We Made it Through the Night

Friday morning I did something I never do.

I went to bed without setting an alarm.

The idea was I was going to let myself sleep until my body woke me up. Seeing as how I love mornings, this was a tough decision, but I knew that facing me was an event that would require every bit of energy I could conjure up: the youth lock-in at Graffiti.

Since my body wakes me up super early, I had to make myself go back to sleep a couple of times. Finally, at about ten oclock, I got up and went to brunch with Ema. She and I hadn't had a chance to hang out and talk in a while, so since we were both taking the morning off, we decided to take advantage of the time. We had been talking about going to Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man, for a very long time, and let me just say, I could go there for brunch every week if I had the money. I started off with dark hot chocolate in a "hug mug," which is a mug specially designed for cupping with both hands. I then had tutti fruity waffles: waffles with chocolate syrup, piled with fresh blueberries and strawberries, with a vial of extra hot fudge sauce, toffe-bannanas, and whipped cream on the side. Can you say amazing? And for dessert (as if I needed a dessert), I got a slice of chocolate pizza. Not only is this place full of chocolate, but the music and lighting are very inviting, it's really an experience. If ever I am in New York with you, I will take you there since it is now my favorite place.

I didn't want to do anything that required energy, so I spent most of the rest of the day lounging in the windown of the Union Square Barnes and Noble with a few books about architecture, famous murders, bridges, etc.... the kinda stuff that I am amused by, but can be flipped through. Then I made my way down to SoHo in search of Tabasco Chips. It was a half success, I did find Zapps potato chips, Creole Tomato Tabasco was not one of the flavor choices. Sad times.

I soon made my way back to the association to change into something super comfortable and meet up with Ema again to head to Graffiti. This was the start of an AMAZING night.

We ended up with several girls, and three boys (which proportionatly worked out worker-wise since we only had one guy to help us). I had SOOOOOOO much fun I can't even describe. We began the night with a city-wide scavenger hunt. The girls toted us around with them to find all of their items. Things like "make a hot dog vendor smile," "become friends with a horse and buggy," "make and exchange in front of the exchange," "build a pyramid-bonus if you involve a new friend," "get something free from a food establishment," "sit on a bench at Herald's square," etc.... Talk about fun!!!!! These girls are a blast. Most of our group was about 13 or 14, which has recently become my favorite age. I really bonded with some of them, and I hope to see the ones who don't normally come to church come back around over the summer.

For the rest of the night, we played lots of games. My team didn't win a single one, but we had alot of fun trying! They were really good sports about it. We watched a Nooma video and had a short small group time, and then we watched The Others because Lorie determined it was a clean scary movie- which is true. After fighting off sleep, we made it all the way to 6, at which time we hurried the kids home so we could hurry home and go to bed. I slept until 2.

The rest of the day was enjoy New York while waiting for loads of laundry to finish so I wouldn't have to go up and down those six flights of stairs each time my clothes were done. I had a sandwich in the park, went to Barnes and Noble on 81st, went to F.A.O. Scwartz and Dylans Candy Bar, etc... I went home, watched Fried Green Tomatoes on Netflix, which I am now a member of, and went to bed at a decent hour.

Today after church I went to Queens to where everyone else lives. Kyle, Charlotte, and I went to the park down the street which I have heard them say a thousand times they were going to visit, and explored the woods, yes, the woods. There is a wildlife reserve in their neighborhood, and when you are in it, it feels more like Mississippi than New York City. It was sooooo nice. For the first time in weeks I was in a place where not a building could be seen.

I then hung out there for a while. Theresa brought home KFC, and we watched Zoolander, which I had been having the urge to watch often lately. It was a very good and relaxing day. I am now fully recovered from my thrown-off sleep pattern night.

Life on the Red Line

I cannot possibly explain exactly how I feel about this city.

Within this one place, there are so many different places, each with their own touch of charm. By simply hopping on the 2 train, I can jump from one world to another one stop at a time.

I get on in a quiet world of You've Got Mail Kathleen Kelly butteflies with Grey's Papaya hotdogs, Riverside Park, Central Park, Zabars, the Beacon Theatre, and all of the other wonderful things that go along with being a West Sider.

In a matter of three minutes, I can be in the center of all that is flashy and bright. Broadway shows, marquees galore, supersized Toys R Us, Bryant Park, overpriced souvenier shops, and all MTV.

One stop down is the Miracle on 34th Street, where to me, it will always feel like Christmas, or Valentines day, or any other holiday where a great movie has caputre the essence of all that is, what I like to call, the Macy's district. I can look up and see the tallest and by far most famous building in the city (which doesn't look all that tall when you're standing underneath it), and I feel as though I've been flashback to An Affair to Remember or some equally as wonderful classic New York movie.

Next comes Union Square, protests included. Here's where I can find people roaming about with dogs on leashes, trees, Barnes and Noble, and chain retail shops one on top of the other.

Flash forward to the Financial District. The center of New York history pre-1930s, and the economy of pretty much the entire world. With great views of all that is American and patriotic, including a gaping hole in the street reminding us tragedy and the fight for triumph over it, the Financial District is pretty much my favorite place to spend a quiet morning. Here you have Trinity church, the Stock Exchange, Battery Park, I could go on... With the hustle and bustle of people all around, there's nothing like sitting on the steps in front of ole G-Dub with a bagel and a bottle of water watching the people run around and manage the crazy numbers that somehow affect my day-to-day existance in this country.

Pop on over the Brooklyn, my favorite of the Buroughs. Get off at Clark and try to imagine what it must have been like in 1875 when across the river the tallest skyscraper was the spire of Trinity, and up above was rising the most amazing structure you'd ever seen and trying to figure out if after all the work, money, and political turmoil it would still be standing five years from now (not to mention in 2007).

I could stay on and make my way through Brooklyn, but typically this is where my life on the Red Line ends. I might switch to yellow, or walk back across the bridge, but isn't it amazing all of the things I have seen by simply walking outside my front door, going about half a block, and hopping on a single train?

Quest to Find Tabasco Chips

In Mexico I was introduced to all that is wonderful about the Zapps current limited edition chip: Spicy Creole Tomato, or, as I refer to them, Tabasco Chips. Never would I have thought that a chip whose main sell is the red and green diamond design and a cartoon bottle of hot sauce would have become a favorite, but it has, and I miss it.

I've heard rumor that Dean and Delucca sells Zapps chips for a whopping three bucks a bag. I'd be willing to pay three dollars for a quick fix of creole tomato before this limited edition goes back into the archives. I've also done some research online to find a few other places in the city that sell the Gramercy brand, and so far, I've come up with three spots to check out, one of which offers the chips for $1.25.

The kosher version of the Zapp, known as "Dirty Chips," I have begun to see more and more frequently, but I haven't yet found their long lost brother. I am determined, and I must do this soon, the Tabasco chips have been around for several months now and are bound to change at any moment. OH THE HORROR!!!

To make up for the lack of Louisiana food specialties, I have become pretty much addicted to something that is all but common back home: Dunkin Donuts. I can think of two locations in New Orleans, and none in Baton Rouge. Why is this? First of all, Baton Rouge does not have Tastee Donuts (or any of its renamed counterparts), where I can get a good old souther fried donut with the hint of a nasty smoke taste that somehow makes it what it is. I've never been a fan of Krispy Kreme (why someone thought that ALL donuts were meant to be glazed is beyond me), but as for variety, it's the closest thing we have to a DD, and the only one is, well, on Plank Rd. The thrill in going to Krispy Kreme is not the overly sweet donut with sprinkles, rather it is the trip out there and the adventure that comes with being scared for one's life with all of one's closest friends in tow.

There is something about a donut with vanilla frosting that makes me smile on the inside. I am a pretty big fan of the basic vanilla with sprinkles, or the marble (vanilla and chocolate frosting....), so I get at least one of those on each trip, along with a flavor I haven't yet tried, to keep a hint of unpredictability in my donut experience. I wouldn't call it the healthiest habit, but I am in New York, and with all of the walking and stair-climbing I do, I don't feel too bad about it.

Dunkin Donuts is to New York what CCs coffee is to Baton Rouge, minus that whole local flare thing. There is one on every corner. I'm thinking we need to pick up on this.

Return to Normalcy

I've just realized how strange it is going to be to return to Baton Rouge.

I've gotten used to the lifestyle up here, and I feel like I've lived here forever. For a little while, I started questioning what ever made me think I would want to live here all the time, and I thought it was strange that anyone else does, but now I'm thinking it's just a mood thing. I've been spending alot of time in Queens- which feels a bit more like the suburbs, and I've been with people alot, which makes a difference, and I'm starting to realize I could get used to this.

I still miss pretty much everything about home (except for maybe Baton Rouge traffic- we need a subway...). But I've come to realize that no matter where I live, I'm going to miss somewhere else.

This is not to say I'm moving here when I graduate or anything. To tell you the truth, I've got a long list of places I want to move when I graduate, and I have no idea which one is going to come in at number one. What I'm saying is that it is going to be a strange switch. I've gotten adjusted to this hopping on the train, walking everywhere, and having a million places to go and things to do whenever I am bored stuff. To be cliche, it's life in the fast lane. Going home is going to require slamming on the brakes and slowing down.

ALOT

Remembering That I Love this Place

For a short while, I had forgotten just how much I love New York. I'd been bored and lonely and missing home. It's like New Orleans. I go through phases where I'm bored with the place in which I live, and it takes some fun times to remind me why it is I adore the place so much.

Thursday nigth we went out to Washington Square Park and the NYU student center to relax and enjoy the city. In the park, for a moment I thought I was back home. This jazz band was playing, a crowd was gathering, and it felt like I was in the Plaza across from Jackson Square (and as it turns out, one of my friends who lives in NYC full time said that last time she was in New Orleans, she saw the percussionist guy from this band playing on the street down there). We then went up to an 8th floor lounge to get a killer view of the city and talked until they were telling us we had to leave. I realized how much I adore these people, and how much I adore the New York skyline from any angle.















Yesterday, I woke up really early to go to see Brad Paisley play in the Good Morning America Concert Series in Bryant Park. Seeing as how New York is not exactly loaded with contry music fans, there weren't that many people there. After the show, he let the fans just walk up to the stage and signed autographs. So I have now met one of my favorite country stars!!!! What a great way to kick off the weekend.


I rushed back home because for the rest of the day, we helped Ema move to Queens, which ended up being an adventure. The move went very smoothly, dispite having to get rid of her favorite chair because it wouldnt fit up the stairs. Theresa, who has become our mother-figure in the city, had lunch prepared for us on the other side of Queens. All but me and two other graffiti missionaries, live in Theresa's house. All of the people I was with lived there. We mapped out a route since there are practically no cross-town subways in Queens, and after figuring out we had to walk from one station to another then transfer twice, we got on our way. Little did we know we'd end up waiting at one station for thirty minutes before realizing the train we needed doesn't run middays, and that the train we finally decided to get on was not stopping at the stop we needed it to. About two and a half hours later, we arrived safely at Theresa's house and were welcomed by a table that was quite nicely set up with sandwiches, cookies, chips, fruit, etc... It was like a little party. I felt very at home.

These are the kinds of things I've needed in my life since I've been here, and the past weekend has been full of them.

Today I woke up to find out that the floor where my shower is located was locked, so my day started a little later than planned because I had to wait for the door to be opend for me. I left the house at about one oclock en route to Brooklyn. Brooklyn is my favorite NY Borough, and I hadn't been there yet since I've been here. I needed to go to Target, so I made Brooklyn my destination for today. I went down to the financial district, grabbed lunch at a deli, and made my way to my bridge. It was definitely the most crowded I've ever seen it, but I've never walked it on a Saturday afternoon before. I then went to Brooklyn Heights, which is said by some to be the most beautiful neighborhood in New York City, and I must agree. It's so peaceful. It feels almost like a little Southern city, plus it provides a great view of Manhattan. After going to Target, attempting to make my way out to hang out with the others in Queens, and realizing it was probably best that I come home, I hopped on the 3 and made my way back to the Upper West Side.

I definitely needed these past few days, and man am I glad I have them.

Having a Purpose

For a few days I was getting really frustrated.

I was starting to really miss home and all that comes with being in Louisiana. The sights, the sounds, the food, and most of all the people. I love New York, there's no doubting that. It has just about everything one could ask for (except for free high speed internet anywhere outside of the college communities- but thats a different rant for a different day), but sometimes this little office space I live in gets a little lonely.

I then started questioning my purpose. I know God has a reason for my being here, but seeing as how I've had ALOT of time off, and have done pretty much nothing related to my project since day one, it's hard to see. Why would I be so far away from all the people I love if there's not a good reason?

So Ema, my excellent supervisor, started making phone calls and has been helping me find things that I can do to help local churches, and has been looking for Paint the Town related stuff that I can work on until the project kicks into full gear. I've helped out at Graffiti the past two days and it has been WONDERFUL. I have felt alot more productive. Kareem, the young-adult minister at Graffiti, suggested that I visit all of my Paint the Town churches and see what they need help with to prepare for the upcoming workweeks. Something so simple and obvious, yet I didn't think of it!

I can tell that those I asked to pray for me to find a purpose have been doing so, and that is very comforting. I'm starting to see more and more what I am doing here, and with being more busy, I'm having less time to dwell on all the things I miss. I still haven't fully grasped what I'm doing here, but I know that will come in time. For now, I'm enjoying every minute of this city and what it has to offer.

Man I Miss Purple and Gold

Yesterday, I was sitting in my room bored. Having the day off in New York can be boring when all of your friends live in Queens and you can't find anything you feel like doing by yourself. So after playing on Ruckus (the poor college kid's world of free music), and doing laundry (that's SEVEN flights down from me- in the basement, once agian, with no elevator), I decided to head up to the LSUNY Alumni Association Crawfish boil to see if they'd give me a student discount (which they did). Purple and Gold baloons in Riverside Park is almost too much awesomeness for me to handle (Riverside Park happens to be my favorite place in the world outside of Tiger Stadium). It was great to be around Louisiana people all day, eat some jambalya, and listen to some southern fried music, but I didn't know anyone there, and none of the important people (Les Miles, Sean Okeefe, etc...) who showed up last year decided to come this year. I did find out that Zapps chips are available at Dean and Delucca (at a whopping THREE BUCKS a bag- yikes!), and that "Dirty Chips" are kosher Zapps that can be found at multiple locations (basically Zapps in disguise, made by the same people, minus the nifty cajun flavors).

Today I went to church and left with a new friend to hang out with in the city which made me happy. After getting home, hanging out in the room for a little while, and taking a nap, I decided to go to Central Park and try to hunt down Patrick Dempsy- who my friends saw shooting a movie there the other day. Unfortunately, no movie. Just about the only thing going on in Central Park today was the mass exodus of people leaving the Peurto Rican Day Parade, which was happening on Fifth Avenue. I was stopped on my way home by some people who tried to convince me that there is both a male and a female God. They claimed we have a heavenly "mother," and who like a bride comes out last at a wedding, she will come into flesh in the "end times," which are apparently now. Lots of holes in their argument, so I nodded along, told them my point of view, and moved on. Strange day.

The Blessing of Familiar Faces

Today was my day off, so the missionaries from Graffiti and I went to the United Nations. I'd seen the building before, but I'd never been inside so it was neat to get to see some of the exhibits. I could have gone crazy in the bookstore! It was a social studies teacher's paradise! I now own a copy of the United Nations Charter and the International Declaration of Human Rights, things only a political nerd like me would possibly want to have in posession.

We next went up to the northeast corner of Central Park to a beautiful "secret garden" of sorts, followed by a walk to the west side of the park, and a trip to my neighborhood. We then parted ways for the day, and I met up with Daniel and Maddie at Ellens Stardust Diner. Daniel and Maddie, for those of you who don't know, are two friends of mine from LSU whom I go to church with at Sojourn. They are working at South Mountain Community Church in New Jersey. They came into the city with the other interns for the day. It was so nice to see familiar faces! It pretty much made my week to get to spend time with some friends from home, even if only for an hour or so. It reminded me of how much I love Sojourn and miss my family there. I am so glad I was able to see some of them tonight! I love the New York life, but I definitely miss my friends and family from home.

My cousin Lacey had a baby today, and I can't wait to go see him as soon as I get back to the South!!! Today has been full of blessings!

"Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tel everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods."- 1 Chronicles 16:24-25

The Bronx and The Bible

In the South Bronx, in a neighborhood called Mott Haven, the church I am attending, Graffiti, opened a second branch of their ministry, simply referred to as Graffiti 2. Graffiti Community Ministries reaches out to the city of New York in a BIG way. The people there have such great hearts to help people, and they do, constantly. With the exception of Fridays, their designated "sabbath," there is some form of outreach at that church every day. It is a place we could all learn from.

One thing done at both Graffiti 1 and 2 is an after-school program, where the kids get help with homework, followed by a bible study, snacks, and free-time. These kids come from all kinds of homes. The neighborhood in the Bronx where Graffiti 2 is located is the lowest-income congressional district in the country. In the afternoons, they have a place to go where they can get away from home and just be with friends and be around adults who care for them. Today, it was Brooklyn-Queens day in NYC, so there was no school in any of the boroughs. Graffiti 2 had a barbeque and Ema (my supervisor) and I went up to help. It was great to see these kids just let loose for a few hours and hang out. It's so hard to think of what some of them might be going home to. FBC Georgetown, a mission team from Texas, was there to help too. They are one of the most servant hearted churches I've ever come across! They have been such an inspiration to me in this kick-off week for a summer of service.

Tonight I went to church with a acquaintance of mine whom I met when her BCM (Miami) did a mission trip to Louisiana. She grew up in NYC and has moved back now that she graduated. The message was from Nehemia 10:1-32. These people took a vow of service and honor to God, they even put it in writing!

"They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the Law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our Lord"(v. 29)

This really got me thinking. How committed am I? I know I could be alot more committed to God and doing what he asks me to do. And the big question that the pastor posed was: If we know that doing God's will and listening to him brings blessing upon us, then why do we never fully submit to him? Why would we ever want to hold anything back?

If I can Make it there I'll Make it Anywhere

I'm gonna start "blogging" so that those who care to can know what I am doing with myself in New York this summer can keep up. It's currently really late at night and I have to get up early, so I am not going to elaborate any further for now since my eyes are closing on me.