Purple

My bedroom is purple.  I will post pictures soon.

Cody is here in place of Chris, while he is off adventuring on work-related trips for the next two weeks (camping in Colorado, mission trip in Puerto Rico--- hard life...).  Anyway, she came by on Saturday and helped me settle on a color, and then put it on the walls.  We had a great time, and considering I was planning on painting alone, I'm glad I got her help.  I think if I'd have been by myself, I would have gotten lazy and stopped somewhere to break, only to never finish.  

The craziness starts next week.  Kids-camp, summer programs for the teenagers, outings, etc...  I've still got to find a job for the fall, and possibly even something to do in the meantime while I am here.  

Prayers are appreciated...

Next week, I'm going home for a few days and I am SUPER excited.  It's my first trip home as someone who lives away.  I'm looking forward to seeing the family, lovin' on the babies, and visiting friends in Baton Rouge.  The trip is short but I am very thankful for it nonetheless.  

Upon my return, I will be just two short weeks away from Puerto Rico!  I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of our students while we are down there.  

After Puerto Rico, I'm off to Chicago for a while to see Jess, then I'm gonna go home and spend a week or two with the family before the craziness starts back here.  

Basically, the next two months of my life are jam packed with lots of things to do and see.  

In the meantime, I've been trying to get up and go running to explore my new neighborhood.  I woke up an hour later than planned today, so I'm not going to get to go as far as I would like, but I'm about to go back and do one of my new favorite runs - the Williamsburg Bridge!  From that bridge, there is a view of both Lower and Midtown Manhattan, PLUS, the two bridges south of it.  Really, I think it's the best bridge to run across in New York, and I am so thankful that God has blessed me with an apartment so close to it.  

The location of my new purple-room couldn't be more perfect.  My train ride to work is only five minutes long! The walks to and from the train can be long at times, but you really cant beat a five minute train ride when you live in Brooklyn and work in Manhattan.  Well, I guess if I lived at the Bedford stop instead of Graham I could... but still... it's a quick trip. 

Off to run!

Craziness

As of last night, I'm in the new apartment.

This is VERY exciting.  I have a lot to do to make this space my own, but It definitely feels cozy. Of course, despite the fact that I'm eternally grateful to Nicole and Chelsea for letting me stay at their place, just about anything is cozier than an air mattress in someone else's living room.  

I am looking around thinking of all the great things I can do with this bedroom.  It's decently sized for a New York apartment, and I can paint it however I choose, but it does lack a window (which is really difficult to get used to).  I forgot just how weird it is to wake up at 7am and have it feel like the sun hasn't come up yet.  

The coolest part is, I am a fairly short walk from the subway, which is only 3 stops from 1st Ave, which is a fairly short walk to Graffiti, so I'm looking at about a 15-20 minute commute :)  This is exciting.  

I think on Saturday I may try to make a trip to IKEA to get some decorative ideas.  I cannot wait to see this place turn into my room! 

"Rain Sensitive"

I am one of those people who gets sad when it rains.

I can try not to, but it just doesn't work. 

On days where there is a constant rain, I have a hard time getting myself off the couch to do just about anything.  Then I get sad and lonely and girly and emotional.  

I like the sunshine.  It fits my personality better. 

Yesterday was a long, unproductive day.  It was one of those days that almost feels wasted, as though time was actually taken from me. 

I took several naps, I went to Atlantic Terminal for a little while, shopped in a daze, had ice cream with Chris (though I was in a cloud so I don't recall much about our conversation), came home, watched When Harry Met Sally, got dinner from 67 Burger, watched seven episodes of Friends, ate some super fattening New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream, and went to bed. 

Sometimes I think of those days a blissful and relaxing.  Yesterday, it just felt downright depressing.  

Thankfully, the weather is much better today, so I can actually go run.  A good run always kick starts my day a little better.  PLUS, there's more LSU baseball today (though I don't know where I'm watching it), and tonight I'm going to Brooklyn Tabernacle with the semi-roommates and some other friends.  There's supposed to be Junior's cheesecake involved in that outing... 

Better Than Ezra is playing near Union Square tonight, and I would LOVE to see them, but since my concert-partner (Jessica), is like, 1500 miles from here, and I haven't yet found a New York concert buddy, I'm gonna miss out :(  

Nonetheless, today seems like a much better, brighter day.  Birds are chirping.  I think that's a good sign. 

Chinatown

Soooo, I've never been a big fan of Chinatown.  Perhaps its because I feel like such a cultural outsider when I'm there.  Or, perhaps its because I don't care all that much bout designer purses so there's really no reason for me to be there.  Either way, I experienced it in a way like no other on Tuesday.

One of the people from our mission team invited me to go with her to a friend's wedding.  This particular team was from Texas, and through a long history of Bible studies at a certain Chinese  restaurant there, this lady became friends with this girl who then, in turn invited her to her wedding in New York. 

Upon arrival, we were told by the host at the door of the restaurant that they couldn't seat us because they were "full."  When we informed them that we were there for the wedding, they just gave us a funny look.  Then, the bride finally saw Kim, the lady I was with, and she gestured for them to let us in.  

We became instant celebrities.  Fortunately, we sat at a table with one of the only people there who spoke any English, a cousin who was a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (so yes, a very smart cousin).  Lisa, whose real name I cannot pronoun

ce, helped us to understand the customs and cultural differences.  She also gave us some interesting insight into Chinese traditions.  

According to Lisa, they are all pretty-much first the first generation in the family to not have arranged marriages.  That said, the bride and the groom's families are from different provinces, which, to Chinese people, is a big deal.  For the first few years of the relationship, her family did not exactly approve of him for this reason.  This feeling faded as the families grew closer.  

Lisa then told us that the wedding is more of a giant party and show than a ceremony.  The bride changes clothes four or five times, and while she is in the back changing, there are performers.  At this wedding, there was a magician, and a pop star (Who tried to sing one song in English and had NO IDEA what the words were or how to pronounce them.  It 

  gave me an entirely new perspective on Shania Twain).  Apparently, this singer is a big deal in the Chinatown community.

Throughout all of this, there is a ten course meal being served, one plate at a time.  They put a platter on the table, we quickly picked through it and got what we wanted, 

then they take it away an put another.  Some of the food was awfully scary.  We would ask Lisa what it was and she would say "Some kind of seafood, but I don't kno

w what kind," or "It's a bird, but I don't know what bird."  I ate what I felt I could eat without seeming culturally rude or ignorant.  

For the first time in my life, I really knew what it felt to be the cultural outsider. 

 I didn't understand the customs, the language, or the food, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.  I kept thinking that this must be what it felt like for the international students at LSU when we take them places where they are surrounded by Americans.  Everyone was staring at us, watching how we did things, trying to help us without speaking the language, and all-in-all, enjoying the show.  Even the cameraman kept coming back to our table.  

This wedding reminded me of why I love anthropology and cultural studies.  I was intrigued.  I am so thankful that we were placed at the table with Lisa, who had the most interesting things to say about the way things were done among the Chinese.  I couldn't stop taking pictures and asking questions.  

That said, I will never make fun of the new person at the crawfish boil again.... 

Well, maybe just a little. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I've been enjoying the heck out of Chelsea's neighborhood.  It smells of history.  The trees are GORGEOUS, yes, trees, and lots of them.

Just this morning, I got a chance to go for a nice long run (only the second time since I've been here.  I'm slacking, I know).  I ran down Fulton Street, and up Flatbush to the Manhattan bridge, which I wanted to cross, but I wasn't sure I had the time.  I circled back through downtown Brooklyn, and thought of all of the interesting things that go on there. Upon my return trip, I got a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Financial District in the background, an I thanked God for allowing me to live here.  

Apartment hunting has been a beast, but yesterday, I think I found a place.  I've been pretty set upon staying in the Fort Greene/Park Slope/Clinton Hill vicinity, but I expanded my search options to Williamsburg, and I got a winner.  I found this place on the Redeemer website (it's a church website that also has classifieds), and it's almost perfect.  The girls seem really nice, and its a great community lifestyle.  They have a houseful of guy friends right down the street.  The rooms I saw were great (one is more expensive but its HUGE, and its probably the one I will end up with since the smaller cheaper one may be taken), and the neighborhood is perfect.  The best part is, I'm only three L stops from church if I live there.  That's right, THREE stops.  It takes all of fifteen minutes, walking time included, to get to Graffiti.  

I am praying about it to make sure it's the right place for me, but I'm thinking it may be home.  I always bring Chris along to feel out the neighborhood and to make sure that I'm getting a good feel for the people, and this was the first time that we both agreed that this was a good place (well, most of the time we both agreed it wasn't).  I also had a strange "we know people that know the same people" moment with the people that lived there, which was kinda crazy.  I'm thinking this may be the place, I just have to give God time to let me know.