Getting Around

As a parting gift, my friend Rafael gave me the National Geographic Travellers Guide of New York. Yesterday I decided to hit something… anything! I looked up what was close to my work and found the Flatiron district was a nearby walk. The area is named for the famous Flatiron building, that wedged shaped one that comes to the width of a window… forget it let me find a picture!



Just across from the building is Madison Square Park, where I went to sit and take in everything, and found there was a dog park there. I went and sat on the benches inside hoping I would be able to play with some of the dogs. They all avoided me! I was wearing red, maybe they took it as a sign of aggression?? It was so cute to watch the dogs jump around on the benches and chase each other and make friends.



So cute!



There was a little boy who came in with me, looked like he was on his way home from school, and he came in alone just to play with the dogs. It was so precious the way he tried to join in, or ask owners if he would play with them. I love the way the New York community interacts with each other and lives together. People say that those who live in NYC are cold… just passing each other on the streets like a face in a crowd. On the contrary, I find that it is actually very considerate. The city is dense, everyone lives side by side, you can’t really catch a break to be alone… to avoid eye contact and just go along your way is respecting everyone’s personal space that they need. Imagine if you had to smile and greet everyone you passed… even a Californian would burn out pretty fast.

In other news, I finally bought a 30 day metro pass. Smart, intelligent me thought that it was like a month pass only valid in the month, like San Diego would do, so I was trying to hold out until June 1. But then I realized it was just 30 days from when it was purchased, so I got on that. It’s $89. Do you think that’s bad? Because let me tell you something: San Diego’s month pass (which is only valid in the calendar month) is $72. Transportation stops around midnight, frequency was about once every 15-20 minutes (and there was only one bus in walking distance from my apartment) and to get anywhere seemed to average an hour if you had to transfer at all. In New York, I have unlimited access to all the subways, metros and busses, they run 24 hours, are extremely fast, come at frequent intervals, and reach far and wide! If you lose them though, that’s it… dun dun dun