So, I've been a little reprimanded by Jamie for not updating my blog, since I have been to New York in the past month. One word to really sum up the week.....surreal. I can't believe I'm actually moving there in a few short months. There's so much I could say, but how about we settle for 5 things I learned in spending 7 days there.....
5. Everyone should embrace a little inner cheeseball.......
In the words of a dear friend, " Here it is, heart of New York City, Time Square. Named for the good times you have when you are....in it. Most people, when they come to New York, they go straight to the Empire State Building. That's pretty touristy. I come here." (michael scott)
Going to a show, ice skating in the park, following a chinese man down a basement into an alleyway into a room within a hidden door panel beneath the stairs, where you could never be found again, all for the sake of a knock-off Marc Jacobs bag is all a part of the NYC experience.
4. I could pack a sleeping bag, a few poptarts, and move into the Met......
if only they'd let me. How could one building hold so much talent? Being allowed to see a person's life work, his or her masterpiece, it's so incredibly personal and breathtaking. While I think I could spend everyday in the later European paintings gallery, I have a feeling this might be one of my getaway places and endless opportunities to explore.
3. My creeper alert must increase exponentially.....
Enter into a tiny tucked away restaurant with 5 other girls. We took up half the restaurant and perhaps didn't how should I say it......blend in. We meet "Jerry", a local who is about mid-60s, incredibly friendly and helpful. We makes small talk, he suggests the cafe's best food on the menu and tells us of the nearby celebrities that frequent the joint. I eagerly tell him how I am moving here this summer and how excited I am. He kindly offers me his business card and asks for my email so he can forward me a website about fun things to do in the city. He is so incredibly nice and very grandfather-ish. He follows through on his comment to email me. However it did not include a helpful website, but rather an invitation to be his escort to a week-long stay in Las Vegas. Everything would be paid for and in his words "although I am a gentleman I need to make my intentions clear...." To up the ick-factor even more, I'm pretty sure he thought I was still in college. I'm thinking our definitions of The Girl(s) Next Door are drastically different.
2. Don't get lost in translation......
Certain familiarities are going to evolve. Shoes are tires. Parks are concrete (with the exception of central of course). Rooms are actually closets. Cheap rent is above average mortgage. I'm confident more will be added to the list in the weeks to come.
1. There is blanket of darkness.....
Not to be overly dramatic, because if you open your eyes it is everywhere. But I couldn't help but be aware of the lifestyles of independence which are marked by such loneliness in people's eyes. I had a conversation with a couple of junior high school girls in Washington Square Park where I asked them what pictures would represent their lives right now, and then what pictures would represent the life they wish they had. One girl picked a picture of a girl walking. She said she chose that one because she said she wished she could walk to school without worrying about getting shot because where she lived that was her reality. You hear them go off every day. It broke my heart. I had other conversations with girls at Columbia where I heard about who they believed God was-" that He wasn't real. There was karma and energy and that's about it." I felt more than ever an urgency for me to go....to live there.....to be a light in the darkness. "It's truth is seen in him and you because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining." (in 1 john 2) kept coming to mind. I know there is a light and that light is Christ. Please join with me in continuing to pray for the darkness to be lifted from the eyes of the many living in NYC.
