Exploration in NYC

So I'm beginning to really warm up to the city though I swear my sense of hearing (which wasn't that great to begin with) has probably deteriorated due to the constant loud noises in the subway, downtown... basically everywhere. This is my house, well rather, its where I live. All the houses/apartments are crammed pretty closely together even though around my neighborhood there are lots of industrial warehouses, and condemned buildings and the like. But this picture looks pretty quaint yeah? I especially like the white fence around it. Its like one extra layer of protection before the 1,2, 3 more doors you have to go through to get inside. This is me and my unmade bed in my new room! Its quite a bare room (I refuse to decorate it given my temporary stay here).

So the weather has been crazy. First its hot and humid, then its rainy and humid, then its cold and rainy, then its really sweltering hot again. Well, last Sunday while Van parked himself on the couch all day (and I literally mean ALL DAY) watching football, I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go to Central Park. I wish I had brought something to read-- I'm pretty sure that I lost my book at the airport-- because it would have been PERFECT to park myself somewhere under a tree and read to my hearts content. Nonetheless it was gorgeous. See for yourself:


People were rowing boats, reading, playing frisbee, soccer, just havin' fun in the sun. Afterwards, I went to the American Museum of Natural History and saw exhibits titled Asian Peoples, African Peoples etc. Highly un-PC and highly inappropriate. They did have a cool evolution of man exhbit though. At the end of the day, I took a stroll along Columbus Ave, sorta like a really long North Berkeley but the only difference is that not everything is organic, whole grain, and all that. Just expensive.

A couple days later I received a super cool package at my doorstep. Intrigued, I tore open the wrapping to find:
A box of bluberry muffin flavored wheat cereal!! Starving, I immediately had myself a bowl while watching Bill O'Reilly relentlessly badger a poor professor from American University about Sarah Palin. "You should be setting a better example for your students" was basically the outcome of the whole thing. Ridiculous. Anyway, the package was from Daniel Stringer, my partner from Greenlining and he left a really sweet note too. It says: Hey Ariane, Though I'd send these as a housewarming gift. I haven't actually tried them (all the one's at my house were gone when I got home, but they look good). Anyway, hope these have a good trip to NYC, just as I hope you had a good trip to NYC. Now, for those of you who've had the good fortune to meet Daniel Stringer, he is probably the most thoughtful human being ever. Totally made my day.

A few days ago, I also made it out to story slam event hosted by the MOTH storytelling group out in Lower East Side at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe. The stories were kick-ass. You just had to be there. Crowded as hell, but so so so good.
The guy who won the competition was a huge guy who told a story of how he used trickery and sleaziness to get a girl and finally marry her. Doesn't sound all that exciting in a summary but his deliveries were fantastic. And, well if you don't know already I had quite an adventure that night too. Probably should be more careful in the future but it involved me meeting someone who took me on a motorcycle tour all through manhattan, across the brooklyn bridge, and back home. Hella tight.

And finally, work! Isn't that what I came here to do? Well I'm working as an intern for the Asia Society in the Asian Social Issues Program (ASIP) where I research water sustainability issues in developing Asian nations. I get a United Nations security pass so I can attend meetings there whenever I want (sweet!) and a pass that gets me into any museum in the world for free (Even the Louvre!). I'm also getting paid to do part time work for the Center for U.S.-China Relations, also a dept of the Asia Society headed by former Dean of the School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, Orville Schell. Oh, the place where I work is also a museum, a pretty prestigious one at that, and right now we're exhibiting pieces from the cultural revolution. So that's why there's a huge banner of Mao on the side of our building.