Perspective

My first night in New York was a like walking into a movie. I had seen the skyscrapers, admired the endless streams of yellow taxis, and had marveled over the fast-paced steps of New York's sidewalk commuters from from the big screen. Most of the time while watching very silly romantic comedies like The Proposal. But I had never inserted myself into the chaos.

My first impression of the city was that it was almost the same as seeing it on the screen...except that it wasn't. It was dirtier, louder, smellier, and bigger than I had ever imagined. Oh yes. And it was absolutely FAN-TASTIC!

This was a picture I took of my very first taxi ride which was very expensive and very bumpy. Also our driver was wearing a turban, a fact that I love and just have to mention. Please note that I do look slightly crazed in this photo. This could be because of two things. One, I'd been eating a lot of Skittles at the airport while my friend and I waited for our other friend to arrive. Or two, I tend to portray a crazed look in most of my pictures, which is why I relish the ones where I look normal.

After our taxi dropped us off at our hotel, we set about getting set up for the week. The first thing that we did when we got to our room was rip back our thick, soundproof curtains to get a look at our view.

We were pleasantly surprised and immediately set about to welcome our new neighbors. Umm...the ones that had a direct view into our temporary living quarters the moment we peeled back our curtains. Needless to say, they were not as eager as we were to meet their acquaintance... and we kept our curtains closed most of the time. 

After freshening up, we decided that the Skittles we had inhaled at the airport were not sufficient and decided to go out to eat. Who am I kidding? We were DYING to get out of that room and explore our new surroundings. The first night we decided on Italian, and I ordered the best lasagna I have ever eaten in my life. My mom went to Italy last year and said that she had the same experience, so I'm guessing that the man that made her lasagna moved to New York this year because let me tell you, it was the real deal. I only wish that I'd taken a picture of it. 

That first night I learned from my friends that all the restaurants in New York are given a grade by the Health Department and that they only recommend eating in places where the letter A rests proudly in the window, a small tidbit that we sadly forgot to check one night.

After eating at the restaurant, we stopped at a market and all got a gelato cone, which we proceeded to eat as we walked down street after street, admiring the nightlife of the city and soaking in the freedom that was ours. It immediately became clear to me that this was a strange and foreign land. And all too soon I realized that while New York was so much bigger than I had ever imagined, the television shows it hosts, like The Today Show, for example, are not. I quickly relearned the idea of perspective, and realized yet again that seeing the same thing from a different view can drastically change your opinion. 

I can't leave this post without posting my picture with the naked window man. You see my friend Danylle got a picture at BEA of her standing in a group of real handsome young men--who were wearing white beaters and tight jeans--from the erotica section of the book conference. And my other friend, Rachel got her own picture with a pair of half-naked, black-winged angel boys who were walking around promoting Becca Fitzpatrick's book, Hush Hush. (I'm making the conference sound more racier than it actually was.) Sadly, this window man is all have. But I'll post him proudly because I actually look normal and this picture just makes me smile.