Oh my god. It’s been half a day in NYC and sooooo much has already happened!! I feel like those fake essays that I wrote in class 5… “a day I’ll never forget” is suddenly coming true.. I’m scared I’m gonna forget all the juicy details so I’m writing everything down.. you guys probably know by now how much I love to talk!
Okay the craziness started Monday afternoon. The weather is friggin 50F and all I was carrying was tiny shorts!! I manage to recycle my only pair of jeans for day 2 (day 1 was rob’s parents’ house which is a whole other story). I decided to leave home by 2.30 pm so that even a pileup on the freeway gives me enough time to still make it to my 5.45 pm flight (assuming I survive the pileup of course). However, at 2.30 pm I see Rob’s dad enthusiastically checking email forwards and I don’t have the heart to interrupt. I just sit next to him hoping that my presence will somehow remind him of the reason I was there (my ride to the airport!!) but he is too busy enjoying “Rules of being a cowboy” and I continue to chicken out of the deed. At 3 pm I have already given up on the pileup but I still want to outdo a minor wreck. In my smallest voice possible I manage to ask.. ”What LATEST time do you think we could leave and probably make it”.. He gives the most nonchalant unconcerned shrug and decided 3.30pm is good.. no wrecks included. So lots of stuff still happened in the middle but somehow at 3.30 we leave home. There is a fateful detour sign and with the exact same nonchalant shrug he casually informs me, “Don’t think your making that flight”. All through the way he messed with me about how we are a hundred miles from the airport.. we are almost outta gas and the freeway packed with traffic wasn’t helping either.. finally.. luckily I got a text informing me about a one hour delay in the flight.. which is when I started breathing and he (yes with that exact same shrug) tells me that we are ten mins from the airport.. he was kidding for the past 1 hour. Anyhoo… the extra hour gave me a free dinner and bonding time with ex bf’s dad.. pleasant overall. .
I reach the airport.. run to the security in my typical huff n puff way to realize that my backpack is leaking something (it had NO liquid in it.. mystery I am yet to solve) and my butt is soaked. Whatever.. I’m going to NYC and I don’t care!! So I throw my stuff on that conveyor and I can’t get this metallic necklace to come off.. (perfect day to accessorize.. ). They ask me to step into that full body scan thing and it is the most awkward 15 seconds of your life. Your supposed to put your hands like your about to dive into a pool and stand. Then in typical movie slow motion fashion.. she asks me to “step aside”!!! I have watched enough shows to know the next line, ”Officer, what seems to be the problem?”. She says something is ‘abnormal’ and asks me to empty the pockets of my skin tight skinny jeans. The woman had to be blind to imagine I could even fit a safety pin in those pockets. Then she asks me to lift my shirt.. yes in front of everyone so that my waist is exposed.. obviously my only thought is.. “thank god I didn’t eat too much today”. Next comes a hand swab … no idea for what.. and finalllllyyy .. “ma’am your fine”. No kidding! I mutter ‘racial profiling’ under my breath.. and call Rahul to relate the atrocities I was subjected to. As I animatedly describe all of the above.. I heard last call!.. Made it to the flight.. best seats!! Nothing interesting to report till we land. Then when we were waiting for our bags at plane-side.. this basketball-player-tall black guy.. nice looking.. looks at me and walks over interested.. He makes small talk but I politely run.. in mansha’s words ..”man main tho laddu phoot rahe the”.. hahaha.. ok nothing more fun till the airtrain but then there is this obviously European looking guy with a giant backpack sitting next to me.. I can bet he has an interesting story but the airtrain ride is 2 mins. No point making convo. We both get off at same station and jump into waiting subway.. we both realize wrong train and jump back into right train.. we smile n start to talk.. turns out he is a german guy coming from mexico .. visting NYC for a week and going back to Columbia.. yep I’m a sucker for people who travel 3 countries within a week. Decide to be facebook friends.
Phew.. make it to Rahul’s house (after promising the transit bus driver 25c of fare the next day) and I am BLOWN!!.. The view is breaktaking!!.. moron is living in the house of my freakin dreams!!! Interesting highlights of the night: tasting blackberry beer..(decent).. watching how I met your mother season finale.. getting more drunk on gin and cider.. tasting some scotch n then wasting it ( we might save it for next week.. no kidding).. and then between conversations, suddenly it was 5.30 am. We re discussing the gorgeous view from his balcony when he mentions.. “u have to see the flat-iron building (FIB)”..My obvious response is.. “now?” and Rahul being Rahul, his obvious response is “yeah lets go”.. We run out of the house (took us 2 mins to get dressed).. and it is raining.. guess what.. more adventure!!.. Loaded with starbucks.. we actually make our way in what is now a downpour to the FIB. We take pics to prove that we did do this crazy trip at 6 am in the pouring rain to see FIB. Sane people would have decided to not risk pneumonia and head back.. but we decide that we can’t get any wetter and decide to close-window shop on 5th avenue. I trust the local only to be told that we walked ahead of where we have to go.. new plan.. Grand Central Station! We walked (42-24=18) 18 blocks to grand Central in the downpour + thunderstorm and omg it was worth it!.. He showed me the clock on melvin’s head in Madagascar and my trip is complete! We go to the restroom where I take each shoe off at a time to dry with the hand dryer much to the shock some uptight new yorkers. On our way home.. we take the tram!!.. yeah it’s that cable car thing that goes high up on those wires.. It was heaven guys.. I was in heaven.. and so ends my past 16 hours or so.. phew.. will keep u posted as the trip goes on!!
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