Happy New Year!
I hope everyone’s holidays were the best ever. I sure had tons of fun with my three and a half week vacation. I really needed a break from the life here at ERAU, the end of the semester was much anticipated and I could not wait to get home. I really, really missed my friends from high school because they are so different than the people here, so my trip home was excellent in just that I really got to hang out with everyone for a long period of time for the first time since the summer. I also got to relax which was fun for a while, but then it really got boring because I’m not really the relaxed type of person.
New York City is truly the greatest city in the world, and I take it for granted until I leave it for a while. The amount of things at my disposal while I was at home was truly the best part of the visit. Just being able to walk around for once instead of being in a car was the thing I really missed the most. And walking was a theme for the first week of my break because of our city’s transit workers union went on strike, basically crippling the city. I stayed at home the first two days, which was horrible, but on the third day, I braved the cold to walk to Manhattan. I live a few minutes away by train, (subway) but walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge took me about an hour. When I arrived at the bridge, I took advantage of the city’s traffic restrictions and received a ride from a newcomer in the city who did not realize he need four people in his car to get across the bridge in the mornings, for the duration of the strike. Over the bridge in the car took literally 45 seconds and then I took the PATH train (run by the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey) up to midtown. It was truly a long and awe inspiring adventure which turned what would have been a 35 minute trip into 2 hours.
Other things I did in the city after the strike was over was ice-skating at Chelsea Pier, seeing the tree in Rockefeller Center, and just eating all the different types of food I had come to miss. I know what you are thinking and no, I did not go to Times Square to see the ball drop. I’m saving that one for my mid- to late twenties. On New Years Eve I just went to a party with my friends and had tons of fun.
Overall I think I had a great time over break and it was just what I needed to get me ready for the long haul of four months away from home. I won’t be going home for spring break so I am totally going to need some support come March, when I am going to be dying for some good pizza. I’ll be sure to write about it and request a shipment of food from those of you from New York when the time comes. As always, write to me at willicdb@erau.edu.
Until Next Time,
Carlos
