Goodbye Chelsea. Hello Bronx!

Today I packed my bags, left Chelsea - an area that I adore, by the way - and headed to The Bronx, where I'll be living until early August. Kathy (friend, classmate, and fellow CGI-er) was nice enough to accompany me on the subway ride there to drop off my stuff. After I officially moved in, we headed to Williamsburg so Kathy could deicide on a space for her, which didn't work out - thankfully, in my opinion.

Afterwards, we headed to a pizza parlor to eat and watch Spain vs. Honduras - how beautifully Spain plays! - then headed to Prospect Park. This time my goal was to make it to the lake, because the last time I was there I was dead tired and could barely lift my feet to make it to the metro stop. After waiting for over a half hour for the bus (we wanted to ride through this highly orthodox Jewish community, rather than go under it), but after two scheduled busses failed to show up, we cut our losses and hopped on the metro instead.

Erica & Kathy in Prospect Park

Once at lovely Prospect Park we took a nice walk to the southern end to find Prospect Park Lake and a gaggle of giant geese! People were relaxing on the grass in the shade, families were barbecuing, others were fishing (catch and release only). I laid out my sarong under some nice shade trees next to the lake so we could enjoy the breeze and cool off a little. Of course, I did a couple of sun salutations and a few minutes of meditation. Again, there is never any silence in New York City, although I am getting rather good at filtering out the sounds of the city and picking up the sounds of water, wind, and birds.

After relaxing for an hour or so it was time for the long ride home. That is the only problem with living in the Bronx - it is a little bit out of the way. Oh well, that just means that I will need to spend some time getting to know what this area has to offer. The map shows that I am surrounded by parks, the New York Botanical Gardens are only 6 blocks away, and I believe there is a zoo somewhere around here as well. Plus, I actually enjoy riding the subway. It is a nice time to observe the people of New York. It is a time for thinking and a time for clearing my mind of all thoughts. The subway is also where I plan to get a lot of reading done. I need to start thinking about my thesis, begin research, and make a dent in my reading list. Right now I am reading Joseph Stiglitz's book, Freefall, which I really enjoy (thanks Aashish!) - three more chapters to go, and I think these three will be the most interesting.

Tomorrow I start work. It should be fun, but if we don't have to stay the whole day I'd like to go to the Museum of Natural History so I can totally geek out! Oh, and tomorrow I'll be rooting for Mexico and Argentina!

Prospect Park Lake