Dear blog,
Forgive me for my unfaithfulness. I did profess eternal dedication to you when we started this relationship. I promised to pay you a visit daily but I've neglected you.
You see, I went on a journey, a journey to the very centre of capitalism, a journey to *the* City. And I have to say, I went there with a lot of preconceived notions of what it would be like. Though I've been there on day trips thrice, I never quite got a feel for the city. It took me the full week to fully appreciate the beauty of New York. In my mind, it symbolizes capitalism and I associate that with corporations... and there were corporations. There were Starbucks and K-marts and Subways and McDonalds. But there were also little independent stores, lots of them. People knew each other, they greeted each other on the street.
Perhaps when you live on the island of Manhattan, that little island becomes your life and you rarely venture off that island because you rarely get the chance to or reason to. Yet New York isn't just Manhattan. It's also all the surrounding area and until you visit the suburbs of New York, you don't get a feel for the city.
In the week I spent in the city, I didn't specifically go to any tourist destinations. I didn't go to the Statue of Liberty, nor the Empire State building, nor a Broadway musical. I would've liked to do all of that but in retrospect, I'm much happier having walked around the city, downtown and midtown and uptown. My friend took me to Jackson Heights and I fell in love. We bought tacos from a street vendor there, then bought arepas from two women who couldn't speak English and were impressed at my broken Spanish. Haha... what a contrast that is from Paris... okay, I won't get into Paris *wink*
The truth is that New York City is not all concrete, it's not all skyscrapers, it's not all corporations, it's not just capitalism. While I did see a definite struggle to get ends to meet and poverty, but I also saw humanity. I noticed the kindness of people on the streets. After a few days, the workers at a cafe I used to frequent started recognizing me. I established a bond with a small community within a sprawling metropolis. And I fell in love with the city...
It reminded me of all the preconceived notions I had about Germany when I visited. I'd heard a lot of negativity and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't encounter any racism, there was much more vegetarian choice there than many of the other parts of Europe and people are polite. German does not sound harsh (unless they want it to in which case they can make it) and Germans are not evil people. We can't hold the Germans eternally responsible for what their ancestors did, which was to allow themselves to be taken over by an evil regime. And it is a country still trying to heal. I noticed that there - they are still building, they are still forming an identity.
I'm sidetracking now... but all I have to say about New York and New Yorkers are good things. What an wonderful, resilient and open-minded city. Anyhow, I will take your leave for now. I suppose the people I met and the things I did in the city will have to wait till another time. There's too much debauchery and I think you'll need time to digest that =P
With all my love and light,
Sal
