonable price plus being generally helpful around the house. This is a huge relief for me. Now I have my flight booked, housing settled, and general idea of what my summer will be looking like. I even have some idea of what I'll be doing after I sit for the bar exam: a wild night on the town followed by nursing a hangover then followed by a flight to Seattle to work for my grandparents for a few months. When harvest season ends I'll look into temping to make some more money before going abroad. That's where my plans end, but I figure the details will work themselves out over the next 3 or 4 months. 

On that note, I will now attack my second task for the afternoon so I can hopefully enjoy my movie tonight without feeling guilty about socializing instead of studying.