I don’t know that I’ve fallen in love with New York yet, but in the meantime I’m enjoying playing the role of a seasoned New Yorker. I’ve figured out how to jaywalk without getting run over, where to go to get cheap groceries, and I barely look up anymore to gaze at famous buildings. This week my F train was twice rerouted along another line, and I just shrugged. I knew that wherever it dumped me I would be able to find my way.
In addition to all this, I am finally starting to cultivate a bit of a social life. Tonight I am spending my evening blogging and watching TV on hulu, but last weekend was much more exciting. First of all, I finally went out in my own neighborhood. On Thursday my roommate and I bonded over a drink at a local bar, and on Friday I met up with Marianne (visiting from Boston) for brunch. For the latter, we had a perfect Brooklyn experience at a diner my roommate recommended. We sat at an outside table on a charming street corner, and dined on coconut-banana pancakes and grits with tomatoes and goat cheese. That evening the second year students in my program invited us first years out for drinks. We have all been very congenial with each other, but this was the first time my class really socialized outside of class. Some phone numbers were exchanged, mutual love of Clueless and Romy and Michele’s discovered, and there was even a brief Beyonce sing-along (someone said “to the left,” what else was I supposed to do?). I also got the very New York experience of paying $6 for a bottle of Bud Light.
On Saturday I got some homework done as my roommate and his friends held a stoop sale outside our building (the New York version of a garage sale). In the evening I went to the hipsteriest of hipster parties. It was in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area in a commercial space converted into an artsy multi-person apartment (I was invited by one of my classmates who lives there). There were multiple bands, beer from a keg, and throngs of people. I swayed along to the moody retro-sounding band and stared out at all the saggy v-neck T-shirts and handlebar moustaches. I had a great time, and managed to stop myself from drunkenly bidding on too many items in the silent auction (the party was for some cause that I forget, but I was assured that it was “for the children”). When I left, I completed my first solo post-midnight subway ride. For those of you who are my parents, I can calm your fears by saying that there seem to be more people on the subway in the middle of the night than mid-day.
I got up at a reasonable hour on Sunday and decided to go to the Cloisters. One of my professors was giving a presentation about Medieval dress, and a classmate was participating as a live model (about eight hands went up in class when we were asked who would be interested in modeling historic garments, but I had to put mine down when one of the stipulations was knowing a boy who could also be roped in). When I arrived, and had to push myself past a parade of belly-dancers, I was reminded that the demonstration was part of the Medieval fair (faire?) going on that day. Oh man. Aren’t Medieval/Renaissance fairs such a great combo of secretly awesome and embarrassingly stupid? I was filled with a mix of snobbery (so many ridiculous interpretations of historic dress!) and affinity for these exuberantly nerdy Earlham types. It was a great afternoon. I learned about authentic 14th century garb from my professor, fell in love with the Cloisters (again), and successfully resisted the urge to eat some “ye olde fried dough.”
As my final adventure of the weekend, I decided to brave another church. This time it was Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, and it was even more sparsely attended than the Episcopalian place I tried two weeks ago. However, I think that I might actually go back to this one. While the pomp and pageantry of high church is decidedly grim when preformed on a small scale, the personal nature of the Mennonite style works fine even when only 15 people are there. Parts of it were a little lame, but I talked to a bunch of lovely people and they gave me a free jar of honey.
Well, it looks like I rambled on for a long time again. Gold star to you for making it all the way through!
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