city livin

Unfamiliar sounds and delightful smells. That's what I noticed most on my first day in the city. Sounds of constantly beeping taxi cabs and subways rushing into the station, sounds of silence in the office, sounds of various accents from hither and yon, and sounds of people being herded like sheep into checkout lines at Trader Joe's; smells of street vendors' hot dogs, falafel, and chicken n' rice plates, smells of freshly brewed coffee wafting out of each little coffee shop, the delicious smell of pastries baking in the oven, and the stench of the girl's BO next to me on the treadmill at the gym. My senses were on overdrive. I listened, I looked, I smelled, and I tried not to touch too much...New York isn't notorious for being the cleanest city in the world.

My roommate's alarm went off at 7:30, and I dozed for another half hour until mine rang me awake at 8:00 with the same three toned, six beep, awfully obnoxious, Blackberry alarm sound. The perfect sound to start any day.

I ventured out to go obtain my NYU ID card and upon arriving at location, the security guard told me, "Nope, 'at was yessaday. Ya gotta go da tree eighty tree Lafayette. Ya just go straight up fort avenue." Contrary to how I would normally react, I wasn't even perturbed because I was too overwhelmed and delighted by his delicious Nahthun accent.

I finally got my ID, took a stunning picture in which I look as if I've just finally crawled out of my bed, which is in the middle of the Sahara Dessert, and stopped to grab an iced coffee from a street vendor. "No, take ya time miss. Deh's neva any rush miss. Tank you, have a great day miss." My iced coffee, with no sugar and just a splash of milk, tasted even more caffeinated knowing I'd bought it right off the street from such a sweetly accented man.

When I got to work, I didn't hear much of anything. The office is very quiet, filled with cubes and diligent workers, and not much chatter goes on. Sherri and I, on the other hand, are much less so and listen to XM country radio during the day--I was thrilled to hear the sounds of Ladies Love Country Boys, a song my dear ole dad wrote, to come on the air around 11:30 in the morning.

At 1:00 I ventured across the street to Chelsea Market to find some lunch. I made a quick choice and stopped in a little sandwich and salad shop, where I ordered a salad and picked every single topping my fluttering heart could desire before the man tossed it in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. After I devoured my lunch, I took a walk through the rest of the market where I smelled and spotted so much delectable looking food, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. Cheese shops, fruit stores, fish markets, bakeries, and more--I'll never get tired of lunch at Chelsea Market.

After work, I changed my clothes and headed over to the NYU gym in order to finally get a workout in. Wrong. The sounds of treadmills, ellipticals, stairmasters, and bicycles was so loud I couldn't hear myself think; in this teeny tiny room where about 50 cardio machines were squished together, every machine was taken except for one recumbent bike. I snagged it as fast as I could, but could barely listen to my music because of the sounds of fury and the gobs of steam exuding from my ears.

Minus that one minor disappointment, my day was a success: new sounds, new tastes, new smells, new flavors. I have less than 2 months here in the Big Apple, so now it's just a matter of picking out what sounds and smells best. I've gotta try New York!