Not so much planes, but plenty of trains and automobiles

City transportation? Is there anything quite like it? You can spend your whole life behind the wheel and yet nothing will quite prepare you for driving through the madness and neon majesty of Times' Square. Let's revisit last Friday. We had our annual fall retreat and I was somehow selected to drive a car. (Brilliant because I had been in the city how many days?) Walking a mile to pick up my little chevy malibu, no big deal, but driving it through Manhattan to the office, not so much fun. There is a need to keep the hands on the wheel at ten and two at all times, due to the fact that the psycho taxi cab drivers don't like to pick a lane and you need to help them resist colliding with you. It's like a real life version of Mario Cart. Tires squealing, horns blaring, pedestrians walking when the light is clearly red- it's entertaining and yet terrifying. On top of that add Obama visiting the city along with every diplomat and person of significance from Washington and you have about every street you want to turn down blockaded. I cried like a baby to a police officer to help me when the gps miserably failed me and I eventually made it. It has satisfied the urge to drive for at least 3 months.

Then let's move on to another form of transport: the SUBWAY. Grand Central Station is not just an expression you use when your phone rings off the hook. At 5 pm it turns into a place where people resemble cattle being herded into a pen. Personal space is a forgotten phrase and many a time your face is shoved into someone else's face in order to accommodate more riders. While it has it's downsides and I still sometimes can confuse the local and express and end up in Queens, I actually love the subway. It's so efficient and practical on one side and on another, it is a real opportunity to meet a wide range of people and be a small light of Christ- whether it's giving your apple to the homeless man or offering a tissue to the woman crying. I like being around such a variety of people and it reminds me of my insignificance and significance at the same time.

Lastly there is my favorite mode of transport: walking. My heels may disagree with me on this point, because they've been covered in bandaids for the last two weeks, but walking is so nice (minus the time I went to get groceries a mile away and it rained, my feet were bleeding and I basically looked like a wet dog by the time I was home- oh and my cardboard boxes were soggy). You've heard of road rage, well I've discovered here that there is a thing here called pedestrian rage. Every day men and women become frustrated with the people in front of them who aren't "walking with a purpose" and make lots of exasperated noises so everyone around them knows just how slow the person really is before they find a way to bypass them. It's kind of humorous. At the same time it's so weird how already I can find myself passing people who aren't fast enough for me. I have to remind myself to stroll sometimes and to listen and soak up my surroundings- what others are saying, the street noise- to really listen to the city in order to know the city.