I don't think I have said that phrase more times than I have in the past 24 hours. Along with "we'll make it work" and "we can manage." We will. And we are.
Things are going much better than yesterday. Except for it is extremely hot in our apartment (at least 10 degrees warmer than outside), and we don't have much of a breeze unfortunately.
I would try to describe yesterday in detail, but it would hurt my brain too much. It was hot and sweaty, involved hauling everything to the fifth floor, and was pretty miserable to put it plainly. We got on the wrong bus, the right bus, looked like tourists and kept saying "is this our bus?" "Wait where do we get on our bus?" At one point, were we not only on the wrong bus, but of course the bus driver didn't speak English.
Uhh. It was a little frustrating. To say the least. But we made it back here. Alive.
Some funny things that make me smile just thinking about involve, turning a sheet into a curtain by using a television power cord. Alivia fixing the shower head with her hair tie because otherwise the shower pointed straight up. And us coming back after a couple hours to realize that the toilet was still running..
Despite our first accustations of the town we are living in (Union City), it is pretty nice. People are friendly however, they don't speak English. At all.
This afternoon we walked to the "downtown" area where there are shops, restaurants and lots of other bizarre things. We found a "99 cent" store, which wasn't really true. It was good though, because they had a lot of the things that we needed. Then we went to a little grocery store. I forget the name of it, but again, everything was in Spanish. We didn't have any trouble though. I remember a little from high school (although I wish I was fluent) and it's pretty easy in a grocery store to figure out what things are. We really only needed fruit, bread, milk.. that sort of stuff, so it wasn't too bad. The cashier did tell us our total in Spanish, looked up at us then struggled a little to say it in English.
Today we also have to venture into Manhattan to figure out this bus situation. Last night when we were there, we tried to ask about a monthly bus pass because depending on what bus you get on, it can cost $2.00, $2.50 or $3.00 one way. So we're thinking that will add up. The woman at the Port Authority said it would be $98 for a month unlimited. Uhhhhh. So we're going back to hopefully find someone who is willing to help us get the best deal because neither of us want to spend that on a bus pass.
To get to Manhattan from where we are can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Sometimes more depending on traffic. Jean (who we're renting from) told us to be prepared to leave an hour to an hour and a half early. Holy Cow! Once we get on the bus in Union City, we travel a little ways to the Lincoln Tunnel. Without traffic I think it only takes five minutes to get through it. However, I started to have a little panic attack when we were stuck in traffic under the river for fifteen minutes. Once we get through the tunnel, it's not far until we get to 42nd and 9th which is where we've been dropped off the last two times. To get to Ailey, we have to walk up to 55th street which is 13 blocks and about a fifteen minute walk (we think). Jean took us on an unexpected tour yesterday to show us how to get to Ailey. It was hot, and we were walking really fast. My legs are yelling at me today. I hope that I get used to the walk. I'm afraid that when I get there I'll be too tired to dance : /
There is a beautiful view when you walk out of our apartment and look to the right. At the end of the hall there is a window, and since we are on the fifth floor, you can see the skyline of Manhattan. I love it and make sure to look at it every time I leave because it makes me happy.
I've taken a few pictures of our apartment. It's been organized more since then, so maybe in a few weeks I'll take some more to show. But for now..
We lined our shoes up in a useless hallway/kitchen to make us happy!
Part of the kitchen area
The kitchen with NO counter space!
Our bedroom
And the best view ever!
Some more good news:
I'm drinking soooo much water cause it's so hot and that's the only way to cool down. At the end of these six weeks, I will be in the best shape I've ever been in. I'm not by myself (I'm so thankful cause I don't know what I would do if I was). And despite any homesick feelings, I will be so happy that I am here and that I had a chance to do this!
Stay posted for more : )
Things are going much better than yesterday. Except for it is extremely hot in our apartment (at least 10 degrees warmer than outside), and we don't have much of a breeze unfortunately.
I would try to describe yesterday in detail, but it would hurt my brain too much. It was hot and sweaty, involved hauling everything to the fifth floor, and was pretty miserable to put it plainly. We got on the wrong bus, the right bus, looked like tourists and kept saying "is this our bus?" "Wait where do we get on our bus?" At one point, were we not only on the wrong bus, but of course the bus driver didn't speak English.
Uhh. It was a little frustrating. To say the least. But we made it back here. Alive.
Some funny things that make me smile just thinking about involve, turning a sheet into a curtain by using a television power cord. Alivia fixing the shower head with her hair tie because otherwise the shower pointed straight up. And us coming back after a couple hours to realize that the toilet was still running..
Despite our first accustations of the town we are living in (Union City), it is pretty nice. People are friendly however, they don't speak English. At all.
This afternoon we walked to the "downtown" area where there are shops, restaurants and lots of other bizarre things. We found a "99 cent" store, which wasn't really true. It was good though, because they had a lot of the things that we needed. Then we went to a little grocery store. I forget the name of it, but again, everything was in Spanish. We didn't have any trouble though. I remember a little from high school (although I wish I was fluent) and it's pretty easy in a grocery store to figure out what things are. We really only needed fruit, bread, milk.. that sort of stuff, so it wasn't too bad. The cashier did tell us our total in Spanish, looked up at us then struggled a little to say it in English.
Today we also have to venture into Manhattan to figure out this bus situation. Last night when we were there, we tried to ask about a monthly bus pass because depending on what bus you get on, it can cost $2.00, $2.50 or $3.00 one way. So we're thinking that will add up. The woman at the Port Authority said it would be $98 for a month unlimited. Uhhhhh. So we're going back to hopefully find someone who is willing to help us get the best deal because neither of us want to spend that on a bus pass.
To get to Manhattan from where we are can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Sometimes more depending on traffic. Jean (who we're renting from) told us to be prepared to leave an hour to an hour and a half early. Holy Cow! Once we get on the bus in Union City, we travel a little ways to the Lincoln Tunnel. Without traffic I think it only takes five minutes to get through it. However, I started to have a little panic attack when we were stuck in traffic under the river for fifteen minutes. Once we get through the tunnel, it's not far until we get to 42nd and 9th which is where we've been dropped off the last two times. To get to Ailey, we have to walk up to 55th street which is 13 blocks and about a fifteen minute walk (we think). Jean took us on an unexpected tour yesterday to show us how to get to Ailey. It was hot, and we were walking really fast. My legs are yelling at me today. I hope that I get used to the walk. I'm afraid that when I get there I'll be too tired to dance : /
There is a beautiful view when you walk out of our apartment and look to the right. At the end of the hall there is a window, and since we are on the fifth floor, you can see the skyline of Manhattan. I love it and make sure to look at it every time I leave because it makes me happy.
I've taken a few pictures of our apartment. It's been organized more since then, so maybe in a few weeks I'll take some more to show. But for now..
We lined our shoes up in a useless hallway/kitchen to make us happy!
Part of the kitchen area
The kitchen with NO counter space!
Our bedroom
And the best view ever!
Some more good news:
I'm drinking soooo much water cause it's so hot and that's the only way to cool down. At the end of these six weeks, I will be in the best shape I've ever been in. I'm not by myself (I'm so thankful cause I don't know what I would do if I was). And despite any homesick feelings, I will be so happy that I am here and that I had a chance to do this!
Stay posted for more : )
2 comments:
I'm SOOOO Happy for you guys!! and Can't wait to see you tomorrow! (hopefully we don't get lost)
Thanks in advance for letting us stay!!
Awesome! Congrats:)
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