I arrived in NYC today for a month long rotation at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. My sister has graciously offered one half of her full size bed to me for the duration of the month and I could not be more excited to begin this adventure.
I began my first day in Manhattan by getting royally screwed by the "car service" man at LaGuardia. Turns out mom was right about it being a bad idea to get into a dark tinted SUV with a stranger. $55 and 30 minutes later I arrived at 128 W 73rd St...Val's apartment where she single handedly hauled my 70lb rolling bag to the 3rd story apartment front door. She has developed some amazing forearms during her time as a New Yorker.
We were starving and immediately headed to brunch at Alice's Tea Room where Val and I each had our own tiny tea pot full to the top with a lavender earl gray aroma and salmon eggs benedict with buttermilk scones and apple and asparagus sautee. Delish. After we stuffed ourselves we decided we couldn't leave without a cookie, and devoured two inch think peanut butter and oatmeal treats on our way back to 128. As we approached the apartment we noticed the yellow tape of a crime scene and NYCPD protecting soggy piles of money scattered across 73rd street. Immediately we realized this had been a bank robbery...and we were 10 minutes too late for the action. I was definitely nowhere near Kansas anymore.
The rest of our afternoon was spent walking Zampa down to the Hudson and Val doing her best to orient me along the daunting west shore of Manhattan. We also bought a 30 DAY METRO CARD!!! I can't believe I get to be a new yorker for a month! On the way home from the 1-2-3 stop at 72nd Valerie attempted to orient me to the subway system with sentences that to my ears sounded something like..."take the A to the B uptown, cross the 1-2-3 to the M, oh but then you'll have to transfer at the 2-4-5 and absolutely no body wants to transfer at the 2-4-5. So take the D to the 2 and exit downtown then turn left to uptown and over the bridge to the 7. But...whatever you do..don't take the 2-4-5 Blue train. That would ruin everything." I nodded and decided I'd likely be spending 5-6 hours memorizing the manhattan mapquest tonight.
Our evening was likely the most new york night possible. We put on our dresses and had wine at 128 then took one of the above mentioned trains to a Turkish restaurant in the upper east side. Zucchini pancakes are my new fetish. The Turkish have something good going on there. After our fill of pancakes and Turkish wine we walked to 55th to pick up our will call tickets for Susan Marshall Dance Company's modern dance exhibit. Turns out no one at 55th as ever heard of Susan Marshall as the correct address for Susan is somewhere around 19th St. So down town we went. All I can say about Susan is that she makes teacups and feathers look like the sexiest items you've ever seen. I think you may just have to see the show to understand. No worries about getting tickets. You're likely to be one of twenty people at the show.
After we had our fill of feathers we walked uptown to Oak Bar to meet Mary and Katie (Val's cute roomies) and a couple of other NYC girls. This is a place that even the term swanky insults. Val and I maneuvered our way through the tape to the door guard who managed to calculate our material worth with one look and ask us suspiciously if we were on the guest list. Valerie looked him right back and said, "ha. No." And he let us in.
Due to the absurdity of the next few hours of my life, I'm not entirely sure that they occurred. However I will recount the events as I believe they happened. Val and I were busy putting the moves on a non-English speaking, cardigan clad male when suddenly Hilary Duff pushed through the crowd with her mom, pop, body guard and BFF/Boyfriend stealer, Nicole Richie. For 2 hours we danced around Hilary's table and learned original Ace of Base choreaography from the cardigan guy. And at the end of the evening we sang happy birthday to Miss Duff as bartenders paraded around her booth with sparklers and thick slices of pink cake. I have attached a pic of Val, Katie and I at the Oak. I will add more pics soon.
So it's 4am and we're back at 128 and i'm sitting here amazed at the inaugerel events of my first 24hrs as a new yorker. But even more amazing is the location of the blister I have developed between my 3rd and 4th toes of my left foot. I'm afraid it may be the first of many. This is gonna be amazing.
