Don't feed the pigeons.

On my 10 minute walk to the subway station this moring, I realized that I haven't taken any pictures of the beautiful brownstone architecture in the area that I'm staying in. Although it's not the BEST neighborhood, you would never know it by how calm and peaceful the streets are first thing in the morning. Everyone walks quietly to the stop with a newspaper in hand. I've never been a huge walker, but I have truly enjoyed these little walks each morning in Stuyvesant Heights.

It has only been a few short days since I have arrived, yet I have noticed one key quality that sets New Yorkers apart from other US city folk... they are FEARLESS when it comes to moving vehicles! I'll tell you right now that when it comes to stop signs, I like to obey the law. I enjoy waiting for the WALK sign, especially when there are moving buses, taxis and 18 wheelers hurling toward my direction. However, most New Yorkers could care less about street signs. They step out into the middle of the road and throw their hands up in the air as if they are Moses about to split the ocean in half! The cars will go around. No worries. This morning on my way to the store, I found a prime example of someone who had no qualms about getting runover. Check this out:



There are three prime points I would like to you to focus on.
#1 the woman to the left is standing directly in a lane for oncoming traffic. Notice how taxis are completely ignoring her, as well.
#2 I happened to take this picture at the one moment when the man WASN'T looking at his cell phone. I stood there for about 45 seconds watching him text message or something and pay no attention to the cars coming directly toward him,
#3 The people on the right corner. The light is obviously green, there are cars flying by them, yet they still stand in the middle of the road!

It just boggles my mind. I can't get used to it. I wonder if I will ever be that courageous. I would never throw myself under the bus like that. (Get it?! Get it?? Under the bus? ehh? eh??)

Today was an interesting day at the store. I showed up pretty early so that I could get used to opening the gates to the store and turning all of the circuit breakers on. (Like I said before, it is a REALLY old store!) I met a new associate today and she seemed a bit weary of me at first, but as time went on I think her and the other associate whom I've met before really began to warm up to me. I started teaching them tons of little things and mentioned how important I think it is for them to talk to customers like they would their friends. Immediately, both of them began commenting on things customers were wearing, asking where they were visiting from, trying really hard to make conversation. It made me very very happy. In a store full of chaos, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel...the very lonnnngggggg tunnel.

There is a teeny quaint little park next to my store. I've been spending my lunches on the benches, people-watching and admiring the architecture around it. Today I sat alone and ate the leftovers from a ham and cheese Subway wrap that I bought the other day. The weather was surprisingly less humid, although it was still very very hot. Kate was RIGHT! The city is like a heater! Even though the temperature is less than it is in Texas, the heat is just barricaded in by the cement buildings and the rising heat from the subways. And standing on the subway platforms?! That's a whole 'nother story. I have been bringing washcloths in my purse to wipe the sweat off of my face. It's gross, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do!


I also had my first crazy subway adventure today!! At the time, I was a bit scared, but looking back...I laugh at how nervous I got! I was on the 4 train coming home and for some reason, it just stopped. So we slowly rolled to the next stop and they shuffled everyone off. I had no idea where I was and the station didn't have any other transfers. I walked up onto the street level and went a few blocks further until I found another subway stop. I walked back down the stairs, re-swiped my metro card (thank goodness for my unlimited pass!)and tried to find another train to connect to my original train destination solely based on the teeny molskine map that I had! AND...my efforts were prosperous! I made it back home only an hour and a half later than expected. Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. LONG DAY!!!!