"I've made up my mind, I ain't wastin' no more time."
I got tired of sitting around waiting for my life to begin, so I decided to put all my effort into making my dreams happen. So here we are, I'm now in New York working my internship, making connections, and putting myself out there to try and make SOMETHING happen. It was really scary coming here all by myself. I wasn't really sure about anything other than I knew I had to do this. I believe in luck, and I know I don't have much of it. For me, opportunities don't just happen, I have to make them happen. That's what I'm trying to do. It's been almost a week that I've been in NY, so I figured it would be a good time to update you all on some of the cool (and terrifying) experiences I've had so far.
Here's what I learned. Uh, so Brooklyn is not all hipsters and trendy people. Through staying where I am I learned a really valuable lesson, never book an Airbnb in an area you don't know anything about. Always, always, always do your research. Common sense, right? I ended up booking the cheapest Airbnb I could find, which happens to be in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. I've been to Brooklyn before (DUMBO and Coney Island) and thought, "This will be great! I loved Brooklyn." Yeah, no. Cypress Hills is on the boarder of Brooklyn and Queens, and now doing my research after the fact, is notoriously known as a bad neighborhood. Not only is it a bad neighborhood, but it takes up to almost an hour to get to Manhattan. Not exactly my idea of convenient, and certainly not what the listing said. Even though it's been rough, I'm glad I had this experience, because I feel I really learned a lot from it.
So the first night I got here, the car dropped me off and drove away quickly, leaving me alone in the middle of somewhere I'd never been before, it was almost midnight, and it was raining. I was told to go through the white gate, put the code into the door, and go inside. Well, there were two white gates. I started at the one on the left, (because the one on the right was hidden by cars), went through, and realized there was no place to put a code in on the door. I started knocking and come to find out it wasn't the right house. Someone looked out the window and quickly shut the blinds. So I'm just standing there with my suitcase, duffle bag, and purse, beginning to mildly panic. Finally, someone walked outside and I asked them where the Airbnb was. Come to find out it was a different white gate being hidden by cars.
Okay so I get inside. Hooray for small victories. I was assigned to the lower right bunk. Well, I go to get in it and to my very shocked surprise there was a guy sleeping in the bed. All of the beds where taken except for one upper bunk. So, not knowing what else to do I just slept in that one for the night.
The next day was perfect. I spent Sunday in the city with my favorite people. Jessika and I walked around Battery Park for awhile. We saw a street performer flip over seven people at once. There was an adorable little kid who I swear was a mini Michael Jackson. We saw used Cher records that we literally have bought for $1 or less, being sold for $70. We semi attended a Jewish wedding and tried to save a baby bird who fell from it's nest. It was one of those perfect New York City days where you walk out your door with no expectations, and the most incredible things happen.
The day was great until I started my journey back to bum-fuck-wherever-I'm-staying Brooklyn. NYC does their train maintenance on the weekends, meaning a lot of the time trains are running on different lines than they usually do. It just so happened the J wasn't running ANYWHERE. Every station I got to that I normally could get the J, I couldn't. I had to transfer at least 6 times before I finally got somewhere where I could take the J back to Brooklyn. By this time, it was already getting pretty late. I finally got to my stop, got off, and started walking toward the house. I almost got there when I realized my phone was dead and the code to get in the door was in my phone! I turned around and started running up the block looking for a place to charge my phone. Nothing was open and no one was out other than a couple of creepy guys in hoodies. Finally after I don't know how many blocks, I found a convenient store where I could charge my phone. I hung out in there as creepy guy after creepy guy came in buying "bogies". Once my phone was charged enough, I headed back to the house. As I was walking up the street, I noticed a car was following me. He pulled up next to me and yelled what sounded like something along the lines of "get in." After yelling and running away, I finally made it back to the house and inside.
Little naive me from Colorado, I've never really had to be afraid to walk somewhere by myself, even at night. Okay sure, a couple of times I've walked home alone at night in Boulder and it's been creepy, but I've never been afraid for my life. I was genuinely afraid something horrible was going to happen to me this night, and it could have. It really showed me how horribly sad it is that girls have to be so afraid to go anywhere by themselves. We're always at risk of being hurt or taken. It's awful and heartbreaking, but I know I'm much more vigilant now because of the experience I had that night.
Monday was chill. I came to Williamsburg and walked around a little before going to Starbucks to work on my online class and blogging stuff. I've always wanted to come to Williamsburg because it's where my favorite book takes place, so it was exciting to finally get to see it! I would love to live here someday.
Tuesday was really good. I had my final interview for Teach for America. Fingers crossed that I get accepted. I'm hoping to have that as my back up option if I can't get writing jobs right away. I feel like my interview went really well so I'm not too worried. Fingers crossed! After my interview I walked around Wall Street a little bit, then hung out at the Brooklyn Bridge and watched the sun set.
Wednesday was a Broadway day! I don't know anything about Broadway but it was still really cool. And I got to meet Jes finally which was lovely and very fun!
Thursday I met my boss which was amazing! She's the sweetest person ever and we spent the day getting tons of work done! It was really productive and made me so so excited for this summer. It's going to be incredible.
Friday I headed to NYU to pick up my idea. I AM SO EXCITED TO MOVE INTO RUBIN HALL. It's in the heart of Greenwich Village (my absolute favorite part of the city), only a couple blocks from Washington Square Park! I can't wait to be out of the terrifying neighborhood I'm in and not have to commute an hour to Manhattan.
So I got my ID, then headed over to the park to hang out and do some work. A pretty cool thing happened; Sophie Tweed-Simmons ended up walking right by me. I was looking down at my phone and looked up and made complete eye contact with her. I totally gauked, in shock to see her. She smiled and kinda laughed noticing I noticed her and kept walking. I didn't want to bother her so I didn't chase her or anything. But I did mention it to her in an Instagram comment that night and she she actually answered me! It was cool.
After I hung out at the park I decided to go walk by the Empire State Building because I love it. Once I got there I figured, "What the hell, why not," and decided to go up to the top. It was incredible because I had never been to the top at night. It was amazing seeing the city all lit up from up above. Afterwards I got some pizza and headed on home.
So, there ya go! That was my first week in NYC! I move into Rubin Hall tomorrow and begin the second week of my adventure. Today, I'm taking it easy just hanging out again in Williamsburg at Starbucks. I'm excited for what the summer holds, and thankful for all the adventures I've already had.
xoxo Nicole