The Globetrotting Geek

Shabbat/Sunday – Day 85/86

October 23, 2012

Today a good friend Vanessa came over and we talked for hours and hours. After Shabbat came out, played some piano, messed about on the computer a little and just generally took it easy.

The trees on Locust Walk have now changed their colours and it’s somewhat beautiful. I’m really enjoying walking down with so few other people round, and just enjoying the peace and fresh air.

Sunday I worked a little, got my Ruby and Physics work mostly out of the way, and saved the evening for social events. At around two-thirty, I left my room and went to the bookstore to browse their physics collection where about a half hour later I met Melody for coffee, a chat and a walk.

Following that it was to my room for a short break before catching an interview with my Glee Club Mentor, Jonathan Ho (also known as JHo) at Sitar, the delicious Indian buffet.

Getting back a few hours later, my last social event of the evening was to spend sometime at the Rodin front desk chatting to Caitlyn Garcia, a UPenn cheerleader, who was interested in coming to study abroad in Australia. We spent her entire shift discussing the differences and culture of Australia and what the different cities and options were. Unfortunately for her, the girl who was meant to take the shift after her never appeared so she had to spend a good forty minutes trying to figure out what she was meant to do!

After waiting around till it was all sorted, I walked her up to her room and then headed myself into deep slumber.

New York – Thursday – Day 35

August 27, 2012

Thursday morning and it was time to make my way off again, this time from Cos Cob, CT to New York, New York! After packing my bags again, Gus drove me to the center of town. There I bought a prepaid AT&T sim card after being told that without a social security number I was ineligible for a plan. Following that a quick jaunt to the train station and I was on my way again, catching an MTA local line from Greenwich station to Grand Central.

I arrived at Grand Central Station with all my bags and was thoroughly not in the mood for dragging them around for the entire day till my cousins arrived home.

Thus, I dragged them a few blocks down to Schwartz Travel Services, where they provided a baggage watch service for 5$ a day. With my bags gone I headed a walking down. The first major landmark to catch my eye was the New York public library.

By this time the blisters on my feet were starting to play up, but I was not about to let that stop me from exploring the city on foot. Another few blocks and I was at Times Square, taking the mandatory tourist photo.

From there I walked to the PNC bank at Penn Station, in order to open up an account for the time in the states. There I met Jessica, a bank officer from the Dominican Republic who seemed about ten years older than me and was most friendly. We chatted for a while as she opened the account and I left with a feeling of satisfaction. Following that it was off to AMC Empire Cinemas on 42nd Street, right next to times square. I wished to go see Batman but the next screening was an hour away. So, to kill time I went into the AT&T store to see if someone there would be able to put me on contract rather than prepaid. After a good 25 minute wait I was helped by a lovely guy by the name of Ulysses, who informed me that though I had no SSN, if I put down a large deposit they could arrange a contract. It was thus that I received a brand new Samsung Galaxy SIII phone in return for my commitment to the firm.

At this point I decided to walk to the Eugene O’Neil theatre where the book of Mormon was playing to try and enter a lottery for cheap seats and failing that to join the standing room line. When I arrived I was informed I had just missed the lottery however, the standing room line wasn’t too large so I joined it, having been informed there were between twenty and twenty eight tickets available every day.

After two hours of standing, the queue began moving and I eagerly awaited my turn in line. Finally, I reached the front of the line but was then informed that the last ticket had just been sold. Desperate for a ticket I entered the cancellations line, a last bet where the house manager could sell tickets reserved for celebrities if they didn’t show. Sixth in line, I was hopeful that I might get in, however one hour later, again at the front of the line, the music started and the box office closed.

I then returned to Schwartz’s travel to pick up my bags and caught the subway to get to 55 South End St where my cousins lived. Guided by my phone however, I unfortunately hadn’t noticed that their address was in fact 55 EAST End St and found myself at the opposite end of the city. With all my bags, and the sky dark at 9PM I decided to catch my first cab of the entire trip and soon was safely at Yoni and Rivki Slonim’s. After a quick goodnight to the girls and a slice of pizza, I too was fast asleep.