Journal Entry #7

Well, I am back. I have quite a lot to say, cuz I have failed to write for so long, so let me get right to it. Last Monday, Benny and I went exploring in New York City; Manhattan to be exact. What a great day that was. We got up early and hit up the Hofstra Spot (a convenience store/deli) on Long Island. I had the ham and cheese biscuit, which I remember being cheap and good, and quite possibly the best cure for a hangover I have ever had, even though I did not have a hangover. After that, we started our drive over to the city. It was Memorial Day, so there was no traffic! How lucky is that? No traffic in New York, which is notorious for having the worst traffic in the US, if not the world. Once we got into the city, we parked off of W49th and Broadway. This was very expensive: 25 bucks for the full day. We later discovered that it may be possible to park for free on one of the side streets, if you have the time and patience to go looking.

First thing we did was go to Times Square. This is the Disney World of marketers, an absolute paradise for anyone studying, working, or interested in marketing. I just finished a class in marketing, so this was a great experiance for me. Bill boards are everywhere, and flyers, along with free samples, are being handed out on every corner. What a place! We even saw the Naked Cowboy, a completely grown man that stands in the middle of times square wearing nothing but a cowboy hat, boots, and tightey whiteys that say Naked Cowboy on the arse. If that were not enough, he has a guitar with which he walks around in the middle of the street, strumming along and playing a tune. What a freak!

From here we hopped on the subway and headed uptown to the famous Central Park. I knew that it was big, but I had no idea how large it was. Probably a couple of square miles of lush, leafy trees and grass, cris-crossed by various trails and paths. On this day everyone was out having a great time, roller-blading, biking, jogging, and walking. We went to the Great Lawn, which reminded me of the beach during spring break with all the people out in their swimsuits taking in some rays. The only difference is that everyone is lying out on the grass rather than by the ocean on sand. The Great Lawn is great, a huge open field with several baseball fields where one can go to play in a pickup game. They are intense about it though, and we almost saw a fight. This guy had a pretty good hit, but when he went for a double, he got tagged out at second. Then all hell broke loose: the guy got up, started screaming in this other guy’s face, while everyone ran up and started arguing. A few of the other people around had to hold the first guy back, and this went on for a few minutes. But then they all went back to normal, playing as if nothing had ever happened. This, I decided, was not as bad as it seemed, just the New York way of saying he thought the other guy was wrong! On our way out of the park, on the south side of the Great Lawn, we walked past some sort of a castle with a small pond in front of it. We stoped for a minute to look in the pond, and saw a couple of turtles. This park is absolutely beautiful I thought; in the middle of this gigantic concrete jungle, there is this huge land of lush greenery where everyone goes to escape the madness of city life. Looking to the south from here we had a great view of all the sky scrappers, and on this bright blue day it looked spectacular.

After the park, we headed downtown. Met a chick named Traci at some bar that we stopped at to use the bathroom. She was a pretty girl from Jersey that was studying art. I love meeting new people, especially pretty girls! From there we went out and saw ground Zero, where the twin towers used to be. Four years after the attack, some of the surrounding buildings are still covered by tarps, so you can really get an idea of all the damage that must have been caused.
We then went down behind the World Financial Institution (or something like that), which was just a couple of blocks away, to see the Statue of Liberty across the harbor. Afterwards, we hit up a taxi cab and headed down to Wall Street, where I grabbed the Wall St. bull by the balls and saw the NYSE. Continuing onward, we went to Chinatown, where we saw a cool bridge and a lot of Chinese people! There was also a concert going on in the Little Italy section that blends into the neighborhood. Chinatown is really cool. There are Chinese symbols everywhere, with a lot of traditional Chinese architecture to be seen. Hustlers are out on all the corners, selling everything from bootlegged DVD’s to counterfeit designer purses.

We finally started heading back to the car, and caught a slice of NY pizza close to Times Square at Famiglias. This was ok pizza in a regular order at the counter kind of pizza atmosphere, with pictures of celebrities lining the walls. I had a slice of pepperoni, which was just average, and then we got back in the car to return to LI.

That night, I hung out at Benny’s bar while he worked and sipped on some Long Island Iced teas. His girlfriend introduced my to Jody, a pretty girl that is originally from Long Island, but had lived in Georgia for a brief period of time. Gave her my card, so maybe I will hear from her someday in the future.

I came back down to GA the following day, same Airtran deal flying out of LaGuardia. No problems again getting on the first flight, but it ended up being full. I am glad I got there ahead of time, as it is important to get your name put on the standby list plenty early! When I arrived, I only spent a day in Macon, and the day before yesterday, continued on down to Florida. Now I am back on the grind. Yesterday, I woke up, exercised and spent the rest of the day running errands. Last night we went out to the Bahasa Lounge. Thursday is Latin night, and man, what a great place. SO MANY LATINAS!!! They have several different rooms, playing everything from salsa to reggaeton. Drinks are kind of pricy, but had a good time overall. Cam home early, just cuz I was so tired.

Today I woke up and hit the gym. Ran 5.5 miles in 55 minutes, then hit the shoulders. I have to go to work soon, so I will talk to you later!