Thursday, September 08, 2005
So before this song dies
Okay, this one's from last Sunday. It's a little outdated, but it's news!Well, I've been promised an internet connection soon (Alexandra is missing it almost as much as I am!), so I'm going to get ahead of myself and get an entry ready for that glorious moment!
I'm beginning to feel a bit more at home here, although I really, really can't wait until a "real" routine settles in. Brooklyn is a very different from Manhattan--it's less busy, or maybe it's busy in a different way (I hear a lot of reggae and hip hop blasted at all hours of the night. Oh yeah--and the ice cream truck that makes its rounds every half-hour), but it'll be nice to have the mix of the two. I ventured into Manhattan today (Sunday) for the first time since I got here, and was amazed at just how different it is from Brooklyn. Or, at least, the area of Brooklyn that we're in. As I said before, it's predominantly Caribbean, and I've found that I can walk down the street for an hour and count the number of white people I see on one hand. This means that I can get as much West Indian food as I want, and there are tons of cheap dollar stores near my house (bonus for picking up the little things!), but I have yet to find a good coffee shop. No Starbucks or Central Perk on my corner! I'm just hoping that there's something near Lourenzo's school; otherwise, I’ll be forced to rethink every New York stereotype I’ve ever heard!
He starts school on Thursday, but only for a half day (Thursday and Friday). I'm still not sure exactly how this week will go, but since Alexandra is still dealing with renovations, and she needs to be around to oversee the workmen, I’ll be more “on call” than I will be once everything settles down. She's not working full-time for September, so she can be around the house as much as possible. Which, hopefully, means that things can settle into some semblance of normal soon.
Oh yeah--last time I wrote, I hadn't met Lourenzo yet! He's a very precocious 5-year-old, with a huge imagination and a huge vocabulary. He talks non-stop--he reminds me a little bit of my cousin Zachary a few years ago, and I suppose that those who knew me at 5 might say that he reminds them of me! He's really cute, though, and has a story for absolutely everything. I think we'll get along fine, especially once he has the variety of school in his day. When I'm entertaining him all day, it gets to be a bit long (for both of us), and I think he misses school, especially since he's already used to the structure and variety (and his friends) from preschool.
We're still sleeping in the basement--this house is a ready-made stairmaster, with 3 flights of stairs!--and my stuff is all in my upstairs bedroom, but it's not unpacked yet, because the bathroom beside it still needs to be tiled, and I don't want to get tile dust all over everything. I should be able to fully move in up here and unpack my stuff by the end of the week.
I made it to church this morning--by last night, I was desperately craving some contact with someone older than 5, with a less vested interest in me than his mother! :o) I checked out First Alliance Church, which was nice. It's a smaller church, and maybe the last long weekend of summer wasn't the most opportune time to get a full idea of a church's potential, but it was still good. I may go to a few others before I fully decide, but I did meet some people--a bunch of young career women (it's so strange not to be lumped into a "college age" group anymore!)--and we went out for (authentic) Korean BBQ for lunch. Again, very nice to have some contact. Especially with people who thought I was brave for venturing to take the subway by myself and find the church on my 4th day there! This is where all my navigational experience on all the European mass transit systems comes in handy--it's amazing how much easier it is when you're not dragging luggage! I told them that I figured I needed to learn sometime; may as well do it right away! :o) Besides, it's not like I don't have any sense of the layout of Manhattan--I was there 3 years ago, and I have at least a little familiarity with it all. And, actually, it's pretty easy--I don't even have to transfer trains. Including the walks from the stations, it took about 45 minutes to get there (I guess all those years commuting from the farm were good for something!).
It was good to be in church itself, but besides the obvious spiritual edification, it was nice to have a familiar routine, especially in a week (okay, half-week) where I haven't had any at all. Any kind of routine that I thought I might have had was completely thrown out the window, and it won't come back until at least Thursday, but probably more like Monday. Next Monday, that is. The familiarity of the service structure was really good, though. Even if I don't know anything else, I do know when to sit down and stand up.
Another plus is that the church is in midtown Manhattan, so I spent the afternoon walking around, shopping. It was kind of strange to be part of a teeming mass of tourists (it's in the Fashion district, about 15 blocks from Times Square, right off Broadway), after being in Crown Heights (my neighborhood in Brooklyn), where there are definitely no tourists, and I'm one of the few who looks different from everyone else. The church is right near a bunch of stores, though--everything from the higher end boutiques to things like H&M (Esther, aren't you jealous?!), Old Navy, Body Shop, Payless Shoes, and Victoria's Secret (and I think I saw a K-Mart down the street). At least I know where my wardrobe staples are! I definitely won't be affording anything much more expensive than those!
So, that's my first impressions. I think that what I'm looking forward to most right now is the internet getting hooked up at the house--four days without it seems like forever in "normal" time, let alone when it's my primary means of communication with anyone from home! I still have to get a phone card, so if you're waiting for a phone call from me... it'll come soon enough! Either that, or you can always phone me, especially if you have a long distance phone plan, since I don't have one, and I'll be relying on cards. I sent out the number in the address email I sent out a week or so ago...
Anyways, hopefully I'll get this posted tonight; if not, you'll read about my adventures a day late!
2 Comments:
Hmm--a five-year-old with a huge imagination and vocabulary to match--who does that remind me of? You beat me to it! I won't say any more--have fun!
Love, the Meanest Mom
Yes, I'm jealous...can I say....Christmas presents? or just any "I love my sister" presents? ;)
Esther
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