Day 1: Arrival in New York

The airlines successfully got me and my luggage to New York in perfect time! As we flew in, I saw about 20 baseball fields in about two minutes- they seem to like that sport here! I managed to find my M60 bus at the airport, pay with coins, and get my gigantic luggage on board. There was a helpful man who I think of as the Luggage Hero who helped me and others keep our bags in order on the rack, as he let me know I’d be on the bus for a while to get to my stop. It was about a 45 minute ride. I kept looking out the window, noticing the hominess New Yorkers create within their small sections of land with flowering trees and bushes and kids riding bikes between tall housing buildings. Another kind man pointed out where my stop would be, and after disembarking and some slightly confused street-crossings with Neta directing me by phone, I found my way down the street where she buzzed me into her Harlem apartment- it’s a pretty, cozy place on this urban corner!

For a first impression, New Yorkers are very friendly! I’m glad I wasn’t afraid to bus it alone- having traveled in places where people speak other languages, this wasn’t so bad at all! We soon headed to Archie’s place, which is where five of us Gators are staying together the next three weeks. When Lindsay arrived at Neta's, we hauled our luggage back down five flights and over to Archie’s by train. We figured out that buying three weeks of 7-day MTA passes is most cost effective for getting around the city. It looks like I’ll be learning to use the trains pretty well these few weeks!

With about five different subway trains on my new unlimited pass, Neta, Lindsay and I made it to Bravo and Archie’s Brooklyn place which is disguised as a law office for rent. It’s a very urban area- we took some more trains and walked a while to get an early dinner at The New Apollo Diner, and returned to find a grocery store. We ended up walking to a nearby C Town to get some basics to hold us for a while. We’ll see about going to class tomorrow morning before our first rehearsal- I’m thinking yoga, since I hear it’s cheap and I’m in the mood for that. Time to call family and let them know how it’s been so far!