Maybe if we all ban together we can get a maid...

Was the topic of  conversation with my roommates and I as we stood in the kitchen this morning..

We were all hanging out talking about Emma's recent run in/scream with a red cockroach in our shower, when we started to realize that maybe our place isn't has clean as we think. We are up to a total of 3 cockroaches who have lost their life to a puddle of water in a span of two weeks. When we think about it,  there are three of us running around barefoot with food and trash, and sweat from our walk home. But we've concluded that no one really has the time, or patience, to deep clean the place.

However, when you don't have a dishwasher, and you don't have a garbage disposal, you're completely out of Comet and there are two toothpaste lids stuck in the bathroom sink.. something's gotta give.

My first night here while I was walking around in Brooklyn, I realized why exactly the city never sleeps. It's because the garbage trucks are literally out at all hours of the night. A girl named Stefani  told me a guy tried to commit suicide by jumping off of a building, but ended up living due to a pile of trash he fell into.  Apparently there was so much snow on the ground this winter that the garbage collectors were blocked from picking up anyones trash for days.

The city really isn't THAT bad, but I actually made friends with a girl after we saw a rat run in front of us in the train station. She's currently trying to get me a job with her company.

The challenging part of the city, and the reason that our house isn't as clean as it probably should be, is that every thing you do here you have to work for. If you want clean clothes you have put your clothes in a bag, walk down the street to a laundromat, ask for change, put your change in a machine, wait 30 minutes for wash and 30 minutes for dry, take them out, fold them, and haul them back home. Then if you're lucky you will have enough energy to put them away.

If you want to keep your apartment cool you have to turn on one window unit at a time, flipping the switch from fan to cool to save energy. If you leave the room to pee or eat, or shower, or go outside you have to turn the unit off to once again save energy.

If you want to go to a store to buy a humidifier, but you think the price is too high, you must walk two miles to the next store. Once you get there and realize that store's price is even higher, you must stock up on a few cans of gluten free soup, and carry your cans to the next store..and then the next. Then you have to settle for a $13 machine, walk two miles back home with now your cans plus the machine, and then realize your bought an air purifier and NOT a humidifier.

My point is once you've gratifyingly earned ever piece of your day by doing the little things most people take for granted..cleaning your house becomes the last thing on your mind, and the idea of getting a maid starts sounding pretty dang good. :)

-Lauren

You know your lost when...

One security guard says to the other, "Don't worry about her, we've become friends".

I have actually been pretty impressed with my small town navigational skills. Other than my first crash course day at Subway 101 when I ended up in China Town, I have been able to jump from city to city in no time. Yesterday however I got too confident in my skills and jumped myself right on to a train headed for the Bronx. There is a feeling you get when you're standing in the middle of your section holding onto a metal pole, looking around and realizing you just might be the only white person left. I thought to myself maybe if I just stand here in silence not looking at anyone, I can get off at the next immediate stop. Nope. This train kept going and going and going. I made it out okay of course, but seriously when the numbers are going past 100 you are definitely going the wrong way.

I have to believe that the way New York is set up is for entertainment purposes only. People who have lived here for years still don't know exactly where to go. You can ask 4 different people how to get to the same exact place, and everyone will tell you a different way. I was riding in a cab back to my house the other day and the taxi driver goes, "Where are you going?" I said Skillman street, take me to Skillman street". He goes Skillman is an Avenue, not a street. "

Which reminds me..everyone here measures things in blocks. How far away is it? Oh just 5 blocks. What the hell does 5 blocks mean? I try to explain that in Arkansas we measure in miles or in minutes..not blocks.  I still haven't really figured out how long a block is. You would think it was from one "Avenue" to the next, however, when you are in Times Square the lower numbered streets are WAY farther apart than the higher numbered streets..trust me I learned that the hard way. But when in doubt, go to 42nd street. Apparently thats where everything is..so I've heard.

Fortunately, when you are getting the hang of it and you are going the right way, and ending up exactly where you planned to be, there is a really nice sense of independence. Often times I trot around the city  listening to Lady Gaga's song "Hair", and it makes me feel really...free. :)

-Lauren

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