Leave the Path

It’s Monday. We got back from New York last night. I haven’t written about the last couple days of the trip, so I guess now is the time:

Friday started out a miserably dreary and rainy day. Emre and I took the subway (aka the “train”, but not the “underground” or “metro”) to Manhattan after Liz left. We walked around in Greenwich village looking for a coffee shop, feeling crummy because of the grey weather. After the coffee, though, things started to look up. We spent most of the day around NYU. We walked several from the coffee shop to a park to meet Liz for lunch, stopping in at dozens of cute little vintage shops on the way (didn’t get anything – too expensive and mostly tiny sizes). The streets in the village are wide and open, and most of the buildings are four stories or less, giving it this much more open, airy feeling than midtown. The buildings are a mix of old and new, crumbling and refurbished. All about the streets there are college kids and quirky intellectuals. Coffee shops and used book stores abound. I could live here easily.

For lunch Liz took us to a little Ethiopian place in a basement near the university. The food was excellent, served with plentiful sour spongy bread – the trademark of Ethiopian cuisine and a personal favorite of mine. From there, we walked Liz to a meeting a few blocks north, and then Emre and I continued into midtown. We walked all the way up to the H+M across from Macy’s, and waited around for Jadrian. These chilly first days of Autumn inspired me to buy a sweater. I’d just paid when we heard from Jadrian and went out to meet him. Together, the three of us walked back south, had a coffee, then walked to near the Flatiron building, where we met up with Liz and a couple of friends. All together, the five of us decided to go to a bar for a happy-hour drink. Between our meeting place and the bar, we passed a huge commotion, with 5-6 police cars and several fire trucks and ambulances. All of those emergency people stood around, sirens on but looking bored. A police helicopter circled around overhead for another hour or so. We think it may have been some sort of drill. We walked through the middle of it (not my idea) and there didn’t actually seem to be any excitement.

The bar was neat, with a private little back garden surrounded by residential and commercial buildings of (only) three floors. After the beer, Liz’s two friends headed off and we remaining four traveled back south into the village for an off-off-Broadway show called Line. Liz’s friend Kelly (she came with Liz when she visited me in Grenoble, so I knew a little about her already) caught up with us along the way. The show was absolutely terrible, in my opinion. It’s the longest running off-off-Broadway show at 30 something years, and I honestly don’t see the appeal. The story was metaphorical/absurdist. The characters are all waiting around for something, standing in a line. The one female character engages in “dancing” with all of the other characters, including her nervous, abusive husband. One character unsuccessfully tries to suicide. There are giant gaps in the logic of the piece. There are confusing references based on time. Most of the acting was very poor, unconvincing and awkward. The subject was both boring and uncomfortable. The real highlight of the show was the 83 year old lady who ran the tiny theatre (maybe 20 seats in the house, less than half full that night counting the five of us.)

After the show we trotted uptown again (Liz and Jadrian are both natural speed-walkers so it was quite a pace.) The MoMa is free Friday evenings, and we slipped in about an hour before they closed. I absolutely loved the museum. It houses priceless and highly influential modern works, from Matisse to Worhal. I was sort of shocked to see so many pieces I studied in books in person in one place. We ran through in an hour, but I could have easily been there a week. I guess that’s something to go back for. [In honor of the highly stylized, abstract quality of modern art, I’ve got a really blurry impressionistic photo. Totally intentional…]

After the museum, we rode the subway back south to NYU. We went back to Think! Café (same one from the morning) and played Scrabble for a few hours. I won, mostly on luck. Then we went out to find a pub. We were unsuccessful. We did however find a real, live Turkish doner shop, with a really pissy Turkish proprietor. I got a delicious kebab pita and then accidentally overloaded it with super-spicy harissa sauce. My mouth burned for hours. It was good though. Then we went to the Fat Black Pussy Cat, a nightclub with a chic Victorian billiards room feel and low lighting that reminded me very much of Vieux Manoir, one of our old haunts in Grenoble. Jadrian’s friends met us there. We got a few drinks. I tried the house specialty. Jadrian told Jadrian-type stories, notable in that his head opens up like a muppet when de does impressions. Sometimes Liz told Liz-type stories, with lots of hand movements. It was really great. At some point well after midnight, we decided to head back out to the apartment in Brooklyn.

The easiest train to take had stopped running, so we took another one and had to walk more from the stop to the house. I thought my legs would collapse underneath me from exhaustion. I vaguely remember Liz and Jadrian skipping. We all crashed back at the house and woke up late the next morning.

Jadrian had to head back to RI, but first we all had breakfast. Emre ran out and bought pancake mix and made us some of the fluffiest hot cakes I’ve ever seen. It was excellent. After Jadrian took off, Liz, Emre and I, all a little disoriented and hung over, walked to the local park. We laid on a blanket and played Boggle for a few hours (Emre did really well. It amazes me how many new English words he’s learned. One smart cookie…)

After a little grilled cheese and soup, we were headed back into Manhattan to meet Jerch for cupcakes at a place called Magnolia Bakery. The line for cupcakes, however, was so long that it stretched around the block and we said nevermind. We went to another café, instead, and caught up on old times and new lives. Jerch seems to be doing pretty well with his job at Sutherby’s. (I must say I’m a little jealous of all of these new adventures at life in the big city.) We also talked a little about people, places, things, etc. Kelly joined us with the intention of going contra dancing. After all of the excitement, however, we were all dead tired and chose not to go. We walked around town, instead, including through Chelsey and eventually ending up in Times Square again. We caught the last easy train back to Liz’s at midnight and went to bed.

Sunday morning started later than I’d intended. We packed, dressed, and walked a few blocks for fresh bagels. Then we said goodbye and Emre and I caught the subway to the airport. It was complicated, but we made it in time. We gave our metro passes (still good for a couple days of unlimited rides) to a couple of people who said they could use them, and then hopped on the plane home. The flight was uneventful. Couldn’t even see much in accent and I slept through most of the landing.

Last night I did a really half-way job of unpacking and then we settled in to watch a few episodes of Project Runway on DVD. I kept saying “Hey, I know where that is!” during the establishing shots and it was cool. Bili came over and we thanked her for the advice to see the Broadway show. Then I messed around and went to bed too late.

Today was my first day at the clinic for Community Week. It went well, but I’m really too tired to do this every night. So I guess this is it until the next adventure, great or small. Hope you enjoyed.

Women in Manhattan are a good 20% thinner than the average woman elsewhere in the country. Part of that is probably that they can afford to eat well and take care of themselves. But part of it is almost definitely the 10 flights of stairs that they climb in an average day of commuting by the subway.

This morning, Emre and I left for school with Liz, and then just stayed on the subway to Union Square, from there we walked to Times Square via Broadway. And then we walked and walked and walked and stopped into a couple of stores. Then we walked and walked and walked. And by “walked” I mean we took lots of photos and gossiped about fashionable bystanders in Turkish. (That is, unless of course those bystanders looked Turkish, in which case we used Franco-Turko-nglais.) We made at least two complete circles of the Union Square to Times Square area of Midtown.

Along the way we did many of the “tourist in NY” things. We stopped to look at Grand Central Station. We shot a bunch of photos at Times Square. We watched all of the stylish young professionals on Madison Avenue. We drank tons of coffee. We tried to take the Radio City Music Hall tour, but there was a communication error and we accidently bought tickets for the “Rockefeller Center Tour” instead. Said tour is guided, but doesn’t go anywhere that you couldn’t just go by yourself. The guide talks into a head set and all of the guided have headphones. The rest of our group was geriatrics from Wisconsin. Our guide chose to emphasis the exact numerical price of everything in the center, rather than the art works (there are some beauties) or the architecture or the historical value of the buildings. He also told us the addresses of lots of famous people in NY. I didn’t care. It was a waste of time and money. But the center itself was quite nice. I really love that 1920’s Deco/Nouveau look, which has become emblematic of New York and city life in general.

We wanted to see Ave Q, a Broadway show that Bilgen recommended. Broadway tickets are a little pricey (like $54 each for the worst seats) so we jumped on the ½ price lottery that Liz told us about. We went to the theatre around 6:00, they put names in a hat of everyone who showed up for the lottery, and then pulled out 5 or 10 winners who got the opportunity to purchase two tickets at half price. We both won! We only got one pair of tickets (Liz had errands to do and I didn’t know who else might be able to go.) We hung out in the area for a few hours until the show started at 8:00. After pursuing the tacky NYC shops, we got pizza for dinner and a coffee at Starbucks (of which there are a billion in the city. Probably more than one per block, on average.)

While we were sitting across the street, waiting, people with cameras started converging on a theatre next to ours. Then cars started pulling up and the crowd went wild, taking flash photos and screaming names. Among the people going to this show, there were a few people I’d seen on TV. Micheal Kors was there (“from Project Runway!” one lady near us said, which is funny because he’s a fantastic, internationally famous designer long before that show was conceived.) Sarah Jessica Parker and Liza Minelli were also there, along with Rosie O’Donnell and possibly the actress that plays the grandmother on the Gilmore Girls. There may have been more. Personally, I don’t care particularly much about celebrities. I figure they’re people. I respect actors and musicians and designers for their work, but don’t think much about their personal lives. I’m also not very good at recognizing famous people. (I can’t even recognize people I know, so don’t be surprised.) It was, however, really interesting to see what went on when celebrities go out. The crowd of photographers completely surrounded them, prodding with lights and mics. For 20 minutes or so the few famous, shiny people stood around with big fake smiles and made exaggerated movements while flashbulbs went off. They also shuffled around for various combination shots. A few police maintained the distance between photographers and celebrities, and between non-media people and photographers. On the other side of the street, a bunch of amused tourists chatted excitedly about who’s who and critiqued how “bad she looks now” as they stand around in t-shirts and beer bellies. It was amusing.

When we finally went to our show, it was fantastic. The theatre was rather small and ornate. Our seats were in the center of the front row. The show is about 20-somethings starting out in the real world after college. It is kind of patterned after Sesame Street. The audience was mostly real-life 20-something young professionals. (I saw another kid from UNC med school during intermission.) The show was really good and Emre and I laughed very hard. It was great fun. Afterwards, we made our way back to the apartment. We chatted with Liz for a while and then nodded off.

Sitting, waiting for my exam to begin. I did pretty well on the practice test, so I didn’t study as much as I could have. I didn’t really do much of anything useful yesterday. I did get a haircut. It’s a little Mary Tyler Moore and a little 90’s career woman. The test is taking forever to start. I want it to be over with. Wait, here we go…

—

The test took me all of 20 minutes. It was 38 questions, multiple choice, with no math, very few enzymes, and lots of clinical stuff. Either I did well or I knew so little that I didn’t recognize trick questions. Either way, though, it’s over and with any luck I passed the block – that’s the important thing. When I get back from vacation we’ll start a totally new subject, so I can relax for a little while and have a good time.

When I got home after the test, Emre was packed and ready to go. After a few little last-minute tasks, we headed out to the car. It was only about 10:00 (our flight was at 1:55) so we decided to stop for a celebratory lunch.

When Emre was in France, he found a kind of meat that he really liked. French “jambon” is very thinly sliced, excellent in flavor, and often served with pickles. There’s not so many pork products in Turkey, and American “ham” doesn’t even compare. About a week ago, we went to Guglehumpf, the German bakery in Durham, and lo and behold, they had a classic European jambon sandwich that is fantabulous. That’s what we decided we wanted.

We got to Guglehumpf at about 10:40. They hadn’t started lunch yet. After a prolonged debate, we decided to place our lunch order, which they wouldn’t begin to prepare until 11:00, and we ordered pains-aux-chocolat to eat while we waited. The pastries were fantastic, as always, but then the sandwiches came and it all went downhill. First the waiter brought a turkey sandwich, which would have been fine, except that we specifically came for the ham. They gladly replaced it, so that was okay. But the “ham” sandwiches they brought were actually bacon sandwiches. The meat was from a pig, but it was small, salted pieces of pork, thicker than the jambon slices, with wide ribbons of fat. We didn’t want to make it a big deal; we’d been difficult and they’d already replaced the sandwich once, but it was so fatty and salty that it was hard to eat more than one peice. Emre finally took the sandwich in and said that it wasn’t the normal ham, and the employees argued that it was, but it was not. It was exactly like the bacon from the breakfast menu, and not like the succulent thin-sliced ham we’d had last time. I felt like instead of getting out the real ham, they just piled on all of the leftover breakfast bacon. We drove out to Durham, waited a half hour, and paid more for a sandwich than is really reasonable, specifically because of the fantastic European-style ham. That’s not what we got. And truly, no human should eat bacon in the portion I was served. I know I’m probably exaggerating this little event, but I was very, very disappointed.

Anyway, after that it’s been pretty smooth sailing. We came to the airport with no problems, found a park, went through security, and now we’re waiting around for loading. I can still taste that bacon. Yuck.

One little update: It turns out that Emre #2 (aka Mami) won’t be joining us in NY. He’s actually going to be there November 4^th, and there was a miscommunication initially. Jadrian might visit, though. And Jerch and Liz and the MoMa are all waiting for us. We brought Settlers of Catan. I haven’t made made a 4-day plan and/or checklist, but I’m confident that we’ll find some way of amusing ourselves. This should be a pretty good trip.

—–

We made it to NY. The bus/subway system is badly labeled, New Yorkers really are rude to vititors, and I have no sense of direction. The result is that we got lost between Queens and Brooklyn and ended up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Oops.

Eventually we made it. Liz lives in the “Hipster District” of Brooklyn. All around are Latino families and Asian grocers then also rich kids with no body fat and trucker hats. We went to an old-school diner/grocery store called Kellogg’s Diner that serves anyone around. The veggie-burger was great and some kid was drinking a tasty-looking milkshake at the next booth. I enjoyed it. Emre got a burger with bacon. I think he may have exceeded the amount of bacon that it’s prudent for a person to eat in a day. (Can one day of excessive fatty meat consumption increase one’s risk of heart attack? How much bacon would that take?)

When we got back, Liz decided to hang a hammock in her room so that we could use her bed. Not the first solution I would have come up with, but okay… We watched/helped her put it up. It was fun-ish, but I’m tired. I’m very tired. It was kind of a big day. And tomorrow we’re going to head out to Manhattan. We’re going without a plan. That’s sort of a big thing for me.

We’re leaving for NYC in about a day and a half. Aside from studying for the test I have that morning and packing all of the essentials for a 5 day trip, I’ve also got such diverse plans for that time as organizing the clinic visit I’ll have the day after I get back, getting a haircut, saying hi to my grandparents, cleaning out the fridge, visiting the gym, writing a decent post, and possibly doing laundry. Either I’m going to be very busy, not sleep much, or be unusually focused and productive. For the moment, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.  Or maybe just whelmed.  All of the important stuff will get done, right?