New York...after 3 days...

I'm on a roll today, so I figured I would just keep right on rolling and start a blog about some of my experiences here in the Big Apple. First of all, I think they call it that because there are a lot of apple farms in upstate New York, and I imagine they ship them out of the city, or distribute them here within. Thus a presence of a lot of apples, and hence the name. On another note, I find it incredible, as with this first example, that everything I have ever heard about in the news or through "popular" culture now has a very tangible manifestation! For example, Broadway Ave, Park Place, the Empire State Building (for which the line this morning was over an hour wait), Times Square, Wall Street, Harlem, the Bronx, Queens, Spanish Harlem, the Statue of Liberty and the WTC memorial, both of which I plan to see before school starts next Wednesday!!! It is incredible how obsessed our culture is with New York and all that it is. We see it everywhere, on shirts, in the news, people throw around terms like Broadway in conversations never having seen the street or experienced a play there!!! Believe you me, I have not internalized everything and am now trying to talk down on people who have done that, I have done it myself, thus even further reiterating the point that in many ways our culture idolizes this place.

Why? Well my hypothesis is that it is one of the largest, and at the same time most efficient cities in the world. Everyone has a job here, and all the people together make it work. In some ways it is a beautiful thing, yet in others it is difficult to look at a lot of the billboards and advertisements that promote low moral values, and give insight into the drive that makes many people here run around like they do. Money. That seems to be the answer to everything to many here. I spoke with a man yesterday, originally from the Bronx, but having family in Puerto Rico. Many times his family has invited him to come back down and see them, but his answer has been, I can't, I have bills to pay, I can't take off work for that long and make the expense to come down. Interesting I daresay, that now life is no longer about seeing the family and spending time with them, but instead about paying the bills to be able to stay in a place where the bills are never-ending and far from cheap. To give you an idea, although tuition here is cheaper than at Iowa State, my rent will be $650/month, and I am still almost 45 minutes away from the center of the city!!! No wonder people have to work so much to stay here, but why do they stay here? The convenience, the diversity, the ability to buy anything from anywhere in the world? But what are any of these worth in the end?

Don't get me wrong, I love it here and for all of those reasons too. But at the end of the day, I will walk away, having had the experience, enjoyed it, but knowing that true happiness lies outside the rat race. Because as a wise man once said, "Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat..."

Tim

New York

Hey y'all, I'm in New York flippin' city as of today at 6pm Eastern Standard Time. How does it feel? Well not all that different from anywhere else I have been although everyone here is very friendly, but short. I have already met plenty of people in my apartment, but I get the sense that everybody has somewhere else to be and I make their day a little more stressful because I would like to talk for more than three seconds. But such is life here I suppose. Tomorrow I look forward to meeting with a friend for an apartment in the Bronx, way north of where I am sitting right now in Astoria, which is a part of Queens. This apartment has great location, the neighborhood full of people from all over the place though if I had to pick a dominant nationality at this point I would say Greek. I really would have looked to have been able to make it to mass tonight, but that was not in God's plan I suppose as Amtrak ran three hours late getting into Penn Station, downtown New York City.

A few opinions, the Empire State Building does not look as majestic in real life from what I could tell, people like healthy tips, there are restaurants everywhere, including anything from Latin American to Greek to soul food to corner markets where they will make you a sandwich for a buck. Right down from my apartment there is a supermarket owned by an Asian family of whom I met David the cashier who works only on Sundays, and there are two laundromats. Tomorrow I explore the possibilities of the New York subway, there are two stops within five minutes walking distance of where I am staying. Oh and cockroaches really aren't that bad, especially when they are particularly small and stay away from your food. And the tenants who preceded me whom I met today are a nice family, but they really are quite forgiving when it comes to the landlord. But as a woman who lives in the same place told me, those who find apartments in Astoria generally stay where they are!!! We'll see about that.

The biggest struggle I could see having here would be the boredom, and/or loneliness. Yeah I know that sounds ironic, but every single door in the apartment is closed and I can hear TV's blaring behind the sadly-painted wood. Some people actually do wander aimlessly as I have discovered so I suppose I will have to get to know more people like that. Such a see and be seen city, I do not know if I can take it, but I do plan to go for a run tomorrow to get to know the city better as well as attend mass in the local area, at a place called either St. Francis of Assisi or Our Lady of Mt. Carmel of which there are at least 20 of the same name here!!!

Forgive me for going skindeep, but for the moment I am left quite in awe of actually being here and the realities of living will be to come. Please keep me in your prayers that I might find a more permanent living situation, especially with a Catholic host family or something similar. I have some contacts, but anyone you know who might know of something could always be helpful as well. Know that you are all in my prayers, for it is ultimately He who cares for us all!!!

Tim

Nueva York

Mañana salgo para ir a la Ciudad, la Manzana Grande; casi no puedo creer que es verdad, que es realidad. Nunca he vivido en una ciudad q tenia mas que 2 millones de personas y aun en este caso solo estaba alla en Arequipa con todos ustedes que son los unicos que pueden leer este email!!! Bueno, me parece un poco diferente de lo que he visto antes y que va a exigirme mucho. Pero ya he encontrado una iglesia catolica cerca de donde vivire algunos dias antes de que encuentre algo mas permanente. Ahora vivo en Queens, en la parte de ella que se llama Astoria entonces se puede buscar en una mapa de Google o lo que sea si te interese. Estoy ambo emocionado y nervioso pero veremos lo que pase. Voy a pasar de Chicago a Nueva York en un tren que es la moda de transportacion que a mi me encanta y ya tengo un nuevo celular con que pueda mantener contacto con todos los que son los mas importantes en mi vida. Pero tambien tendre una linea fijada para que ustedes tambien me pueden contactar si necesitan. Gracias a todos para sus emails tan lindos, nos me ha gustado bastante y lastimo que no he sido buen muchacho en contestarse pero se prometo que cambie cuando ya tengo internet mas acesible. Bien, se extraño mucho, y se contare cuando he fijado mis planes para regresar a mi segundo hogar con ustedes en Arequipa!!! Vayan siempre con Dios amigos y hermanos!

Tim