The first day we got there we headed to Central Park to see one of my friends and meet her twin babies. While we were waiting at a playground for her to come it started raining and a ton of people ran under the only enclosed area nearby to wait out the storm. As much as I loathe crowds I was able to step back and observe the scene. I heard probably fifteen different languages being spoken around me. I saw different races, different cultures, different socio-economic statuses, all around us. What was beautiful is that they were all doing the same thing-- getting their kids out of the rain and trying to deal with their disappointment. Despite all the differences, we all have the same fundamental desires and needs, and for the brief rainstorm we all shared a similar moment in time. Welcome to New York!
That said, Manhattan is the very definition of density. There are 70,000 people per square mile in Manhattan (not including all of the people that commute in from the other boroughs, New Jersey, Westchester, etc. and the tourists). Compare that to the 600 people per square mile in St. Croix and you'll understand why it is a COMPLETE change for us Crucians.
The benefits of density:
Amazing shows- I took Che to see Lion King and he loved it! He was mesmerized the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes and later that night fell asleep (literally) singing "I just can't wait to be king" over and over again, this is after he pretended to be Simba and jumped from bed to bed slashing at Scar (Cesar). I thought the show was beautifully done-- the costumes, sets, and puppets were amazing. The chorus and some of the leads were pretty spectacular as well, however I tend to like smaller, simpler productions that rely more on talent and script, such as Our Town. Che would have been a squirmy wormy had I taken him to Our Town, so this was a good choice and he left wanting to see another show, so it was a perfect introduction to Broadway!
Amazing food- We ate delicious pizza, Mexican, Indian-- all in one day. (Yes, I will be working off the extra pounds when I get home.)
Amazing museums- We went to the American Museum of Natural History. I have been several times and always love it; Cesar wanted to spend the whole day there and cannot wait to go back and explore when he doesn't have a four-year-old tugging on him. Che loved the huge whale and all of the sea life, especially the squid and the whale fighting. He kept coming back to it even though it scared him a bit. He also went crazy when he saw all of the dinosaurs. He was transfixed and we spent a lot more time there than we originally thought we would.
Cesar also took Sabine to the Museum of Modern Art when I took Che to Lion King and got to see various works such as Van Gogh's Starry Night and a Matisse exhibit. Sabine enjoyed all of the large sculptures and anything with bright colors.
Amazing parks- We went to some portion of Central Park every day. Che and Sabine loved the bridges, boulders, lakes, and of course--the playgrounds!
The challenges of density:
Crowds- Trying to walk through Time Square is more miserable to me than pulling out all of my teeth. Squeezing onto a subway during rush hour is almost as miserable. When we got out of Lion King, we couldn't even move down the street there were so many people. Up until that point I had really been enjoying the city, but then I remembered two of the major reasons I moved away-- crowds and public transportation. Who needs that? If you have a choice, why live like that?
Tall buildings and little nature-- Some people might like tall buildings (Che was in awe the whole time), but in my opinion they block out the sun and that is not a good thing. Since every inch of space is so valuable, there is not much room for trees, flowers, etc. Central Park and the other municipal parks are an exception, but there are definitely not any mountains to climb or long hikes on which to go. Nor is there any snorkeling or scuba diving (unless of course you are looking for dead bodies in the river ;)).
Enough complaining. I love many aspects of New York and I can see why so many people want to live there for some part of their lives; however, that part of my life is over. As much as I love the PhD program at Columbia and really want to work with some of the professors, I don't think I can live in the city, especially not with kids. Although Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side are deceptively inviting-- tree-lined streets, beautiful townhouses, fewer crowds, good restaurants(we went to some of my favorites--Tortilla Flats and Cowgirl)--I still would not be able to avoid the rest of the city.
One terrific part of the city, besides the ones previously mentioned, is that some of our friends live there-- Lee, Tej, and Maria-- and it was wonderful to see them. We got to spend quality time with all of them, catching up, and introducing Lee and Maria to Sabine and Che. Now we just need to convince them to come spend some time during the winter with us :)
During this week in New York Che got very comfortable walking long distances, Sabine got comfortable talking to strangers on the subway, and both of them had no qualms blaring out the "Dinosaur Train" song in any public space they could (thanks Beauchamps!).
Lastly, the award for humbly beseeching the most strangers to let his four year old use the bathroom goes to Cesar. Che's bladder is smaller than a pea apparently and therefore he had to go to the bathroom ever fifteen minutes. There are also very few public restrooms and not all restaurants have to have one, so it took a lot of begging and cajoling to let poor Che relieve himself. No wonder Manhattan smells like urine!
We are now in Puerto Rico (all you theater lovers know how the rest of the song goes) and are happy to be in a hotel room that is bigger than a postage stamp. We get to see the cousins today--it should be fun! The guy checking us in looked at all of our luggage and jokingly asked if we were staying for two months. I told him he was close; we have been gone for that long and are now finishing up our two and a half month trip. Our adventure is almost over...
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