Comenzando la aventura...

And before I know it, I’m on the move again. The 11 days in New York since Bangladesh have flown by, and now I find myself in a very familiar setting: the airport.

New York was fantastic, as always, full of amazing people and bizarre goings-on. Take my past weekend for example...
Friday’s thunderstorms delayed both Julia and Christina’s journeys into the city. Tapas at a dimly lit brick walled SoHo restaurant pushed back to 9:30pm. Which was perfect timing because by 11:30pm, they had cleared away the tables to reveal a dance floor full of cocktail-sipping minglers. Christina and I danced as the DJ spun sets from our Spanish past. We left the bar and my feet, unaccustomed to high heals, went barefoot all the way home.

Waffle breakfast and stillsleepy eyes led to a midday nap. Nate, the knight in shining Volvo, pulled up to the Upper West Side. Preparations were underway for my going away potluck. Delicious aromas radiated from the kitchen. Humus with pita and veggies, broccoli rabe and onion quiche, cheesecake bars, salad with a Dijon vinaigrette dressing, and sangria (of the red AND white varieties)! All homemade.

The mix of people at the gathering was eclectic. My elementary school, middle school, high school, and college years were all represented. The night eased into colorful puzzles and we were left with only a few people. Two decisions were made: find Whitney and roofparty.
Both were accomplished to great success. Whitney and Mark met us in Union Square bearing a gift of fantastic vegan cake. I love that girl; it’s been way too long. Catching up ensued and colorful terminology was invented that night.









Roof party was a lot of belligerentstockbrokertypesincollaredshirtsdrinkingbadbeer. So Whitney, Patrick, Nate, the occasional whoaisthatahookah?! person, and myself managed to sit off to the side and have our own awesome party within the lame spectacle around us. The night was crystal clear and the moon was full; time flew by without drawing our attention. Toasted bagel with cream cheese at the Palestinian deli before bed at 5:30am.

Sunday morning brought more bagels. Note: I would eat New York bagels all day everyday if I could. We said goodbye to Nate; see you in Ecuador!

It’s 8pm, I get out of the subway at Union Square to find a huge crowd of kids dancing. Just dancing, no music. Intrigued, I approach to find that everyone has their headphones on and is dancing to their own beat. This, I find out, is a silent rave. People meet in a common area and groove to their own secret music. There are glow sticks involved and every so often the crowd would let out a collective yaaaaaay only then to go back to silent dancing. Patrick and I were ipodless, but danced anyway. The 9-11 conspiracy theorists and other disgruntled folks grabbed the megaphone at the open mic. If you closed your eyes and made a mashup of it all, it went something like this: Your government is responsible for the deaths and deception of millions of people… Yaaaaaaaay!... Anthrax is still a threat… some girl in a banana costume runs by screaming. This is why I love New York.

When we tired of the scene we found Whitney at her job waitressing at an organic vegan restaurant. Everything on the menu looked fantastic and, when the food came to our table, Patrick and I were filled with tastebud ecstacy. It was that good.

We then roamed the streets with a bottle of chardonnay in search of Patrick’s ipod ending up at a hookah bar. Liz meets us and we sit smoking hookah, drinking colorful fruit juices and watching the Olympics. Whitney and Mark bike to find us. And it’s one last hug. But you know what? I’m not at all sad because I know that these friends of mine are friends for life. They are some of the best people I know and there’s no doubt that I’ll be seeing them later. So this is a “see ya later, alligator.”

Errands, packing and cleaning keep me busy on takemymalariapill Monday. My mom and I, vaccinated and excited, hop in a cab to Newark. I’m not surprised when our flight is delayed and multiple babies wail. I write this several thousand feet up in the air from seat number 21C. Panama, brace yourself.


Newest Edition to my Blog:

Food Highlights:
The cleaning out the fridge meal. Lettuce, parsley, tomato, cucumber, carrots, sunflower seeds, whitefish salad, humus, Dijon vinaigrette dressing, goat cheese and pickled beats. It may not sound it, but it was tremendously delicious!