Sorry if my window unit is too loud..

Well, as everyone knows I moved to New York City last week, and several people have asked me to write a blog while I am away. At first I was a little hesitant because I didn't want to feel pressured to come up with new things all of the time, but now I think that writing for a little while could be fun :)

I absolutely love it here. I feel like everyone should move somewhere by themselves at least once in their lives. Something about not being able to control anything from where you live to where you work and everything else in between is really exhilarating. I'm reading a book called "Its Your Time" and the author mentions that God helps those who take extreme leaps of faith. I believe it. New York is exactly what my life has been needing.

So many people are here for the same reason to leave what they know, to experience new things, and to make something of themselves. I have two roommates Emily and Emma. We are all around the same age. Emily is from San Diego and Emma is from New Jersey. All three of us decided that we just wanted to live in the city, so we are doing it. Emily works as a tennis instructor and for the Mets, and Emma works at a restaurant and is planning on going to Culinary school. They are awesome.

We live in a quaint little town outside of Manhattan known as Woodside, Queens. The streets are sporadically filled with people walking around or sitting on benches. We've been out at 4am before and people are just outside doing their own thing. I love the simplicity of the area. Often times you will see people on the sidewalk with fruit stands selling apples, bananas, and other types of fruits. There are flower shops where the flowers are literally coming out of the front door, and smell so fresh. And there are also little restaurants with homemade food, bakeries, and laundromats. I went to the laundromat for the first time the other day. Its just how it looks on tv. Lots of people putting clothes into quarter laundry machines, however I think I was the only one who sat there the entire hour and waited for my stuff to be done. Everyone else was a little braver and left while their things were still washing. It was run by a little asian guy who was flustered and didn't understand why I was asking how the thing worked. However I would like to think by the end of the hour we bonded when I agreed with him that he had a long day. :)

That's one thing about New York. People often have the misconception that everyone here is uptight and abrasive, but I have been pleasantly surprised with how nice and helpful people are. I have met so many people on the trains and asking for directions and each person is just as happy to help as the next person. Maybe its because people have been mistaking me as a 19 year old. I got carded last night at the movies and the guy ended up apologizing. I told him yeah I'm 23. I met a lady from Budan (wherever that is) on the train the second day I was here and she goes, "Are you new? You look new." She was really nice and we ended up chatting for the rest of the ride.

I have already seen so many things that make me love the way of life here. I have been serenaded by a mariachi band, a guy singing ashrams, a guy strumming on a stick with a string. I have seen break dancers, a girl literally sitting on the subway ground sweating while she played the guitar..she had such a good voice. Also, there is a guy who sits in the same wheel chair in the same hall of the train station every day singing some type of off beat song for money. He is a tiny old man who will literally be sleeping in the middle of everyones way as we walk by. Another thing that might seem surprising is that so many people here give their money away to people begging for it. Yesterday a blind man was walking up and down my train asking for change in two different languages and everyone nonchalantly dropped their change into his cup.

All in all things are great. There is so much more to say but this is probably good for one entry. :) Every day really is a new experience. Until next time!

-Lauren