Thursday/Friday – Day 151/152
December 31, 2012
Thursday was snowing and thus I was inside much of the day, visiting various galleries and reading lots of books. Finally I was getting the holiday I needed! In the afternoon I went to see Les Miserables which by my reckoning was good. Just good. Not particularly great as many had hoped. I put this down to the musical character of the movie, which was a little repetitive and thus dull. Many of the actors spent the entire time speaking the songs with trembling lips and tearful eyes, which meant that not that much singing actually took place.
Friday was shorter than I would have liked, largely due to the early dinner and shabbat time of 4:30. Thus my day mostly consisted of going for a walk in the city then catching up for coffee with Irit Shacharai, one of my mentors from the Weizmann Institute, pursuing research at the Rockefeller Institute. After that it was back to Yoni and Rivki’s for dinner with the girls and then some peace to read!
Tuesday/Wednesday – Day 152/153
December 28, 2012
Finally back in a low stress environment with the girls, Sophie and Tzippy (my little cousins) and, though I don’t celebrate it, this made the perfect Christmas. After waking up at 9AM and spending a little time mucking about with them, we headed off to the Museum of Jewish Heritage near Battery Park.
The museum was quite enjoyable, though we hung around a while longer than was strictly necessary to cater to the girls wishes. After that we went home and baked cookies together (from premade cookie dough this time, not as much fun!) and read stories before dinner and bed.
The next day was dreary outside, with ice, sleet, rain and snow pouring down onto the frozen New York Streets. Thus, I spent much of the day inside with the girls, playing the usual games and taking a little time to myself to read and nap.
In the evening I decided to brave the inclement weather in order to catch up with an old friend from Melbourne working in the city, one Elyse Borghi. Over a vegan kosher dinner we discussed America, politics, feminism and college life and as always she was most enlightening.From there we tried walking in the rain to one of many pop up speakeasys that are experiencing a revival, but unfortunately they were full up, making us somewhat fed up of being soaked and chilled to the bone. Thus an early night for both of us, we made haste to get to the subway and home.
The Visa – Sunday/Monday – Day 150/151
December 26, 2012
Today was not pleasant at all. At 5AM I woke up with a jolt. *CRACK* *SMASH*, my head rolled backwards and my stomach dropped as the sound of splintering wood hit my hears temporarily disorienting me. The bed frame was in pieces on the floor and I was sure the landlord would not be happy.
Most of the day was spent in the house waiting for the landlord to show up as he said he would and soon I was out on the street, $150 USD out of pocket.
That’s all I’ll say about Sunday.
Monday morning I was up in the freezing Montreal cold at 5AM to get to rural Canada to the US Consulate Passport Processing Center. A train to the end of the line, bus and cab later I was outside the doors at a godforsaken hour knocking madly, giving those inside no peace till after around ten minutes they opened the door to ask me what I wanted. I explained my situation and after a number of tense minutes of bargaining they agreed to give me my passport back, complete with new F1 visa inside.
From there it was a race back to the bus station… could I make it by 9AM when the bus was leaving? Back with a cab, a bus, a tense train ride and a sprint through a kilometer long corridor to make it to the bus station at 8:55.
Much of the day from that point was spent on a bus, except for a brief and delightful coffee break midway at which point I purchased a pain au chocolat and a plain bagel that were devoured with a deep intensity.
Arriving in NYC at ~5:30PM I raced to the Bloomberg Building where a bunch of Glee Alums where rehearsing for singing carols at Rockefeller Plaza in the office of one Mark Glassman. Mark himself is particularly notable for two reasons, the first of these being his youthful demeanour and spirited manner, but next and more importantly he has been the playwright for the Glee Spring Show for twelve years! He is reaching C Erik. Nordgren levels of commitment! Getting inside involved a complex process including taking a surreptitious photo of me when I was least expecting it with a camera embedded in the wall.
The internals of the Bloomberg building were fantastic, ornate, yet somehow still office-like. A big highlight of the visit inside was the snack kitchen, accessible in a central location to all employees. Inside were mounds of free foods of all descriptions and even on Christmas Eve it was fully stocked. Snack we did. Next we rehearsed for a while and I as a newman was mentored a little by some of the older alums. Also very thoroughly convinced to join Voice of Gotham if ever I was in town for long enough.
From there we went to Rockefeller Plaza itself and sung to the crowd in pouring rain mixed with ice and snow for a good half hour. During this period our music soaked together making page turns impossible and my fingers froze solid! A highlight of the night was taking the Baritone solo in Winter Song, as I was the only Baritone around!
Freezing cold, I made my way back to my cousin’s once-removed and settled into the warmth for a nights sleep in a bed!