AmeriCorps Part 2

The program I applied for in Brooklyn didn't work out. They didn't provide a housing allowance. Sorry, but how is one expected to live on $250 every two weeks in NY? So instead, I found another program down here in D.C. Looks like I'm staying for another year folks!

I started yesterday with this new program. It's called FAN, which stands for Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso, which is a program in SE D.C. that works with foster kids. So my job with the program will be to teach 9th and 10th graders photography. I'm pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, none of the students showed up yesterday, so now I'm trying to work on finding them equipment and other resources. We'll see what happens. I'll keep all ya'll posted.

My roommate Gabby and I are preparing for a move. It's exciting to know we have an apartment lined up that we're both happy with. We're downsizing to a 2 bdrm. Should be good times.

What else... I'm still looking for new jobs left and right. Hoping to hear back about a few. If anyone knows of anything fun and interesting in the D.C. area, let me know! I'm still working on redesigning my Web site. Once that's posted I'll be sure to put it up on the Internets and let all ya'll know about it.

I'm going to keep this one short because I don't have much else to say. So, I bid you all ado. Oh, and start following me on Twitter if you're interested in getting updates about photography stuffs: @Fikhmanfoto.

AmeriCorps

So you're all probably thinking... What's this AmeriCorps business about when you just applied to Peace Corps? Well, a bit has changed since I last updated. I went on my interview for Peace Corps. All was fine and dandy and my recruiter suggested I get out and volunteer right now to make myself more competitive. A week later he called to tell me I wasn't going to be nominated due to my lack of volunteer experience and not having the right skill set for their needs. So after talking it over with a friend of mine who's down in Costa Rica doing PC, she brought up AmeriCorps. So I looked into that and thought, hmm... I could get a year of volunteer work in while waiting out the PC process, move somewhere new within the states (NY) and be able to quit my job! So, I did it on Tuesday!

I sent my application in at around 1:45 pm and then my phone rang at about 2:20 pm. It was a recruiter calling me from AmeriCorps from one of the programs I'd applied to in Brooklyn. They asked me to come in for an interview on the 18th. So as of right now, that's the plan. I need more details on my benefits (i.e. will they be paying for my overpriced housing and living expenses while in Brooklyn). But other than that, it seems like it could work out nicely for me! I'll keep all ya'll updated on that front.

Volunteer work aside, I went home for two weeks, though it was more like a week because a wedding in Montana and a photo reunion was had also. It was awesome. You don't realize on the East Coast how much you miss fresh air and mountains until you see them (or breath it) again. My dear friend Pat got married Aug. 23 and the wedding was awesome. Pure Montana style. The entire bridal party wore cowboy boots. It was amazing. Being in Montana was amazing, so much so that I was truly considering moving back the whole time I was there, but reality sank in when I got back to Portland and realized it'd probably be a bad idea to return to my beloved collegetown of Missoula.

There's not much else to report I suppose. I'm trying to get myself motivated to work on some photo projects. Ideas are brewin.. just gotta make em happen!

The Peace Corps

I finally got my Peace Corps application sent in about two weeks ago. (The above photo is from the Peace Corps Web site.) Ever since it's pretty much been the waiting game. About 10 days after I applied, I got a packed filled with information, a background check form and two fingerprinting cards. I've taken care of all the things necessary in order to proceed to my interview which is on Friday. I have a lot of questions to ask. I'm not really nervous, despite it being a formal interview. I'm more curious as to how the whole process works.

I attended a Peace Corps social on Monday night with Trevor at Bus Boys and Poets. I talked to a girl who went to Albania (which I was truly hoping to find someone who went there after watching this horrifying movie called Taken over the weekend). I talked to her to find out how safe it was to be in Albania as a female and how rampant the sex trade is. She told me how she was upset that the movie portrayed Albanian's in such a terrible light because they're the nicest people she's ever known. She did acknowledge though that yes, there still is a huge problem with sex trafficking in Albania, but she never felt unsafe at any point in time. So, that eased my fears a little, but I've still been left a little traumatized from that movie and want to go over to eastern Europe and hunt down the pimps and sex lords that are kidnapping innocent young women, drugging them and sending them into a life of prostitution.

I also talked to a girl who just got back from Madagascar earlier this year. She was only there for a year because she was pulled out early because of the coups. Honestly, I had no idea there even was a coups in Madagascar because we rarely ever hear about that part of the world. She mentioned that her only regret was being so focused on the place she wanted to go, and not where her skills were most needed. She thinks she made a difference, but not as big of one as she thinks she could've made had she gone somewhere that her skills would've been better utilized.

Then lastly I talked to a guy who went to the Philippines in the 80s. I can only imagine it was totally different 20 years ago. He told us that it was very likely that as a volunteer you'd meet another volunteer who you'd eventually marry, because that's exactly what happened to him. He also talked to us about how when you come back there's an adjustment period, like when he came back he had trouble remembering that he had access to light switches. He also mentioned that when you come back, you realize you now have 200,000 friends you didn't have before you entered PC. That life is definitely different when you come back, which, makes sense. You spend two years somewhere that may or may not have running water and electricity and life in America probably seems like a cake walk.

So my interview is on Friday. I'm preparing for it. Trying to think of all possible questions I still have left to ask. Determine which countries I think will be best suited for me. I'm going to really push for Costa Rica for two reasons, 1) I've been there and I know I would be able to spend two whole years there, and 2) It's developed enough that I think my skills would be better suited to the needs of the people, in that I would be able to help further their development (if that makes any sense).

Anyway, stay tuned. I'll keep you updated on my Peace Corps process. Also, take note, I have joined the millions and hopped back on Twitter. You can find me @FikhmanFoto. Kept the name the same for simplicities sake. I tend to post a lot of links to news and photo Web sites and retweet a lot of what other photo-tweeters are posting.

A Capital 4th of July

Happy belated 4th of July to you all. I hope everyone had fun and is fully recovered by now. I shot the photo above at the fireworks show on the National Mall. The following recounts the tales of my holiday.

It all began Saturday early afternoon. My roommate, Trevor, and I were sitting in the living room watching the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest. I watched in horror as Joey Chestnut stuffed his face with 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes, breaking a world record. As most people would celebrate the holiday with burgers and dogs, I could not fathom the idea of chowing down on the bunned-goodness after witnessing such a grotesque display of food eatery. So instead, I munched on a bowl of cereal, maybe some waffles.. I don't exactly recall. I lounged around most of the day, bouncing back and forth between my computer and the television. I got caught up on Samantha Who? (new episodes are finally out again).

By about 5 p.m. I'd "finalized" my plans with Nat and Marshal, who was in from Portland visiting before his European adventures. I got ready to go, as did Trevor. We headed down to Gallery Place/Chinatown and met up with Bill by about 6:30 p.m. In an attempt to find Nat and Marshal we made our way over to the Washington Monument... a good 10 block walk from where we left the metro. Along the way we saw a scary looking dog, a person wearing sunglasses and a shirt that read "Help the blind" (though they flinched when the dog wasn't even close...) and your usual array of red, white and blue fireworks-goers. We found a nice grassy knoll right on 15th street below the Washington Monument. Perfect for viewing the fireworks and making nice pictures. Excellent, we were set. Not quite. Nat called and said, you're too low, come find us, we want to go up higher. So, Nat drags us across the Mall to higher grounds to view the fireworks, Marshal and I adventure through the crowds so I can take people pictures and we get ready to watch the flaming balls shoot into the sky from the Lincoln Memorial... at this point, the Washington Monument was no longer in our view, it was directly behind us, thus ruining my prime picture taking opportunities for the 4th.

The show lasted about 15 minutes. I wasn't all that impressed. Personally, I think Fort Vancouver puts on a way better show, but then again, it's what I'm used to. After the show, Trevor tells us that his cousin is going to a party in Capitol Hill, so we decided to make the who-knows-how-long-block walk over there. On our way, we passed many Smithsonian museums and stumbled across the Hirshhorn where On the Fly was hosting a ridiculous Flip Cup game of at least 60 people. So of course we had to join in on the fun. After about an hour or so of Flip Cuppery, we decided to head on out (more like, the Park Police were kicking us out at 10:30 p.m.). We were headed to an Irish pub in Chinatown (ironic, I know) for some more 4th of July celebrations. Along the way, we picked up four people at the Flip Cup game who decided to tag along (a brother (we'll call him Muscles) and sister (we'll call her Red) pair and a sister pair). So at this point, it's me, Bill, Nat, Marshal, Trevor and our four new friends.

We arrive at Fado, which was insanely packed, manage to grab a table for all eight of us to sit at and commence the drinking. Trevor thinks it'll be a good idea to order five car bombs for the table... At some point, Nat disappears, Marshal talks to one of the sisters, Trevor is talking to another, a group of guys is talking to Red and I'm left with Muscles (typical when you go out with a group of guys). Low and behold, he works at the Pentagon and we were hanging out with a bunch of former Air Force kids. So by this point, it's about 12:30 a.m. and our four new-found friends want to go to Georgetown (that's where they were staying), Trevor wants to follow the girls, Marshal is still pretending to be interested and I don't really care what we do. We find Nat and it turned out he'd chatted up the bouncer who happens to be very well connected in D.C. so Nat decides to stay behind and pick this guy's brain. So, the seven of us head to Georgetown.

We arrive at Gallery Place/Chinatown and head down to the trains... most of us anyway. Trevor thought it'd be a great idea to slide down the middle of the escalator hand-rails. He gets to the bottom only to find that there's a giant puddle of water. So, his ass is totally soaked and black-streaked from the rubber now.

We arrive in Georgetown, rather Foggy Bottom, at 1:30 a.m. and still have the trek to make to Wisconsin Ave. We walk into the first bar we find, Mr. Smith's. Totally packed and totally Georgetown. Ugh. I'm drinking water at this point and the rest of the group is still going strong (not to say that I was drunk... I was just dehydrated). Marshal has realized the girl he was chatting up was crazy, Trevor starts chatting up Red and the two sisters seemingly got into a spat. I'm sitting with Marshal in the corner of the bar, look over to my left only to see Trevor sucking face with Red. Marshal disappears to the bathroom (I think) and Muscles comes over to the table and sits down with me. Then, poses this question, "Well here's the awkward part," "What's that?" "Who's going home with who?" Now tell me, who asks that kind of question?! I told him that it seemed my roommate would be going home with his sister and that Marshal and I were going to head back to Nat's place since it was right across the river. I have no idea where he was going with the question considering that though he and I were talking at Fado's, on the walk to Georgetown he managed to point out every hot chick that crossed his path.. so if that was his way of hitting on me, it most definitely did not work.

By now it's about 2 a.m. and the bars are closing. Our group wants food. We go on a quest to find a Jumbo Slice that some drunk guy told us was "only 1 slice up." He was clearly focused on his slice. In our attempts, we find that one of the sister's wants to go home and wants nothing to do with her sister. So Muscles chases after sister back to their place. Red and sister start talking, Trevor wants to intervene but I stop him and Marshal, the brave Marine, wanders up Wisconsin Ave. in search of our pizza. Trevor decides he's going to go up to Five Guys and get us some burgers; we detail what we want and he heads out. Red and sister are now arguing at this point, so Red gets up says shes going to get food and tells sister to not leave. Sister leaves exactly 30 seconds later, leaving me alone in a store front window on Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown.

I'm sitting alone in this store front texting with my sister when three Indian boys come up to me telling me I look very happy. They had just seen a girl walking down the street crying hysterically, to which they asked if she was ok and of course she responded with a typical, "Leave me alone." And I tell them, of course I'm happy. I have one boy out getting me pizza and another getting me a burger! Then they tell me they want to split my meal, but me being a hungry girl at 2:30 a.m. will have none of it. So then they tell me they're on their way to find a strip club, I point them in the right direction and they head out.

Marshal comes back with two slices of pizza. Life is good. Trevor then shows up with Red and a bag of food from Five Guys. I ask him for my burger and he looks at me with a totally blank stare. The drunk ass completely forgot my burger AND bought Red a burger. Needless to say, I was unhappy with him. Then Red realizes that sister was gone. We find out she had gone back to their place, packed her bags and attempted to storm off when Muscles stopped her bags and she ran off without them. Now the night has turned into a total mess for their group of friends and personally, I wanted nothing to do with it. So Trevor decided to stay back (duh) and help Red find her friend, while Marshal and I were about to make the trek across the Key Bridge back to Rosslyn.

We made it to about 34th Street when Marshal realized we wouldn't make it into Nat's apartment and we decide to head back to my house, so he remembers seeing on the news a program called Sober Ride, where taxi services were free. For whatever reason, I thought a ride from Georgetown to my place was going to cost $35 so we decided to make the call. It's now 3:30 a.m. and the service ends at 4 a.m. but the operator reassured Marshal they would come get us, though it would take an hour. So we parked our little butts in front of Johnny Rocket's and began our wait. We made friends with the bum sitting outside after Marshal went in to buy a drink and ended up coming out with a burger and fries, which he gave to the bum, who gave them to a lady who showed up after the place had closed. One cab drove by, another and another... it was like torture watching all these cabs pass us, all the while the streets grew more empty. 4:30 a.m. comes and the lady who had taken the fries offers to drive us home and we say no thank you, because we were a good 25 minute drive out of her way. We end up taking a taxi after all..

During our 25 minute taxi ride, we discovered our cab driver was an extremely religious Muslim man. We of course got into a debate with him about drinking after we asked him why he wouldn't participate in a Sober Ride program. Definitely one of the more interesting cab rides I've had in D.C. The taxi ride ended up only costing us $16.50. Had we known, we could've been in bed by 4 a.m. instead of 5 a.m.

We woke up six-and-a-half hours later, went and picked up my sister and met Nat at Ulah for brunch to recall the story I just told you. I hope you enjoyed it.

The King of Pop Thrills No More

This image best depicts how I remember My Michael Jackson. I grew up with the great MJ of the early 90s. He was already white at that point, but the music he was making was still rockin. I destinctly remember watching the "Black or White" music video in my living room, sitting way too close to the television. My sister claims I'd sit there, stroking the screen saying, "I love you Michael." I don't recall this, but sure, I'll buy it. I'd run around the living room doing little dances attempting a very pathetic moon walk.

Over the years, the media has antagonized him for being a freak, a pedophile, being hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, hanging his baby off a balcony... so many things to pick on him for. But, we tend to forget what he did to music in the 80s. And even before the 80s, with the Jackson 5. It was revolutionary. He made music that had people getting up and shakin their bootys. Stuff people hadn't heard yet and wanted more of. He made women of all ages swoon. Guys wanted to be just like him, leather jacket, high-water jeans and all.

Last night my roommates and I went out to share a drink in his honor, Ian clad in his MJ legs tshirt, me in my fedora. We do what we can. We will miss you Michael. Your music has touched the lives of many and there will never be another like you.

Some More Thoughts

It's been about another month since my last post and I think I'm going to continue on with my news commentary, only because stuff is happening and I have an opinion about it. So, read on my fellow blog-keeper-uppers.

Iran and it's election ridiculousness: It's kind of crazy to think that Ahmadinejad could have possibly won this election fair and square with the amount of unrest happening in Iran. Last week I was checkin out The Big Picture blog as usual and they had photos posted from the protests and rallies. We've been hearing about it on CNN and local news networks and reading about in the NY Times, but when you see visuals it makes everything so real and really makes you empathize with what people are going through over there. I personally think a recount is in order and that the police brutality coupled with bans on foreign-media coverage is grounds for thinking something went awry with that election. So, good luck to you, Iran, I hope you get what the people truly want.

FDA controls tobacco: I only heard about this on NPR this morning, but I think it's not a bad idea. The FDA might not have a lot of time on their hands, but regulating cigarettes is probably a good thing. Cut back on that nicotine, clean up the cigs, people might not be so addicted anymore and maybe, hopefully, in a dreamworld, people would quit smoking all together. And Obama himself supports it, and as we all know, he's been a smoker for many, many years.

iPhone 3Gs: I'm not going to lie. I want one oh, so very badly. The fact that Apple was able to sell 1 million new phones in one weekend, is insane (and good marketing). It's the third generation phone and people are still dropping serious cheddar on upgrading their phones. I mean, it can pretty much do anything and everything except drive your car and spoon-feed you., but other than that, it can pretty much do everything else. Say you're lost in NYC and you're looking for some cheap good food, just type your neighborhood into the Urban Spoon application and next thing you know, your phone is telling you where to eat. I mean, how much easier could life get?!

And those are my thoughts for this week. I'm going to try to keep updating more often because I know you're all dying to hear about what's going on in the world from my point of view.

Oh, also, I'm applying to the Peace Corps. I'll keep you updated on that too.

Just some thoughts.

I haven't updated in a while and am just realizing this. I'm gonna take this blog post in a different direction than the rest. Instead of mumbling on about myself, I thought I'd provide some social commentary on happenings around the world. So, if you'll allow me, let's begin.

Israel/U.S./Iran: For those of you that don't know about this situation, let me explain it to you in about a sentence. Iran doesn't like Israel and has nuclear weapons that Israel fears they will use against them, so Israel wants to preemptively strike Iran to protect themselves, but the U.S. doesn't want that to happen (though we're providing them with the weapons to do so), meanwhile the U.S. wants Israel to allow Palestine to become a state and Israel essentially saying it will only do so if the U.S. helps Israel attack Iran. Got it? Ok. So. Let's look at this unbiasedly. Why are we giving Israel weapons to attack Iran if we're trying to avoid WW3? Honestly. And why does Israel suddenly think it's ok to blackmail the U.S. into a WW3? Can't people just get along?! We all have to share the air we breathe, so why can't we share land too?

Obama's emissions plan: So Obama wants to essentially raise the price of most vehicles by $1,300 by the year 2016 to create 35.5 mpg vehicles. I have no idea why it costs so much money to make a car more fuel efficient. You'd think it'd be cheaper. Lighter materials, smaller engines.. I clearly know nothing about car mechanics. But, why are we so focused on cars? Shouldn't we spending our time thinking about ways of bettering public transportation? Making roads smoother and less congested? We need better infrastructure. It's almost 2010 people and we're living like it's 1950 still. Carpool to work and catch up on some office gossip. Or work on your tan while riding your bike to work. Or, throw on your iPod and listen to the latest Eminem album on the metro.

Swine flu: Two weeks ago this was the hottest topic of them all. Now? What's the swine flu? TV media blows things so greatly out of proportion it's insane. Maybe a handful of people have died in the U.S. from it?? Do people not realize that regular flu kills 40,000 people every year in the U.S. alone? Half-a-million in the southern hemisphere? Not that big o'deal people. Just wash your hands and cover your mouth when you cough. I mean, gross.

I suppose that's all I've got for now. Those seem like the big 3 stories of the day. Maybe something else will happen that's more exciting. Either way, catch up on some print news. Check this out, or this one here or even, this right here.

NYC: Part Two, the part that really counts.

The photo above was taken on my most recent trip up to the Big Apple. It's a view of the NYC skyline as seen from the Brooklyn Pier (I think.) I'm thinkin I might go back up again in two or three weeks. We'll see. It all depends.

In any case, I'm really starting to think NYC might be my next move. After all, this blog is about my adventures and the people I meet along the way. How many more adventures and people could there possibly be to talk about in D.C.? I've been in D.C. longer than I've been anywhere since college. I'm antsy in my pantsy and ready to move again! The itch started back in August when I was first looking for a "real" job. As my loyal readers know, I got a job and ended up staying in D.C. But, obviously, I've been ready to get outta here for a while.

I started thinking about moving up north a few months ago. Actually, I was thinking about going back west to San Fran, but with the recent news about this giant thinking about shuttering its windows, I'm thinkin it might not be such a wise move. So why not go north? 

I already knew a few friends from home and college who live there and after going to Israel I met even more great people who live there, so it's almost as though my life is waiting for me up there. The biggest obstacle of making this move happen is a job. Yes, a job. That three-letter word that seems to be everyone's biggest problem these days. I have three friends who've recently been laid off and possibly another today. Still waiting to hear about that one. So, how does someone like me, who has a fairly stable job in a completely unstable field, a lease and a "life" feel like she has the right to want more? Well, because I deserve more. That's why. I didn't see myself being where I am today two years ago. I figured when I graduated from college I'd do a few internships and end up at some kick-ass newspaper chasing cops and photography babies and puppies. Well, those things happened on the internship, but not in the real world. I want that in my real world and I'm determined to make it happen. 

So NYT, Hearst, Conde Nast, I'm comin full speed ahead to you, begging, pleading to take a chance on a rookie who really wants it. If any editors are out there reading this, you can find my resume here.

Israel: It was a Birthright

I took the photo you see above our first day in Israel. We landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv at about 3 in the afternoon and immediately hopped a bus to make the 5 hour drive up to the Golan Heights. Note, our group of 35 kids had only met maybe 15 hours earlier.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from the trip. All I knew going into it was that, a) I don't like group tours, and b) I'd likely be one of the oldest people on the trip.

To my contrary, I ended up being in the mid-age range for the people on the trip. We had a few youngins, 18 and 21, but most of us were between 24 and 26. Worked out quite nicely if you ask me. Like I mentioned earlier, there were 35 of us, from all over the US. Most were from NYC, some from Florida, a few from the LA area and then the rando, from SLC.

The trip started out on a Shabbat weekend in a town called Hispin up in the Golan Heights. If I were the trip organizer, I wouldn't have started it out that way because most of us freaked out when we realiezd there was nothing to do and nothing you could do because of Shabbat. (For those of you that don't know, Shabbat lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and you're not allowed to use electronics of any kind during that period.) So what were we left to do? Drink. Earlier that Friday we were taken to a winery and some very smart people bought bottles of wine which saved us after dinner. It was definitely a good ice breaker to say the least.

So we spent a few days up in the Golan and then headed south to Jerusalem. We toured the Old City and saw the Western Wall. It's amazing the energy you feel at the Wall, even if you don't believe in what it stands for. So many people in one concentrated area feeling so many emotions. It's nuts. They let us run free for a night on Ben Yehuda St. in Jerusalem. We went to a hookah bar and drank some local beer.

From Jerusalem they took us back north up to Tel Aviv for the day to see the Mediterranean Sea and an outdoor market. It wasn't too exciting, but I blame that on the fact that they took us to the wrong part of town. Next time I suppose. From there we travelled south again to Masada. We woke up super early the next morning, 430 am, in hopes of climbing Masada to watch the sun rise, but alas that did not happen. We only left the hotel in time to see the sun rise. As we drove our way to the starting point we crossed path with a group of soldiers marching on the road and we got out to walk with them for a while. It was a pretty cool experience. Sun coming up over the desert, walking with a group of 40+ soldiers carrying automatic weapons.

We climbed Masada, saw some amazing views. Then we went to the Dead Sea. Let me tell you... If you ever want to feel like a human buoy, go swim in the Dead Sea. It's the most awkward feeling ever. The water is so slimy, but fairly warm. You just have to trust the water. So you get in, turn around and lean back. Next thing you know, you're floating through the sea on your way to Jordan. After the Dead Sea they took us to some strange animal refuge nearby where we hiked for a while. The day was rounded out with a solid 3-minute camel ride. That was a weird experience too, but a good one nonetheless.

Our last two nights were spent in Jerusalem, another Shabbat dinner. We went to the Western Wall again for Friday night prayers. The second time around was a different feeling. It was more happy and enlightened than the first time. 

Overall the experience was a really good one. I met 35 unqiue individuals with interesting stories to tell. I spent 5 days with incredible Israeli soldiers. I learned that being a Jew doesn't mean you have to believe in God. And that being a journalist is one of the most awesome jobs I could've picked for myself.

NYC: Even your ankles get dirty.

I realize it's been almost 2 months since I last updated, but a lot's been going on. So, I'll just start with my trip to NYC on March 14.

I went up to visit my friend Carly for the first time since she's been living there (which is going on like 3 years). I'd been to NYC three times before, but never just to explore. There was always something that had to be done. But this time, I got to explore and had a great friend as my guide.

There wasn't really anything specific that I was dying to see, so instead we just chose a route that would get me through all the neighborhoods I hadn't seen. So we took the train to Times Square and started there. We walked our way down to Greenwich Village moving on to Tribeca and SoHo and finding ourselves in the Financial District at 5 pm. That's a scary place to be at that hour, let me tell you. We also stumbled upon the Fannie Mae bull, which was surrounded by tourists so we did a quick walk-by snapshot of the two of us. It was cute. Then we proceeded to take the Staten Island ferry there and back, and along the way I taught some tourists how to use their camera.

NYC is a pretty interesting place. It's crazy how you can walk from one neighborhood to the other and feel like you're in completely different places. If I were to move there, I'd love to live in the Village. It's so quite and pretty, but everything is still right there at your finger tips. We came across this tiny hole-in-the-wall, soul-food diner called The Pink Tea Cup where we shared some fritters and coffee. It was totally delish. 

I also happened to be in NYC for St. Patty's day. Let me tell you, that was pretty insane. Carly and I decided it'd be a great idea to start the day with Irish Coffees and walk to Central Park (since I still hadn't seen it) and drink beers out of paper bags. So, we packed a backpack with snacks and ventured out back into the city. We were walking around and heard the beats of drums and the sounds of bagpipes from across the park so we followed the sound and found ourselves watching the St. Patty's day parade. It was pretty freaking awesome. Being in NYC on St. Patty's day drinking beer in the park. Awesome. So we watched the parade for a while and decided it was time to get serious and head to the bars. We met up with her BF and all of his buddies from Brooklyn at some bar, somewhere. Probably called O'Reilly's or something... or maybe no, it was McFadden's. There. That's it. Started our party there, where I discovered it's apparently ok for cops to party in uniform if they're from NY. Interesting. We moved on from there to I don't even know where. We'd made the smart decision to smuggle in a small bottle of Jameson's to the bar. Excellent idea when meeting new people on a drunk holiday. We bar hopped from bar to bar stopping to eat slices of NY pizza in between. It was a pretty good night.

All in all NYC was pretty fun. I have no idea if I could actually ever live there or not. Maybe in the nice quiet neighborhoods where it doesn't feel like the sitting is caving in on you. There's defintely never a dull moment though. We'll see... it might be my calling in the near future.

Stay tuned for the next post: 10 days in Israel.