What a small world, especially as crowded as NYC is this time of year. While conversing with her we realized that her granddaughter is also a student at my school.
On Saturday evening we met up with a college friend of mine YaVonda Hall, who was in the city with her son and friend for the evening.
We had pizza together and then went out for dessert. She said she had a sore throat from talking so much. It requires full on chatter to catch up on 30 years of life in one night. We left them and didn't make it back to our apt. until after midnight.
The next morning we went to church at Brooklyn Tabernacle. There was a waiting line, but this time the weather was no longer perfect as it had been. It was warm and muggy and standing on the hot street for 30 to 45 minutes was tiring. Jerry and I were especially tired Sunday too. While standing in line I watched a woman walk by talking out of her mind about vampires and using foul language. She was talking to no visible person, but obviously there was someone she saw that others did not. In addition, there was a guy begging for money from the people in line for church. He made sure he said "God Bless You" before asking for money. I always feel an uncomfortable feeling when people are begging. I really want to help and feel sick if I walk away and don't help. However, I also have questions and thoughts about what they are really doing with the money. Sometimes I feel I miss opportunities to help others by wasting time with the many thoughts and questions I have at the moment the person is asking for help. I want to be sensitive to the spirit to know the difference or know how to help. I saw a girl in the subway the other night looking in her wallet and she burst into tears. She was young. We were in a hurry and walked on through the turn stalls to the subway. I've had regrets for not talking to her and asking if I could help. It made me think of my own child and how I would want someone to help her if she were in need.
The service was wonderful. It felt like a Pentecostal revival like we had growing up in the Church of God of Prophecy. One of the other staff ministers, Tim Dilena, preached and he was wonderful. He spoke about knowing how God speaks to us when we need answers. He emphasized the importance of reading the word for direction. He quoted someone with a very true and thought provoking statement "the less people read the bible, the more it is translated". His message was meaningful to me and it reaffirmed what I know, that when I'm reading and studying the bible, all decisions and answers to questions are more clear.
After church we visited Juniors for lunch again. It's funny how as we acclimate to an environment we become creatures of habit again. At home for some reason we frequent the same few restaurants on certain days of the week, especially on Sundays. Actually we planned to stay close by the church because I wanted to shop at a particular store in downtown Brooklyn. Downtown Brooklyn is definitely an inner city environment with some of the negative features that you find in the inner city. However, I really enjoy the downtown area.
The sidewalks are wide and all the stores you typically find in the mall as well as hip hop stores are all on the Main Street. The street is actually called Fulton Street Mall. When we enter church the streets are fairly quiet, but when we leave they are bustling with people and food and loud music.
I've read the best way to see NYC is to walk the streets. We've definitely walked and walked and walked and walked and ridden busses and subways. NYC is definitely the most diverse city I've ever visited. Going from one area of the city to another area or neighborhood as referred to by NYers is like entering a different country. It isn't uncommon to hear people speaking other languages. Often you can ask questions or try to have conversations in English and the person to which you are speaking doesn't speak English. You can also speak "southern" and they also don't understand what you are saying. No lie, people here really have a hard time understanding me. I also have difficulties understanding most of them too even though they are supposedly speaking English. Brunilda, from my church says its not English, they are speaking New York.
We've visited several areas of the city now by walking. We've been to Chinatown, Little Italy, Chelsea, Tribecca, Battery Park City, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Morningside Heights, Lower East side, East Village, West Village, Midtown, Theater District, Garment District and Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights. We hope to visit Queens and Staton Island and possibly Hoboken, NJ in our next two weeks. In addition, we've also visited several parks. The ones I can remember are Bryant Park, Central Park, Hudson River Park, Battery Park, Washington Square Park, Herald Square, Morningside Park, Riverside Park, Brooklyn Promenade, Columbus Park and several others I cannot remember.
I've been sick for a couple of days now. I thought I was better and went back to normal eating and got sick again. Today we have done nothing. Jerry is napping while I write this blog. I hope rest helps us make it through the next two weeks.
This has been a great trip. As most of you know I love NYC and my feelings have not changed about this city. I still love it. However, I've been asked if I still want to live in NYC. I have a confession to make and it may disappoint many who have loved my love of NYC. I confess I do not want to live in NYC. Maybe in a younger life I would have fit right in, but at almost 50 I don't think I would love it every day. While NYers are nice and helpful, my observations of their day to day life seems a little depressing. They don't interact much with one another as they go through their day to day routines. I understand completely because they spend so much time working and transporting to and from places that the blank stare on the subway makes sense.
Now that the shock factor is over for me I feel I do the same thing on the subway. They don't seem to have downtime at all. They snack and eat on the busses and subways, eat standing up and walk fast everywhere they go. They are very fit people because they walk so much. It really is rare to see many overweight people walking the streets and climbing the subway stairs. I'm sure they are here but they are getting around some other way. When they shop they have to carry large bags on busses and subways. Last night we saw a girl on the subway carrying a full length mirror. I've seen people with large speakers, tables, etc.
Can you imagine carrying these things for several blocks? Although there are so many options for food and entertainment, I've listened to conversations and had conversations with many locals who say they don't go outside of their designated neighborhood or work area much. Many NYers haven't visited the places I've been in the few visits I've made to this city. I can actually tell them about places they don't know about themselves even after being here their entire lives. I miss the privacy of my car. That time on my way home from work is peaceful and all mine. I miss southern hospitality. NYers are helpful, even nice, but they lack the same level of consideration that we own in the south. For example, when walking the streets, they do not step aside for anyone. I have tested it to see if they would move over if I didn't and they don't. They will plow you over without thinking twice. Everything is crowded and tight. You have so little space everywhere. Bathrooms are tiny, Cafes and restaurants are small and packed. You will always be seated right next to someone if not at the same table. The extras we get are not available here like refills on drinks, chips and salsa with your order, etc. Although the food is plentiful some specifics stand out here and it's Italian, Asian and Deli food. There is no Mexican restaurant on every corner. The soul food doesn't hold a candle to the food in the south. The pizza on the other hand is awesome. The cheesecake is the best you will ever taste. It's a good thing people walk here or they would all weight 500lbs. The smells of food is everywhere. You want to eat when you are already full.
I love visiting other places and am always fascinated by the way other people live their lives. I love experiencing a different way of life and hope to be able to experience even more places throughout my lifetime, but this trip has helped me appreciate what I already have at home. I appreciate the green space available right outside my front and back doors. I appreciate my big bathtub, my moderate sized home that is mansion sized in NYC. I like that southerners will strike up a conversation with anyone and everyone. I like that a man will give up his seat for a lady. Jerry and I were talking and laughed thinking about how noisy the subway would be if you filled it with southerners. Can you imagine the conversation? I also miss the cleanliness of my own town. It's hard to keep a place this size clean. Riding subways and busses just makes you feel nasty.
Going down under ground via stairs and stairs and stairs with millions of people and standing on a crowded subway when the seats are packed is only fun as an experience, not a way of life.
Cindy Pafford
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