March 9, 2013. 11:58 PM Eastern Standard Time
So I left New York today, at 2 PM, from Penn Station. Last night was most definitely a night for the ages! What send off from New York!! I can officially say that I am obsessed with that city. It's like in "Definitely, Maybe": it's the energy, the people; you're gonna love it here! ... Of course, at that point, Ryan Reynolds's character's girlfriend astutely notes that he's probably never going back to their small town; that New York has irrevocably changed him and she doesn't know how to feel about it.
That is kind of how I feel. I don't know how to explain it, but something about New York was a turning point. I'm not sure what, right now, but coming to Boston, slowing down after seven straight days of epic... I can feel something different about myself. I guess what they say about travel and change is true. You'll go back to what things used to be, only to see the ways you've changed yourself. Hopefully I like the change that's happened in this past week. I won't really know until I get back home to Los Angeles.
Anyways, many thanks to Mr. Raymond and the members of the Covenant House community for letting me stay and witness a little bit of what they do day to day. And many thanks to all my friends that I met/met up with in New York. You all made it an unforgettable experience; I can't wait to go back and visit again.
But here I am in Boston now, even though I know this post isn't going to see the interwebs for a little while. Met up with my Kairos sister, Jenn, who is doing City Year in this lovely city. So far it's a pretty cool city (literally and figuratively) and I can't wait for tomorrow and Monday!
--Tiffany
March 12, 2013. 9:47 AM Eastern Standard Time
Well, it's just about that time. =/ I leave for the West Coast in less than two hours; I should get into LAX at about 7:20 tonight, after a layover in Tennessee. Goodness knows that this trip has probably the most eventful one I've ever been on, and I will ALWAYS love the East Coast to bits and pieces.
I'm currently sitting in Logan International Airport's Southwest Gate, waiting for my flight. There's definitely a slight sense of melancholy; these past twelve days have been quite the unexpected experience. I can't help but think about how strange timing can be in this age, how this age of information and travel has encouraged the possibility of meeting people, connecting with people that, in another time, you would never, ever have any likelihood of getting to know.
I remember absent-mindedly mentioning to E last year while we were driving somewhere: "My life is a hilarious series of almosts."
That's what this vacation has felt like, a series of almosts, a series of things that almost happened, that did, but didn't happen, and have irrevocably forced a ripple in my future. Who would have thought that a relaxing get-away could be so helpful in being decisive for the future?! I am happy though. I feel like I see things more clearly; where I am right now isn't so much of a rut as it is the wilderness between the separate paths in the road. I just need to choose which path I want to take and put myself on course to get out of the brush.
Gah. Enough with the philosophical-ness. It's crazy to think what I've accomplished in less than two weeks! Look, the basic breakdown is this:
Fri., March 1: Flew to NYC, night out in Astoria
Sat., March 2: Times Square (in the day time, and in the middle of the night), High Line Park, Battery Park, learning the subway
Sun., March 3: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Central Park (and a Harlem Shake), the Met, the Strand Bookstore
Mon., March 4: NY Harbor Tour, including going past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and under the Brooklyn Bridge, seeing the Bowling Green Bull Netflix movie night (with a new addiction to pistachios)
Tues., March 5: Grand Central Station O_O, lunch with Andrew from SJC, attempt at rush tickets to Wicked, Times Square again, real NYC seafood, and Wreck-It Ralph movie night pt. 1
Wed., March 6: epic journey out to Princeton, seeing my cousin, and really entertaining conversation with Ray's housemates
Thurs. March 7: walking the Brooklyn Bridge, Indian food for lunch (yum!), seeing the Washington Square arch, people watching in Grand Central, attempt #1 at going up the Empire State Building, and movie night (Jack the Giant Slayer)
Fri. March 8: lunch with Andrew from SF, checking out Ray's work at Covenant House, attempt #2 at going up the Empire State Building (successful), epic night out in Astoria w/ my SeaGoat Buddy
Sat. March 9: train up through Connecticut and Rhode Island to get to Boston, wandering around Copley Square and having a really mature snowball fight at 9 PM, Wreck-It Ralph movie night pt. 2
Sun. March 10: going up to the North End and the Boston Commons and a bunch of tombstones of Revolutionary Era people, seeing New England's really impressive Holocaust Memorial, hanging out with good friends, going to an Evangelical Covenant service, and eating at Legal Sea Food and Mike's Pastries
Mon. March 11: wandering to the Boston Museum of Science, going to the Gardner Museum with one of my cousins, seeing Fenway Park, and having dinner and Georgetown cupcakes with my cousin, and Wreck-It Ralph movie night pt. 3
I've accomplished a lot! And I'm really going to miss this place, and all the crazy hustle-bustle of the big cities (NY more than Boston), and the hilarious spread out college-townsieness (Boston more than NY). This place... is definitely something magical.
I can't wait to come back ^_^
--Tiffany
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