A little behind schedule

Hi world. It's Kendra. I'm not in Lansing, where you might expect me. I'm not in Grand Rapids or Sparta, either, though those are places where you'd normally look if I went missing from Lansing. No. I'm in New York City. The place I was convinced I'd live when I grew up when I was 12 (I even included it in the "facts about me" I had to deliver to Mrs. Christensen's homeroom on the first day of 7th grade). I had big dreams of Juliard and Broadway that faded as I aged. But here I am, in spite of changed intentions. And you know what? I think my dreams might be changing all over again.

I arrived Wednesday night around 11, though it still felt like Tuesday (28 hours of travel is like a vortex that steals all conception of time progression), and immediately celebrated my arrival with a few swigs of whiskey on a pier overlooking the Hudson river, which did not fail to remind me of the folk singer I know with a strong affinity for the drink (even though no one really likes whiskey, right Jack?).

That's not me swigging whiskey (who would've taken the picture if it was me!?)

I then crashed my frizzy head on the thin pillow my dorm provided me, and was clocked out within seconds.

Thursday, having no commitments until 4 pm, I set out with a gaggle of similarly excited girls to do some thrifting in the city. Though our route may have been outdated by 25 years, we did manage to find a tiny shop packed with ridiculous finds. I bought the cutest pair of purple suede heels with flowers on the toes (of course) that were too small for Vanessa, but have been regretting not buying more since we left. It was so much fun thrifting with new companions. I usually exercise my obsession solo, save for a few times with Sarbear and of course the marathon thrifting expeditions with Mike when he was still alive (obviously). So it was extremely entertaining to try on yellow silk mini dresses with bows in odd places and stripper dresses and carpet fringe gowns and laugh with my new friends. Those things just aren't as funny when you're by yourself.

After the shopping, we were starved, and at the request of one of our friends to not eat "anything Asian or spicy" we found a little pizzeria where I bought a slice the size of my head with breaded eggplant and hunks of mozzarella all over it. Delicious.

At four we had our introduction to International House, where we're staying, and a brief orientation to our classes (which basically consist of us doing cool activities and maybe writing a page on them. Awesome). Following a group dinner in the cafeteria, a group of five of us walked to the nearby Irish bar and had a few pitchers and a lot of laughs. Vanessa made friends with a Google employee who invited us to tour his office and partake in their weekly Wednesday Sushi Lunch!

At the Irish Bar with Vanessa and Mike. (Photo c/o Alexa Jones)

Friday brought our first real class activities (tour of Liberty Island and Ellis Island) and we all had a great time panting our way to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and got a series of great shots right up the skirt of the great Lady. What up girrrrl. Ellis island was cool, but all I could think about when we were there was the movie Hitch, where Eva Mendes sees the signature of her old relative who was a serial killer. Oh well.

She, along with that statue of Dorothy in Chicago, also goes commando. Not classy. Must be a statue thing.

Here I am, looking excited and stately.

Tickets for the Portugal. The Man show I wanted to see were sold out by the time we got back to I-house, so a few of us mapped out a Plan B. We went to the Met (eeeee!) and saw an incredible, mind twisting show of Andy Warhol films accompanied by two members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a famous cellist (wish I was into cellists so I would have remembered her name, but I'm not so oh well). Before the show, we stopped at a restaurant close to I-house named Toast that drew us in with it's quirky sign and advertised feta stuffed veal burger.

Following the show at the Met, we bought some sprinkle cones from an ice cream truck and stumbled upon the free movie playing in Central Park (some twisted French drama where everyone switch sexual partners like five times). We made our way back to the other side of the park to catch the subway (much more efficiently than our first trek across it), laughing and buzzing from the excitement that still lingers under the surface of doing anything in the city that never sleeps.

I was able to sleep in today for the first time on the trip, which was sorely needed. I got breakfast in the cafeteria and then took my coffee on a stroll through Riverside Park, just across the street from I-house. It's looking like another perfect, cloudless, blue sky day in the city.

We're off to do more touristy things today (Times Square) and then find some excitement tonight. Tomorrow is a free day, and I plan to visit a flea market and then join my friends at the cute italian cafe down the street for their live jazz night and some wine.

I apologize for the lack of pictures, I've had no time to edit yet! They will be joining these words soon!

Thanks for reading, even if you didn't make it this far,

Kendra