Another energetic day in the city. I found myself out of bed by 9am, with the hustle and bustle blaring through my window. Today was going to be a packed day, so I made sure I was ready. Showered, combed, and put on some decent attire. Immediately I was out the Big Apple Hostel’s door. I grabbed a quick bite for the deli next door. Luckily, I avoided the rush hour this time around, when an influx of business people storms the place to fulfill their appetite.
I had to start early today. I walked down the corporate district of 6th avenue down from 45th Street to 54th Street to MoMa, the Museum of Modern Art. I thought this would be a tiny exhibition of the scale of Istanbul Modern, but I was taken away by the fact that the museum was approximately six stories with every medium of modern art imaginable. Also, there was a whole gallery for each major artist: Picasso, Monet, Warhol, etc…
In the center of the MoMa was a live exhbition, in which the artist was interacting with the viewers. There wasn’t much interaction, considering the fact that the artist was literally frozen like a mime for the whole day and viewers would just come and take turns sitting in front of her in a staring context. It was kind of absurd.
Monet’s water lilies exhibition was exceptionally beautiful and made me reflect a lot. His depictions of the lilies reminded me of the pond in Charlottesville. There was also a design exhibition that showed the evolution of design of everything from chairs to helicopters (yes, the MoMa houses a whole helicopter). The MoMa made every other modern museum look like a shack in comparison.
Unfortunately I had to cut my tour of the MoMa short because I had a lunch appointment with Dr. Fatma, a good family friend. Since I was running late, I began running around Rockefeller center looking for Godiva so that I can buy my hostess a small token of my appreciation for inviting me. Luckily, I accomplished my mission, hopped into a yellow cab and drove uptown to 81st Street between Park and Lexington. I had made five minutes late.
Dr. Fatma welcomed me with open arms and we sat and discussed my future plans for a while before leaving her apartment for lunch at Beyoglu, an exquisite Turkish restaurant just a couple of blocks down the road. Having her advice is invaluable considering that she’d raised her kids to be top-notch people. I aspire to follow in their footsteps.
Over lunch, we discussed everything from politics to her career as a doctor in the United States. I savored the experience of attaining the benefit of her experience. I also savored the delicious Turkish mossaakaa and kabab. Overall, it was a very fruitful meal and discussed. With the same hospitality of a grandmother, Dr. Fatma bid me farewell with a bag filled with snacks and goodies. I am truly indebted to her kindness.
Next on my list was to head to the Downtown. Omar had recommended I tour Soho and Tribeca. These are some of Manhattan’s beautiful districts with their imposing industrial architecture and avant-garde metalwork. I took some pretty neat shots of the area that I intend to frame one day. The thing about my New York trip is that it really makes me appreciate what I once had. I remember walking down these same streets in my teenage years without savoring any of these districts. In retrospect, I was ignorant of what I had, but now I appreciate what I had so much more.
I walked up to Union Square, where I used to hand out during my freshman year of high school. There was a huge rally in support of the Tibetan cause. With the backdrop of the New York skyscrapers, the rally had an epic aura to it.
I then took a subway up to 49th Street and walked to the Barnes and Noble near 53rd street. I munched on an oatmeal cookie and gulped down some green tea. I was kind of shocked by the fact that none of the bookshop’s bestsellers appealed to me, so I just surfed the net a bit. I then got a call from Ahmed, my roommate. He informed me that he’d be going to Queens with some friends and invited me to tag along. I’d never seen Queens fully, so I took the opportunity.
I took a subway to Steinway in Queens. According to one of Ahmed’s friends, Manhattan has a Chinatown and a Little Italy, well Queens had a “Little Masr.” This was indeed a very Egyptian environment. I had never seen so many Shisha palaces…They all resembled “2ahawy balady.” It was very surreal being amongst so many Arabs in the U.S., but there’s no denying that the whole scene was quite shady. We had tea at one of the cafes and it was generally a good outing.
Later that night, I received a call from Mr. Elias who invited me over to lunch with his family on Friday. I look forward to it, but I better get my rest for tomorrow. I meet another friend from UNIS tomorrow who is supposed to be showing me around Brooklyn Heights, so at least I get to see another borough of NYC. In any case, its time to hit the hay, but I look forward to blogging some more about what I hope will be another eventful day in the city.
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