Three weeks and three days

Is how long we have lived in New York City. Our camera has been broken since July, so we haven't been able to take and share pictures of our new home. We're waiting on some funds, then we'll be taking our camera to the shop, where it can hopefully be fixed. I really like our new apartment, and not just because it's in New York City.

To quote my friend Joe, who moved down here a few years ago, "EVERYONE seems to have a gold egg-laying goose but you." This statement is true. As two bumpkins in the big city we went out and about a lot when we first got here. Nothing we did was expensive, but even the cheap food and the subway rides add up after awhile. As does buying groceries and toilet paper.

We're very slowly falling into a routine, which is helping us feel more at home. More than most people, because I'm more uptight than most people, I need routine and structure. I've had a lot of work, which is a good thing not just for the wallet but for my need to be doing something seemingly purposeful.

I've also been attending church at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist. Church and United Methodists also make it feel more like home. I like the church. Tim has work study on Sunday mornings, so I go to services by myself. For some reason this makes me feel like I stick out more. This is because I'm egotistic. I think people care about me more than they do, so really the cure to my nervousness would be for me to get over myself. I'll work on it.

Tim's the captain of an intramural soccer league, is student teaching at Manhattan Country School, and likes his classes and advisor. We've made some friends in our building and in the social studies department, and thank God for our friend Eric who went out of his way to make us feel welcome in the city. And contrary to popular insult, people in NYC have been nice, helpful, and caring. Our first week here I saw a dude help a girl carry her large suitcase up a flight of subway stairs. Because I've been trained so well, I thought, "He's going to take off with that suitcase the second he hits the sidewalk." He didn't.

I'm looking forward to using my student ID for free admission into museums, to taking advantage of student rush tickets and reduced-price Teachers College tickets for Broadway, to standing outside at the Early Show because I love Harry Smith, to the free Counting Crows concert in Central Park this Wednesday (and subsequent free concerts in the park and wherever else), and to parades and festivals and people watching. I don't want to live in New York City and ever feel like I wasted my time.