Didi and I arrived in NY on the 12th of December. We flew into White Plains, which is about an hour away from New York City…..yes because this is the cheapest tickets we could find. Being two poor students….we did not want to pay $30 for a taxi to the train station, so we sat in the airport debating what to do. I went to go get a drink at a little café in the airport and started talking with the guy behind the counter. The guy was very friendly and said he could give us a lift to the train station! Somehow….after a half an hour of driving….he said that he was lost! HAHA….good experience that was….after a while we got to the main road again and finally got to the train station. We took the train into Manhattan, and arrived at Grand central station. For those of you who watched the movie Madagascar….it looks exactly the same!! We decided that it would not be worth while to spend money on a night’s accommodation if we arrive late the night…..we might as well just wait till the next morning (yes….I know….but we are students remember! LOL) So mastermind here had a plan….we went into the Grand HYOTT hotel, told them that our parent’s flight has been delayed and that we will wait for them in the lounge to check in….we sat in their lounge, nice and warm on soft couches until 4 am in the morning! Hehe! We stayed the next night in the Jazz on the Park youth hostel…..it was nice, cheap and they gave us bagels and coffee in the morning. The next night we stayed at some friends who studied with me….they rented out a whole room in a hostel. During the day we went exploring New York.
Times Square was our first stop. It is full of lights…and if there is one thing that the American people can do, then it is advertising. Huge advertisements everywhere! Didi and I went to go sit in the Mc Donalds in time’s square on the second floor. I wrote something while sitting there:
“ So, here I sit on the second floor of Mc D’s in Times Square in NY. Happy music is playing in the background – mostly Christmas carols. I’m looking out of the window….all I see is millions and millions of yellow cabs. For some reason when I see them, I think of Jeniffer Aniston in Friends. It’s raining now. Didi and me are having a conversation about going to see the city from the Empire State building. As I look away from the window, I realize something….American people is not all like what is being perceived through South African television and the movie Supersize me. People are not really that obsessed with Mc Donalds and fast food like I expected. New York is in a certain way like London. It is very cosmopolitan with various cultures. I do not feel that “special” like I did in the south.
Ratrace.
What I feel at this moment…..small, happy, excited, and bit afraid. I am enjoying NY so far. I really hope I could stay for a while to leave some footprints here.”
It is now a few days later….Didi has left and a good friend let me stay in his apartment while he is away. I met his….and I guess now my…..Belgium friend, Lies, who is sharing the apartment. She is also a great person, and tonight we went up on the roof of the apartment block….looked out over Manhattan, drinking a Budweiser and eating peanuts while the wind (blistering cold) numbed everything I ever knew existed in my body!
There is so much to say, but to make the rest short, the fraternity that we started this semester was in the 4th biggest newspaper (LA Times) on the front page this Saturday. Someone read about it who is a producer, and he now wants to make a movie about it!!! It is crazy how big and fast this has grown! The website of the article is
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-dudes16dec16,1,6736204.story Do yourself a favor and go read the article. Some other friends is also coming to NY this week, and I am looking forward to explore the city a bit more with them, and also spend Christmas with them. The day after Christmas, I am off to Mexico! What a great opportunity! I am visiting some friends that studied with me this semester. I am there for two weeks, and then I return to Mississippi.
I owe my life to everyone that made this experience possible for me. I am really truly enjoying it. Without support also from my family, I would’nt have been able to do this. Ek is jul ewig dankbaar!
Girl on the roof.......Lies. (and I think it is Marius' ghost in the right corner!)
Amazing view, peanuts and Budweiser! What more could you want??
Didi and I at Grand Central Station at night.
True portrait of what is really happening...
Great picture from a place I was not supposed to be!
NY by night.
Bit of SA in Grand Central Station.
A great advertisement!
Me and Didi, very tired, in Mc D's.
Me and Didi at the fire station memorial of 9/11.
Times Square.
The team.
In all her beauty!
Condolences......what is left of trade centre.
