Hump Day Fun in Williamsburg

Hump day. I remember when I first learned what this term meant (I was an innocent, bright-eyed intern during my sophomore year of college), and despite the glaring double entendre, it’s not as dirty as you think (oh wait, did you not think it was dirty?).  Wednesday: That annoying day in the middle of the week when you have to get over the hump of  already having dragged yourself into work a couple times that week, but the weekend’s still a couple days away. And since it’s not quite Thursday yet, it’s not necessarily appropriate to round up your friends to drink after work for happy hour.  (Unless you work for the government. Then every day is appropriate for happy hour.)

The humorous hosts of The Big Terrific comedy showcase

But! Not to worry, the perfect remedy to your hump day blues comes in the form of free comedy and free live samba music.  (I know, I know, almost too good to be true!)  Having tested this Wednesday night itinerary myself, I can confidently give it my “good times” seal of approval.  

Venturing Beyond Lower Manhattan and the Biggest Sandwich in East Harlem

I will admit, I’m a bit of a lower Manhattan elitist. Come Friday night, I’m perfectly happy in my East Village bubble, and I balk at the idea of going to bars that require much travel.  Above 14th street? Playa please. Mid-town is for tourists and working drones.  And you know I really care about you if I’m going out to Brooklyn to hang out.  But, that doesn’t mean I don’t love exploring other parts of New York City.  The other day (after a long wait for an M train that never came) I managed to get on the F to Queens to check out the Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 contemporary art branch out in Long Island City.  Not only did I really enjoy the museum, a great spot with a couple installations and pieces that really blew my mind (more on this in a later post), but it made me realize that once you’re on a train (although on weekends, it’s anybody’s guess as to if or when these trains actually run), venturing to the outer boroughs really doesn’t take long.

A few weeks ago I took the train all the way up to East Harlem (that’s around 110th Street, for those who need some orientation) and spent the afternoon soaking in the sun at Conservatory Garden on the upper east corner of Central Park.  It’s the only formal, manicured gardens in the iconic park, and a peaceful place to catch up on reading (or blogging, as the case may be), take a stroll, let your mind unwind, walk your rabbits (see photos below), and admire the beauty of this little oasis in this enormous, bustling city.

I’d been learning the hard way that Manhattan means over-crowded cafes, frenetic stores, and bumper-to-bumper foot traffic on all sidewalks.  

Just Do It

Thanksgiving Stateside Edition: Seven Things I’m Grateful For

My face betrays the stress of hosting my first Thanksgiving, plus in a foreign country, plus where there are no Thanksgiving-like foodstuffs to be found. But I managed to make this tray of stuffing from scratch in an oven that didn't regulate temperature. Thumbs up to that!

You guys. It’s Thanksgiving. Seriously?!  How did the beginning and middle of 2011 fly by so quickly?  On this day last year, I was frantically cooking my heart out to prepare a Thanksgiving feast for my Brazilian friends.  On this day two years ago, I was doing the same but for a group of newly acquired expat friends in Buenos Aires. It’s been a wonderful, crazy (sexy/cool? oh hey TLC) journey since that first Thanksgiving that I spent out of the country, without my family and in the company of near-strangers.  This year, back in the U.S. and with my family at my side, my life has changed tremendously, for better or for worse.  It being the holiday of thanksgiving, it’s a natural time to reflect on how lucky and blessed I’ve been in the past couple years. So in the spirit of cornucopias and gourds and the Pilgrims and Native Americans, here’s a select list of things I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving: 

Travel-Inspiring Quote: “I am here to seduce you into a love of life…”

Long story, but this picture captures a moment when we all were definitely loving life. We had just hiked back from the beach near Itacare, Brazil, and thought we'd missed the last bus back into town. After attempting to hitchhike, we thought we'd have to spend the night in the pitch-black jungle, either being eaten alive my mosquitos and succumb to dengue fever, or be ambushed by thieves in the night. This is when, after walking along the deserted highway for more than an hour, without being able to see more than five feet in front of us, we finally made it to a bus stop and saw a glimmer of hope of surviving the night. How's that for out of the ordinary?

I was perusing the Interwebs the other day and I came across this beautiful quotation:

“I am here to seduce you into a love of life; to help you to become a little more poetic; to help you die to the mundane and to the ordinary so that the extraordinary explodes in your life.”  - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Although it’s not explicitly about travel, I think it sums up nicely many of my motivations for travel.  Traveling to me isn’t just a fun and nice way to pass the time; it’s not just about “taking vacations” of “getting away from it all.” Traveling enhances my life, makes me become a more appreciative, worldly, and educated person. It allows me to experience firsthand the great wealth of people, languages, cultures, colors, sizes, shapes, foods, clothing, styles, traditions, habits, religions, neighborhoods, cities, villages, vehicles, shorelines, alleyways, mountainsides, valleys, animals, plantlife, sealife–everything, everything, that makes up the amazing variety of places and human societies on this earth.  Traveling is an itch I have to scratch every now and then to remind myself how fully in love with life I should be.  To live a life unopened by travel, I think, is a misfortune.

“Die to the mundane” at least every once in a while, and let the “extraordinary explode in your life.” Traveling, I have found, is one of the best ways to do this.

Snapshots of a Stroll from West Village to East Village

Making good on the name of this blog, I’ve tried to take advantage of the last days of warmth this fall by wandering around the city. Sometimes if I think ahead, I’ve got my camera with me.  This actually doesn’t happen very often.  It’s cuz when it’s cold and gloomy out it’s also less motivation to wander around.  But then when it’s nice and sunny out, my brain turns to mush and all I can think about is how to spend time outside, without giving that much forethought to whether or not I want to bring my camera with me.  But a few shots I took the other day, on my way back from my internship in the West Village:

Shake Shack: I’m Not Hatin’, I’m Just Sayin’

Madison Square Park's Shake Shack

So even before I had moved to New York, I had seen and heard all these rave reviews about Shake Shack–people eating delicious, finger-lickin’ burgers and fries that rivaled the likes of California’s In ‘n Out Burger, and then posting photos on Facebook for all the world to drool at. Being that I am a glutton for (i.e. great appreciator of) good food, I was excited to try this place for myself as soon as I arrived in New York City. Unfortunately for me, it didn’t live up to the hype.

My shake shack experience was somewhat lackluster from the get-go because

Live From New York, It’s Sunday Night!

Drum roll please……

I’ve moved to New York City! I’ve been here now for just about a month and I have to pat myself on the back for this: I think I’ve assimilated quite well to New York life.  Geographically and directionally, I’m doing pretty well: I know (generally) where everything is; what’s uptown, and what’s downtown; where the different boroughs are; generally what train lines run north and west and on the east side or the west side; and what lines are just ridiculous and which I will probably never take (namely, the J, M, Z, and the G… I don’t think anyone’s ever taken the G train, ever).

New York City is a huge change of pace from Rio (and from the suburbs of Chicago).  Whereas my front yard in Rio was the gorgeous shoreline of Arpoador and Copacabana beaches and the wide boulevard of the orla, my surroundings now consist of yellow taxis, bodegas, brownstones, and impossibly cute restaurants and cafes.  And the pace is literally a complete 180 degree change.  Lazy, sun-filled afternoons of drinking matte leao on the beach have been replaced by a daily commute on the subway to work in a fluorescent-lit office.  But though I miss Rio every day, I’m happy to be here.  I’ve always wanted to live in New York City, and I think now is a good time for me to be here.

Several things I’ve learned about New York City so far:

Say Whaaaa?!

I was having a conversation with a new friend the other day, and he said that he had never traveled outside of North America.  Say whaaaa?!  That’s craziness.  I often forget that I am extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity and the means to have traveled to so many different countries.  For kicks, because I have never really listed it out and counted, here’s a list of countries I’ve been to:

1. United States
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. Cayman Islands
5. Argentina
6. Uruguay
7. Brazil
8. United Kingdom
9. France
10. Italy
11. Greece
12. Turkey
13. China
14. Japan
15. South Korea
16. Taiwan (yes, it is definitely its own country)
17. Thailand
18. Cambodia
19. Laos
20. Malaysia
21. Australia

I don’t think I’m missing anywhere… This may seem like a big list, or it may seem limited.  To me, it’s still much too small for my liking.  There are the heavy hitters like Spain and Germany that I’ve always wanted to go to, but just never had the right opportunity.  And as you’ll notice, I haven’t been to anywhere in Africa.  And that is where I want my next trip to be.  Namely, Morocco, and if I have the time and money (which can sometimes be such luxuries can’t it?), other countries as well, perhaps Egypt, Kenya, South Africa. (And I’ll be honest and say that I included Turkey because we stopped over in a town called Ephesus on a cruise once, but there are several other places in Turkey I’d like to see.)

Another “say whaaaa?!” moment I had when I was talking to this friend is that he said Machu Picchu was going to close to the public soon.  Is this true?  I googled it and couldn’t find a solid answer.  Can anyone confirm or deny it?

Food, Glorious, [Ethnic] Food!

If you will remember from 7th grade music class, that was a number from the Dickens-tale-turned-Hollywood-musical, “Oliver!” about a bunch of homeless children dreaming of glorious food while being served slop in the boys’ shelter.  Well, not to compare Brazilian food with slop, (not in the slightest… in fact, I’ve been craving a good ole’ Brazilian rice and beans since I’ve been back), but there were certainly times in my nearly two-year stint in South America when I seriously craved good ethnic food and there was just none to be had.  Rio, bless its soul, is a wonderful city, but the dining out options there are certainly lacking, and even more so when you want any type of authentic ethnic food.  Because of the large Japanese influence from Sao Paulo, there are some decent sushi restaurants, but they also cost a fortune.  So upon my return to the U.S., I took every chance I could to eat all and any types of ethnic foods, because a good life is worth filling with good food.  (Forgive the photo quality; I took all of these with my cell phone.)