*Quick editors note: I am so sorry to have left y'all hanging so long. I cannot remember everything I have done the past 2 weeks, so I may have to leave out a few days due to my poor memory, but dont fret, the big stuff will be noted :)*
Wow... I cannot believe it has been a week since I stepped off the train at Penn Station and into the arms of Manhattan. I certainly feel like it was more than 7 mere days ago. Whereas I dont feel like I have changed much in the last week, I'm sure I have in some ways. I am making a new home here and I am adjusting appropriately to my new environment. I still smile at people, and hold open doors for mama's with strollers but I no longer expect a 'thank you' in return. I still say hello when I pass someone in my building, but I no longer expect to hear a response in English. I guess I am adapting.
I have gotten used to not seeing the same shoppes we had back home and I am slowly getting used to be the neighborhood minority (how odd!) I am learning my way around. Today was a little experiment in Harlem for me (Ini was with me, so all was good). I had heard before I came out here about all the changes in Harlem and the gentrification of this old, cultural hub of a neighborhood. Today I saw it first hand. Local stores being pushed out by national chains like H&M and Foot Locker and McDonalds. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing familiar places (Hello, Target!) but there is something to be said about the generic feeling a neighborhood takes on when everything begins to look like everywhere else. The flavor is lost and all turns to vanilla. It's kind of sad.
What is NOT sad however is the local shopping that is left in the area. The local mega-stores that have sales and prices usually reserved for thrift stores. I have always loved finding great deals, and Harlem's 125th street is amazing for this kind of shopping. I daresay it's cheaper and more fun than Michigan shopping :)
After this amazing extravaganza of rack raking, Ini and I returned uptown to check out a new park we hadn't yet hit up. No clue what it was called, but basically, we found ourselves in a kiddie park complete with slides, monkey bars and rope ladders. Luckily there were benches and we were able to sit down and talk without looking too weird. After a while though no matter how inconspicuous one tries to be the reality of being an adult without children in the middle of a playground starts to make the creeper feeling set in, so we headed home earlier than usual.
Upon getting home I got an email from a gal about my nanny posting on craigslist. WOOHOO!! I could be days away from getting a job! I don't know though because as one of her prerequisites according to HER want ad, which she was polite enough to send me in response to MY want ad, she wants a 'recent color photograph included' in my response. Seems a little odd to me, but we will see, if looking at my purty face makes her want to give me a job, I want to know I at least tried... I'll keep you all posted!
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