These Vagabond Shoes, They Are Longing to Stray

It's been a good week in New York, in spite of the weather taking a turn for the chilly and at least one tornado. On Tuesday I got up early so I could cross some things off my New York to-do list.

First on the list: my second New York bagel - this time from Murray's Bagels (my first was from Ess-A-Bagel). Pictured here is the garlic with cream cheese. A day or two later I ended up back at Murray's when a friend and I went out for lunch. That day I got the everything with cream cheese - and when I bit into the bagel my lip got a small but deep cut that bled profusely for an embarrassing length of time. I think it was a sesame seed. So in the future, I'll be sticking to garlic bagels at Murray's.

After Murray's I went to Fishs Eddy, where my longstanding refusal to buy more utensils than I needed finally paid off. Kmart only sells forks and spoons in packages of like 8-12, and since I only wanted 2 of each, I've been using disposables while hoping to come across individually marked flatware. And here they were - only 99 cents each. There was also a ton of useful dishes and kitchenware, as well as kitchsy fun mugs and plates.

Then I went to a bookstore on the Upper East Side that only sells cookbooks and books about food, which made for fun browsing. I strolled through Central Park and made my way to the Upper West Side, where I went to Flor de Mayo, a Cuban/Chinese restaurant.

Vegetable lo mein with fried plantains.

It's an unexpected combination, but one that works deliciously. The service was kind of brusk (at 12:05 they were refusing to unlock the front door and informing objecting patrons that they opened at 12; I went to the Urban Outfitters next door to wait them out rather than argue), but you get used to that in New York. Not in every place, obviously. But waiters do not always feel obliged to help you enjoy your dining experience.

I walked back to my apartment, stopping at one bookstore along the way. It was six miles from Flor de Mayo to my place, which was a little ambitious even for me. But overall I enjoyed it very much.

Wednesday I had lunch/coffee with Michelle, a girl from my program who was a lot of fun to hang out with. That night I had tapas with Dong-hyung (Kim), Mario, and Jisup. We went to La Nacional, the oldest Spanish restaurant in New York. We had our usual good time, and (as always) had coffee at a nifty spot afterwards.

Since then I've been pretty focused on reading and classes, though I did manage to grab a cup of coffee with Rachel today. She's from Cyprus - but (it's a small world after all!) her father is from Charleston and her uncle owns Mr. John's Beach Store on Folly.

Also today, I booked my train tickets for a day in DC on October 30th so that I can attend Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity! At least one other girl from my program is going, so that will certainly be a fun time when it rolls around.