Let the Good Times Roll

Yesterday was orientation.  Not too much to say about that, except that I won a Think Coffee gift card for winning an icebreaker game and a book called "NYC Free and Dirt Cheap" for successfully naming the five boroughs of New York City.  I'll give you a second to see if you can name them.  No?  I've named them at the end of this post for you.

Anyway, after orientation we ate classic, New York-style pizza.  And once that was over, a group of 7 of us decided to try and attend a Moth Story Slam.  We found it pretty easily and so did about 500 other people.  The line was not only down the block but around the corner.  Despite our efforts to stick it out in the cold, they closed the doors before we even got close.  We'll try again another time.

So onto plan B, which didn't exactly exist yet.  We walked around for a while and ended up heading to one of the guy's apartments.  His home school owns a floor in a hostel and so we went there and hung out for a while.  We played games and "danced" and got to know each other.  Then at 11:00 we went next door to PIT (People's Improv Theater.) And coincidentally enough, about 4 other SNY students were there.  I laughed so hard, I almost peed myself, especially during the "camel toe" suggestion set.  And Stacy, the self-appointed SNY cheerleader, even got up and did a set with one of the groups.  It was such a good start to the semester.  We already have so many inside jokes just from last night.  I hope this is a preview of the good times to come.

Today was our trip to the Met.  Again, if you don't know, the Met is short for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It was a neat experience.  But I realized that my interest in art is superficial and unsophisticated to say the least.  I really enjoyed the Greek and Roman sculptures, and I found the Modern Art exhibit to be more than tolerable.  But even the photography exhibit left me unsatisfied.  And if you know anything about the museum, you know how large it is and how it's nearly impossible to view the whole thing in one go.  So I didn't feel bad leaving after only seeing a couple of exhibits.

I have been craving Mexican food real bad, so the four of us that had toured the museum together decided to scope some out.  We found one not too far and tried it out.  Let me just say that I am taking it upon myself to find a good authentic (hopefully cheap) Mexican restaurant.  The place we ended up at was called Cascabel Taqueria, and it was like a hipsters version of Mexican food.  Translation: not good.  It was cute enough with its pop art and a strange Mexican wrestling deco theme.  And I'm sure it'd be an okay place to get a drink.  But the food was no good--no good at all.  It was very bland and did not satisfy my craving one bit. So the search continues.

This may be hard to believe, but I'm actually looking forward to the start of classes.  Getting into a routine will help with figuring out life in the city, because right now I still feel like I'm just floating around with no real purpose.  The city may have endless opportunities, but figuring them out can be a chore.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something.  Wednesday, after exploring the massive neighborhood that is Chinatown, I went to a show called "Chimera" at HERE Theater.  It was a weird, modern theater show.  But we got in free because my new friend Amy is an intern there.  It was a really small theater and looked like a close-knit community of theater goers, but I enjoyed myself.  The subject and execution of the show may not have been my favorite, but the one-woman show was impressive and definitely enjoyable.  I'm looking forward to experiencing more shows/concerts like that.

Lastly, as I promised, the five boroughs of NYC:

MANHATTAN     QUEENS    STATEN ISLAND   BROOKLYN    THE BRONX