Jenavene came to visit me today. I can't tell you how good it felt to see such a familiar face in a place where you pass millions of people you have never seen before, and will likely never see again. I met her by the theatre playing Young Frankenstein on 42nd Street and then we went to Chinatown to meet up with Jonathan Prim. After a quick tour of his dorm and neighborhood, we grabbed some lunch and parted ways. Jenavene was brave enough to venture out to Brooklyn with me. She helped me put together what will hopefully be the last piece of IKEA furniture I will have to assemble for many years, and then we decided to go exploring...Manhattan, not Brooklyn, as the latter could be hazardous to our health.
We opted to go for some coffee and to Central Park, which I had only briefly experienced before. You would think that in a city where over 100 Starbucks and countless other coffee companies reside that it would be pretty simple to find one. Apparently not when you actually need one, because Starbucks suddenly became the Where's Waldo of coffee companies when we were desperate for a caffeine fix. On our quest to find coffee we had to cross such streets as Park Avenue and Madison Avenue. I felt my ten dollar Charlotte Rousse flats blush at the very thought of being worthy enough to share pavement with the priciest of stores. One day maybe I'll actually go in a store and not feel bad about dropping a month's rent on a pair of Jimmy Choo's.
After Starbucks, we set out to Central Park. I decided that I want to turn my own photography into posters for my room, so I brought my camera along. The first place we wanted to find was the famous Alice in Wonderland sculpture...I know I have a problem. We found it and I took some pictures. I got a really cute one of a father and his 2 year old daughter dancing around the statue and another of them playing on it. When we left the statue, we took a wrong turn and ended up in "The Ramble", which is kind of like a hiking trail that has lots of dead ends and twists and turns. It's the part you're really supposed to stay out of at night. Somehow, we found our way out of the maze and found ourselves at the Bow Bridge. It's gorgeous. It was at this point that I noticed something missing. Not my wallet, thank goodness. It was noise. I guess I have already become very accustomed to the racket of NYC, and then all of a sudden it was like I was back home. It also helped that occasionally it smelled like horse manure because of the carriage rides :) I never believed the stuff being said about being able to find a peaceful, calming place in the middle of such an energetic city, but I was wrong. I think I will be going back to that bridge for some R & R whenever I get claustrophobic or overwhelmed.
Over the river and through the woods, we came to the Angel Tunnel and the Bethesda Fountain. We were trying to find Strawberry Fields so we sat down in Angel Tunnel to check out our map. All of a sudden, one of the musicians started playing "Imagine" by John Lennon. Movie moment anyone? We were in Central Park for about 2 hours and didn't even cover a quarter of it.
We never found Strawberry Fields, but I thought a lot about the lyrics of John Lennon's song. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." And I realized that even though I will never meet the overwhelming majority of the sea of people I pass everyday, most people are in this city because, like me, they have a dream. Not only do they have a dream, but they love to dream. Hope lives here. And I suppose it made me feel a little less alone knowing that.
It's going to be a little hard to say goodbye to Jen tomorrow. Donna sent me an encouraging card and a batch of cookies to welcome me into my new place. It felt kind of strange not to be starting school today with everyone, but everyday in this city I feel more and more assured that this is where I need to be. It just feels right. Since all of the apartment decoration is slowing down quite a bit, I'm finally about to start living the city life. I promise that pictures are coming soon, be patient just a little longer!
1 comment:
Oh Lindsey, it is so amazing to hear (well, read is more appropriate I guess) how life is going for you. Brandon and I were talking about dreams last night and I was telling him how much I admire you. You have a dream and, unlike so many others who sit around their whole life wishing and wondering what could've/would've been, you went out and pursued it. You're one of so little that really go for what they want in this world. No matter what happens (although I know such awesome things must be in store for you!), you're the one that can always know you did it. You tried. And that means so much more than those thoughts of always wondering the "what ifs" in life. You're an inspriation to me, dear sister-I-didn't-have-but-am-now-so-blessesd-by! I love you very much and miss you. Let's have coffee when you come home, whenever that may be. :)
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