Here we are! In NYC. Well, actually in this particular photograph we are in Brooklyn with Manhattan in the background.
I kind of can't believe that we're here. That we're still here...nearing the end of week two already. That we still have another whole week! It's amazing, I love it, and I feel very blessed to have this opportunity, and I will be quite sad when this adventure comes to an end.
Then there are those moments. ...When the Subway is literally 50 degrees hotter than the 80+ degrees outside (bad at any point in the day, but especially disturbing after having showered done my hair and makeup, and put on a clean, pretty dress only to arrive at dinner, sweaty and disheveled from the sheer effort it took to get there); when I have to sit on the counter over the sink to make a phone call from my hotel room (Im grateful for the room, don't get me wrong, we just don't get reception... at all.); when Phil doesn't end up getting home from work and dinner until nearly 9pm, only to wake up at 6:45 and do it all again ( i feel bad for the guy, but im not really sure how to make that better); when my feet hurt so bad from walking that I feel that I just can't go on, but I have to because there's so much to see and I feel like a bum if I just sit in the room; when I walked for miles this afternoon just trying to find a Starbucks that had an electrical outlet so that I could plug in the laptop that only runs for about 5 min on it's own/ my phone into the laptop so that it could charge enough for me to find my way home again; when I go for a run in Central Park and end up 51 blocks from where I thought I was. That is the difference between Midtown Manhattan and Harlem. ...yeah... I ran to Harlem.
Here's the visual of that treck. I started on the bottom left hand corner, and ended up on the top right hand corner. ... I didn't really realize where I was until I had traveled a few blocks into the neighborhood. I took this picture after I made it back to the top left hand corner.
These, of course all seem like complaints, but really, they just come with the territory. Life is exciting here, even when you try and avoid the chaos, it seems to find you, right where you are. Phil and I both have photos that we can't wait to share with you. It could take a while though, considering the ratio of outlets to people with laptops in this place, and the fact that the internet connection in our hotel room is only slightly more reliable than our phone signals.
-CM
