Day 1 (Tuesday Sept. 7)

The trip has started. Woke up at 5 a.m. to get ready to go to the airport. Liz was kind enough to give me a ride there. The first photo is of the carrier that I am on as I start off this New York City Internship series. The next photo is that of the plane as it takes off from the Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport. Man, this airport is huge. I thought LAX was big. This one has a highway that goes right through it. That's how big it is. I am glad I got to the airport way in advance because I got lost. I love getting lost -- the uncertainty feelings and the victorious outcome make it worthwhile. Ok, so the internship has started. I will update more when I get into the Big Apple.

I'm here!!! New York City, watch out!! I've made Dallas mine, I think it's time to make NYC mine, as well. So the "getting lost" concept was still the mode of the day. I got to JFK International Airport and I had no idea where I was going. The airport did not have many information places and I had to figure out everything on my own. Luckily, I was able to find the train that went from the airport to Manhattan -- 30 miles apart, according to a map service web site.

That photo above is of Times Square. I can't believe I am actually here. I always wanted to come here, but I didn't think it would ever happen. My first day in New York City was quite the experience. First, I was overwhelmed with how many people are in the city. Everywhere you look there was a large crowd of people. All walking very quickly to their destinations. It was odd to see more people in the streets than the actual airport. I am used to Los Angeles, where you see the large crowds at the airport and not so much on the streets. Manhattan reminds me a lot of Los Angeles. The shops along the streets, specifically on 7th street, are all very similar to the streets in Los Angeles' Broadway. However, the massive crowd makes Manhattan far better than L.A. I mean, it was TUESDAY and there were so many people on the street. I think the only day Broadway in L.A. has that many people is Sunday at noon.

Later, I met up with Lauren from Kansas University, Carrie from BYU and Amanda from Arizona State. We decided to meet up at Starbucks, of all places, and head out for a night on the town. Turned out pretty cool. Went to Bar Nine, which is on 9th and 54th, and we had a great time. On the walk there, however, we encountered an odd New Yorker. As we walked down 52nd, a man -- who looked to be a transient -- was holding a hose just outside a flower shop. He covered the whole sidewalk, so we decided to J-walk across. As we were doing so, I was looking out for traffic and it wasn't until later that I knew exactly what happened but Carrie got wet. After checking with a source (Amanda) close to the episode, I found out that old dirty man was asking for the bottled water she was carrying. She did not want to give it away, so he got upset making him spray the hose onto Carrie. I turned around and I had no idea what happened. I think all four of us were in shock and could not really say anything. I guess it is true what they say about New York people being mean. Once at the bar, that was good times. Ended listening, for a limited time, to live music and then to the in-house sound system. I still cannot find a bartender outside of California that can make an AMF (It's a drink and the acronym is civilized as it stands for some rude name, but the drink is amazing). Carl, the bartender, did not know how to make that or an "Incredible Hulk", so I told him to surprise me. The drink was good and since it didn't have an official name Amanda decided to baptize it with the name "Fruity Carl", to which Carl was not very thrilled about. So, the night turned out to be very fun. If the first day in NYC was such a great time, I can't wait to see what it's going to be like for the next seven days. Stay tuned.

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