(no subject)
being sick is probably better because now i can't waste time around the village and have to do my work.
im thinking bronchitis, considering it hurts to breathe. but things are getting better, i think.
i'm really starting to fall in love with this city.
im going to paste a letter i wrote to jacob here, because it's probably the best way i can explain my experiences here.
Dear Jacob, 9/9/05
My second week in, I still don’t know how I feel about college. I would be hap hazardous in saying that this feels a lot more like real life than anything I’ve ever experienced. Right now, there is an unsettling silence in our room that can only be described as silent conversation. My roommate from Texas, Amy, just found out her close friend was in an accident and almost died. Right now she’s at the hospital in the ICU unconscious, and they don’t really know what is going to happen. I think Amy wants more than anything right now to be home. I understand that feeling well, and wish I could do something to make her feel better, but it’d be really hard to simulate the feeling of being surrounded by loved ones. I guess this silent conversation will last a little longer until Amy falls asleep, I only hope I can provide for her some sort of comfort while her friend is recovering.
So far I’ve made some good friends. The move-in was rough, not just because of the humid, hot and rainy weather, but there are always going to be logistical problems with moving in a thousand students into a sixteen story building with three antediluvian* elevators. Mid-day an older man passed out while moving his nephew into his sixth story room, between the fire truck, the police, the paramedics and the five-hundred on-lookers, Fifth Avenue was pretty hectic. My family waited 4 hours in line just to get my stuff on the elevator, but it only took one trip and unpacking was infinitely easier than packing. I’m sharing my room with two girls, Amy and Stacy. Although the space is somewhat small, the three of us are pretty comfortable and happy about our rent costs: living on Fifth Avenue ten months for five grand is a steal.
When I first got here I came to the melodramatic conclusion that New York City is the loneliest place in the world. I felt like I was being shuffled around thousands of people I would never see again, and that I was more invisible than I had ever been before. But I learned that New York is much more reflective than I thought. Reflective in such a way that finely polished sand will copy and multiply whatever light you feed it. Apparently something as simple as an honest smile can brighten the gray streets of New York. I feel like everything here is more appreciated than back home, each small curvature of the lips is almost like a gift.
Washington Square Park is the center of NYU campus and so far, the center of my love for this city. At any given time there are at least three different groups of talented musicians entertaining the public. The other night I stayed in the park with my sister and her friend Mike until two in the morning, singing Beatles songs with fifty other people. Its amazing how this city really never sleeps, the middle of the night excursions have been a highlight of my time here so far. I really wish I could share each individual experience here with you. All I can say is that it feels like New York is a place of extremes. Like everything eccentric and normal originates from here. It’s hard to explain, but hopefully it’ll become easier as time goes on. In my Prose Composition class we’re required to write several pieces about New York, and maybe if those papers go well I will send you a copy.
So far, I really enjoy my classes, there is a lot of writing and reading, which are exactly the skills that I had wished to hone when I decided to attend college. My Social Foundations class is amazing, mostly because my teacher is a really intelligent squirrelly man who knows exactly what he is talking about. He, like you, is an appreciator of articulation and is very thoughtful with his words. He’s not quite a Houyhnhnm, but damned close, just with less hooves.
I should really get some sleep, I’m afraid I’m coming down with a cold, and sleep would probably be really good for me right now.
With Love,
Mel
*fun etymology fact: Antediluvian is derived from the Latin words ante meaning before and diluvium meaning flood. So as in the time in the bible before the flood of Noah, meaning really freaking old.
im thinking bronchitis, considering it hurts to breathe. but things are getting better, i think.
i'm really starting to fall in love with this city.
im going to paste a letter i wrote to jacob here, because it's probably the best way i can explain my experiences here.
Dear Jacob, 9/9/05
My second week in, I still don’t know how I feel about college. I would be hap hazardous in saying that this feels a lot more like real life than anything I’ve ever experienced. Right now, there is an unsettling silence in our room that can only be described as silent conversation. My roommate from Texas, Amy, just found out her close friend was in an accident and almost died. Right now she’s at the hospital in the ICU unconscious, and they don’t really know what is going to happen. I think Amy wants more than anything right now to be home. I understand that feeling well, and wish I could do something to make her feel better, but it’d be really hard to simulate the feeling of being surrounded by loved ones. I guess this silent conversation will last a little longer until Amy falls asleep, I only hope I can provide for her some sort of comfort while her friend is recovering.
So far I’ve made some good friends. The move-in was rough, not just because of the humid, hot and rainy weather, but there are always going to be logistical problems with moving in a thousand students into a sixteen story building with three antediluvian* elevators. Mid-day an older man passed out while moving his nephew into his sixth story room, between the fire truck, the police, the paramedics and the five-hundred on-lookers, Fifth Avenue was pretty hectic. My family waited 4 hours in line just to get my stuff on the elevator, but it only took one trip and unpacking was infinitely easier than packing. I’m sharing my room with two girls, Amy and Stacy. Although the space is somewhat small, the three of us are pretty comfortable and happy about our rent costs: living on Fifth Avenue ten months for five grand is a steal.
When I first got here I came to the melodramatic conclusion that New York City is the loneliest place in the world. I felt like I was being shuffled around thousands of people I would never see again, and that I was more invisible than I had ever been before. But I learned that New York is much more reflective than I thought. Reflective in such a way that finely polished sand will copy and multiply whatever light you feed it. Apparently something as simple as an honest smile can brighten the gray streets of New York. I feel like everything here is more appreciated than back home, each small curvature of the lips is almost like a gift.
Washington Square Park is the center of NYU campus and so far, the center of my love for this city. At any given time there are at least three different groups of talented musicians entertaining the public. The other night I stayed in the park with my sister and her friend Mike until two in the morning, singing Beatles songs with fifty other people. Its amazing how this city really never sleeps, the middle of the night excursions have been a highlight of my time here so far. I really wish I could share each individual experience here with you. All I can say is that it feels like New York is a place of extremes. Like everything eccentric and normal originates from here. It’s hard to explain, but hopefully it’ll become easier as time goes on. In my Prose Composition class we’re required to write several pieces about New York, and maybe if those papers go well I will send you a copy.
So far, I really enjoy my classes, there is a lot of writing and reading, which are exactly the skills that I had wished to hone when I decided to attend college. My Social Foundations class is amazing, mostly because my teacher is a really intelligent squirrelly man who knows exactly what he is talking about. He, like you, is an appreciator of articulation and is very thoughtful with his words. He’s not quite a Houyhnhnm, but damned close, just with less hooves.
I should really get some sleep, I’m afraid I’m coming down with a cold, and sleep would probably be really good for me right now.
With Love,
Mel
*fun etymology fact: Antediluvian is derived from the Latin words ante meaning before and diluvium meaning flood. So as in the time in the bible before the flood of Noah, meaning really freaking old.