The Big Apple part 2 - accommodation

When you plan a visit to a place like New York City, it's all about location. Location, Location, Location, and what a better location that a block away from Times Square? The first thing that pops into your head at that moment must be something along the lines of "wow she must have a lot of money", my instant response would be an uproar of laughter and much to your disappointment tell you that I just got lucky. For pretty average accommodation pricing I managed to find a double en suit bedroom. So to give you an idea or picture in your mind, let me just remind you that you get what you pay for a block away from Times Square.

Upon arrival, the manager was incredibly helpful and gave us a few tips as to how to get around and what to see and when to see it. He had someone carry our bags up to the fourth floor, up about 4 or 5 flights of very rickety stairs and let us into our room. The room was uhm as I said, you get what you pay for. The old carpets made it look a little shabby and gave the room a slight dirty feel. The room was spacious enough, but the bathroom was something else. I could swing a cat without extending my arms and it would easily make full contact with all four walls. But it was a shower and a place to freshen up.

The next morning, we woke up quite hungry and we were rather keen to see what the included breakfast had in store for us. We slowly made our way down the uneven stairs to the spare empty hotel room with a few small tables in it to find, bread, bagels, croissants, muffins, corn bread and some other random pastry looking things. For the healthy portion of our breakfast, there was a bowl of bananas, some orange juice, and then of coarse, tea, coffee and hot chocolate. After all that starch in the morning I thought we would be okay until lunch time.

I think one of the most important parts of being open to staying in a "cheap" hotel is that you have to keep your sense of humour very close by. After deciding to save our shower till the next morning, we were really desperate to get the city off us before we tackled another day of it, only to find that there was no hot water. Oh joy! Not only were we gross and in serious need of a shower we also needed to wash our hair. So after much debate to the manager about the fact that the water he called "hot" hardly came close to luke warm, he gladly offered us another room so that we could have a "hot" shower. This time I would call it bordering on luke warm, closer to the colder side than hot I might add.

Overall I was fine with the accommodation, good location, safe enough, hot water if you showered in the evening we later found out, a comfy, clean bed, free wifi for any last minute details we needed to figure out and most importantly, I didn't see a single roach. I was happy enough and I would stay there all over again. . . maybe ;)

The Big Apple part 1 - Commuting

The next few blogs you read are all related to my experience in the one and only greatest City in the world, the place where dreams come true, New York City. I have decided to break the trip up into different areas of my experience, as I have so much to say and one long blog might be a tad laborious. So here I go. . .

In the last 5 days I have used almost every possible means of transport available to man. My journey to New York City has truly given me enough experience on commuting to last me my lifetime. I have to say that one of the most convenient parts of NYC is definitely the sub way. It took quite a lot of getting used to and a lot of questioning the people around me before I was actually comfortable using the dark and stinky place. I have to say that although it isn't a very pleasantly fragrant way of commuting or comfortable when you are layered in your 5 biggest coats and jackets from the cold air above the ground compared to the stuffy and crowded train, but it gets you from point A to B quickly and away from the traffic and madness of the city streets. Perfect for small town "plaas meisie" me.

I love travelling, I am starting to realise. By travelling I mean getting there and starting the fun, I hate air ports, I hate being stuck on a plane for hours and not being able to sleep and trying to get comfortable and I don't enjoy trying to navigate my way around places that I have never been before. Although I have to brag a little and confess that I think I am pretty freaking awesome at it. I think I managed to get to wherever I needed to be perfectly even when I was holding the map upside down from time to time.

On the way to New York I had my mind racing about how we were going to find the right bus, how were we going to know where to get off? what if we ended up in a dodge area? What happens if you get on the wrong train? I have to say that this experience has taught me that it really isn't the end of the world. Just ask someone and you're bound to find your way to where you need to be.

Taxi's are just maddeningly expensive. I cannot understand why the sweet eff you have to tip the dudes if you're bloody paying them to drive you around! I think it's bull, but that's just me. Needless to say I didn't use a cab once while I was there, only to get from my house to and from the airport, but only because I had no one to fetch me and my travel buddy.

I think the main hiccup of thr trip has to have been when our bus driver told us to get off at the Delta airlines terminal, only to realise that he dropped us off at the wrong one, not the one that flies to Chicago, so after about fourty minutes of waiting for a shuttle to take us to the correct terminal we could finally relax! Luckily for overly prepared me, we left for the airport about hours before our flght.

The stress I went through trying to figure this all out was overwhelming beyond words, even though I had loads of help from sisters and Internet research, taking something you have printed on a piece of paper and putting into practise with bags and coats and full hands can be rather challenging. After it all, I can definitely say that I am officially an experienced traveller commuter person and I am overly proud of myself, and yes I shall toot my own horn and let my head swell at the amount of independence I gained over 5 days. Now if I can just figure out where I put my subway map. . .

Excitement like never before

Da da da dada Da da da dada Da da da dada DA Start spreading the Neeeeews, I'm leaving in two sleeps. . . yeah you got it. I'm gonna be a part of it for 5 days and I plan to soak up every last bit New York.

I have been counting down the days since I booked my trip two months ago and I am rather shocked by the details that I didn't really think about. I am the kind of person that plans things down to the last grain of salt I might have to take with me (not that that is necessary for this trip).

After the count down suddenly changed from 2 months to a couple of days I figured maybe it was time to start organising exactly what both my travel companion and I are going to do. Plans like seeing Ground Zero, Central Park all the other wonderful sights that people dream of seeing had to be pushed aside for a moment while we figured out how the hell we are going to get to Times Square (which is one of the closest locations to our hotel). LaGuardia Airport is not connected to the sub way to start with. After using twitter, google and many other sources I was left confused and overwhelmed by the different buses, subway lines and names of streets that mean nothing to me.

I am happy to say that I think I know vaguely how the hell I am going to get this right. I cannot wait for this experience and the adventures that come with it. Look out New York, Concrete Jungle, make my dreams come true.

Healthy, wealthy and wise?

You know that you're in an area that isn't home anymore when you realise that you want to take a photo of nearly everything you see, even though you see it nearly everyday. More so, you know that you are in a place that you don't fit in very well when you get that sudden embarrassed urge to take a photo of your neighbours' car, the car that drives passed you every day when you walk your dog, the Ferrari that some dude just casually parks outside Starbucks for most of the day and even more scary, when you imagine yourself driving around and asking for a photo opp whenever you see your host mom's car.

I think the part about this that fascinates me the most, is that the Ferrari dudes car attracted no attention at all. Back home there would be hordes of people grabbing their camera phones and just taking photos of the mags and gasping at it's interior and trying not to leave greasy hand and breath marks all over the car. People simply walked passed it and if they did happen to look in the car's direction they would hardly take a glance at it, as if it were just another Toyota Carola!

Generally I think this place shocks me just because of it's wealthy towns folk, not so much the culture shock. It's only when you look through the car's darkened window and see the person sitting behind the steering wheel, when you realise that that person is exactly the same as you, except that person has a lot more money and that's where the culture shock comes from. M_O_N_E_Y. You wouldn't believe how much of an effect it has on a person.

But how does all this money really make a neighbourhood and its people so very different from every other neighbourhood in the world. I mean this aside from the materialistic things like the cars and houses. How can money make a society so different that it can send someone else into "Culture Shock". I think I have the answer.

People who can afford all sorts of wonderful luxuries like self service cashier points at shops, people that load the car for you, (I mean do all your shopping go fetch the car and they load it up for you and nothing gets stolen!) drive through Starbucks, Drive through ATMs, everything that's makes things "faster" and "more efficient". These are all things that result in a less productive more lazy society. You may think they're efficient simply because you may be halving your time or avoiding lines and lines of people, but really all your doing is giving yourself less reason to just get your butt out of the car and doing something for yourself.

These few things, as small and "not that big of a deal" as they seem actually make this whole set up that much more difficult to adjust to. The culture shock comes from people that think their own asses don't stink and therefore they seem to think that someone whose ass does, has to automatically do everything for them!

I think that's why they love South African Au pairs, they know we come from a back ground where we have to WORK to get what we want so we aren't afraid to work hard and try new things!

Gospel in Amuuuurica!

7 weeks of being in America and I decided it was time for a bit of the "Oh Happy Day" praise and worship. Okay not really. As part of the Au pair programme we have these monthly cluster meetings and this one happened to be at the Chicago House of Blues. Scattered around America, these various locations offer quality food and entertainment and every Sunday they host a Gospel brunch with so much food your eyes get bigger and bigger than your stomach with every food station you come across. "Create your own omelet station, fresh waffles, entrees and breakfast favourites, bread station, seafood station, carving station and desert station"!

After starving the whole day to ensure we could get our money's worth of the buffet, we walked in a few circles around streets of Chicago until we finally found The House of Blues. We had to wait around until our show started so we decided to have a look at some of the memorabilia. Of course everything was over priced so I don't have much to show for the day other than a few photos and a few very vivid memories and the large choir master jiggling his giant belly and screaming out the praise to the Lord Almighty "HA-LLE-LU-JAH PRAISE JEEEEEESUS" "PRAISE THE LORD" "AAAAMEN"! I must say, generally not my taste but a fun filled day never the less! During the show I did however find it slightly ironic that the choir master main dude in the suspenders and tie and cross around his neck, kept advertising "thayr dee vee dee and cee dee, with our meeeuuusic and sooongs of praaaaise and worship". Very holy and modest aren't we? One of the highlights had to be when the lead was explaining to us that in his church the women all have to hold onto the tops of their heads when they throw their heads back in worship to stop their wigs falling off. Much to the amuzement of the crowd, one of the choir members in all her appreciation lost her wig to the stage.

All in all I don't think my experience would have been complete in the USA if I didn't experience the energy and volume of an American Gospel Choir and being called up to jiggle and move to the beats of the legendary Sister Act, Big Momma, song Oh Happy Day!

HALLEUJAH!

Whole Grade A Eggs Clarified Butter Green Peppers Bacon Tomatoes Ham Mushrooms Monterey Jack Cheese Cheddar Cheese

Served with Whipped Cream, Fresh Berries, Syrup and Maple Butter

Jambalaya Scrambled Eggs Buttermilk Biscuits with Country Gravy Blackened Catfish Cheddar Cheese Grits Bacon Sausage Fried Chicken Vegetable Crudités Fruit Platter Mashed Sweet Potatoes Turnip Greens

Blueberry, Lemon Poppy Seed, Banana Nut, Cranberry or Jalapeno Muffins Assorted Fruit and Cheese Danish

Peel and Eat Shrimp

Slow Roasted Prime Rib of Beef Slow Oven Roasted Glazed Turkey Maple Glazed Bone in Ham

Mixed Greens Salad Potato Salad Chinese Chicken Salad Smoked Salmon Tortellini Salad Fresh Seedless Cucumber and Vine Ripe Tomato Salad

Pumpkins, dress up and randomness

First time in America, first Halloween experience! Sucks that I'm too old to trick or treat, but you could still smell my feet and we can all have something good to eat! Yes, au pairs get bored!

It turns out I arrived in America in pretty good timing. Missed all the snow storms in Connecticut, just in time for the Festivities and celebrating the "Hallows" which comes with a lot of fun and excitement! So for about a whole month I have been carving pumpkins and talking about dressing up and wearing strange costumes and all the rest! I NEVER want to carve a pumpkin again! Three pumpkins in one experience is good thanks, really don't have to do it again! On the up side, got to roast loads of pumpkin seeds! I carved some pretty cool things and decorated some cool 'crime scenes' and then there was the fun of dressing up like random nothings because I was too cheap skate to spend $50 on a stupid costume that I would never look at again!

So after much debate we thought that maybe it would be a little sad if a bunch of girls way over the trick-or-treating age limit dressed up and pretended we were worthy of candy! Much to our delight the realisation of how over rated knocking on people's door and begging for free calories and tooth ache(on a limited medical aid) made us feel a lot better. So just for the show of it we dressed up took photos and did the good old fashioned thing. . . watched horror movies and told lame ghost stories until we fell asleep!

One of those nights that you could really do a scrap book page on.

The Roller Coaster

5 Weeks in the United States of America! I have only been here just over a month and I cannot believe number of emotions I have been through! At orientation the Loud American lady said that it would be a roller coaster of emotions and they may vary from person to person, but I do not remember her saying anything about the emotions varying from hour to hour!

Every roller coaster has its many ups and downs, twirls, spins, lurches and moments of anticipation! My roller coaster thus far has gone a little like this. . . You know that first moment when you're on the roller coaster? It starts going up really slowly, sometimes it clicks almost counting down the seconds until the first plunge. For now though, you're heart is pounding, your mind is racing, your adrenalin is telling you that you are so excited you just want the thing to start. Then you start to doubt your decision, was this really such a good idea? I have no idea what to expect, how long will it take? Will I make it through this? You feel like it's now or never do I scream and beg to get off or should I just hold on tight and try my best to enjoy the ride?  Your climb evens out and you stand still at the top for a moment. You either look down and scream to get off, or you think hey, things are going to be downhill from here. Downhill being ambiguous of coarse. (Either easy and free fall, or crashing and holding onto your last thread before the uphill starts again).

My point is no one ever warns you about the shit parts and the difficult parts that make this all so hard and that you'll experience emotions you've never heard of! Everyone just says, "It's such an experience, you'll come back a changed person with so many stories and you'll have seen so much" uhhhhh. . . It's like you go through phases, like you would in a relationship or just PMS. Honeymoon phase: I love this place, I'm going to learn so much etc. Culture shock: Kids back home, they would never do this, back home this would never happen, who are these people, another species? Then you get Home Sick: Missing home, missing your family, hating yourself for being so stupid to do this of all the things you could have done just a car ride away from home and then you reach denial where you tell yourself things are going to be fine or its just a phase or the other way around. You talk everyone around you, people you aren't even sure if you can trust. Then I guess at some stage you reach Adaptation: where you will realise you were so silly for ever doubting yourself and how stupid you were to have ever been so hard on yourself. Oh wait there's another twist in the roller coaster, and here we go again. . . phase 1!

Bottom line is nothing anyone says makes this any easier and no one actually warns you that it will get rough and that you will spend nights wailing to yourself and get addicted to TV shows and strange things like blogging to help the time fly until the next time you have reason to smile. Oh wait they do warn about this. . . when you're 12827km away from home! Luckily things do get better, it's just about waiting for the next straight or uphill on the Giant like PMS Roller Coaster, except there's nothing menstrual about it!