Back in New York – more catching up & MY B-DAY :)

Having another fun week in the city

On Monday, upon my arrival at JFK (from Miami) I met up with Sonja & Christian, two very good friends of mine who moved to New York 8 years ago (to teach in the city like me), left last summer (just like me) to travel for a year (North and Central America by car), and were about to leave for Austria that day, where they’ll be spending the summer. The only difference between us is that I’m at a point in my life where I’ll be moving back to Austria this summer and stay there for at least a couple of years, whereas Sonja and Christian will return to their life in the New York City. So it was great to see them for an hour or so, to catch up briefly on our past trips and future plans

Then I took the subway to Bed-Stuy as I’m staying there with Bibiane, her husband Calixte and their two children Anna and Anselm this week. I ended up meeting more friends (some the same and some different than the first two weeks, like Eszter, Behnoosh, Peter, Michi, Veronika, etc.) – hanging out, catching up and having fun Then yesterday, Friday,…

…I had a wonderful birthday       I had a manicure and pedicure (which I only get like once every two years, but it’s such a New York thing and so I felt like doing this before I leave this place for  good) in the morning, then a wonderful picnic in Central Park (near 97th Street, my old neighborhood – East Harlem/Upper East Side) with Veronika, Maximillian and Katharina, and a great dinner at Gobo‘s, a vegetarian restaurant in Greenwich Village with Veronika, Tatjana, Natalie, Verena and Andrea. We had a blast and only left when the restaurant closed. The moms went home and Verena, Andrea and I went to two bars for more drinks – one in Greenwich Village and another one on the Lower East Side. I haven’t been out this late in the city for quite a while… On the way home I felt very happy about this rather unexpected (in terms of not really planned in advance), but wonderful birthday   I even got lucky and found a yellow cab back to Brooklyn, Bed-Sty to be exact   Lucky me   On the way home I thought that if the next 35 years of my life go as well as my first 35, then I’ll have no complaints by the time I turn 70

By the way, thanks for all your lovely birthday-wishes (e-mail, facebook, etc.)! I started to reply to some of them in an attempt to get back to every single one, but due to my rather limited internet access this month I haven’t succeed in completing this task. So, if you haven’t received a “thank you” yet, please accept this one: THANK YOU for thinking of me on my birthday!

   

Happy in New York – catching up with friends :)

Being back in New York is actually wonderful and a lot of fun   Not having to work, just spending time with my friends – who wouldn’t be happy…

I’ve been meeting up with friends, spent time on playgrounds in Central Park with their kids, gone out for dinner a couple of times and drinks afterwards, celebrated a friend’s birthday in Prospect Park and another friend-of-a-friend’s birthday on a Harlem rooftop, spent a day out on Long Island, and another one up in Westchester, went to the movies, did some shopping at Ann Taylor Loft (my favorite clothing store in the city), watched the “4th of July” fireworks – on the Hudson river this year for the first time since I moved to NY in 2002 - from a Harlem rooftop, had a “Maedelsbrunch”, went for a walk on the new highline, did my laundry, etc. But I won’t bore you any longer with this part of my trip because it’s not that exciting – for you to read about this, I mean. The “real” travel part of my trip is pretty much over and all I’m doing this month is taking it easy and catching up with friends in and around New York and also Florida (visiting Jenny for a few days). Furthermore I feel this part of my trip is more personal than the previous 8 months. This month there won’t be any sightseeing, there won’t be any interesting and/or funny stories about a new country or continent. New York was my home for 6 years before I went on this trip and it would be strange to write about the conversations I’m having with my friends on this blog.

I do have a story for you (i.e. this blog), though: There was a shooting outside the Harlem apartment I’m staying at on Wed, July 1st. I’ll write about it when I have more time…

Back in New York City & MCSM H.S. graduation

Wednesday Verena and I spent on the plane: 9:30 am departing Bogota, 3:34 pm arriving in Atlanta, Georgia, 5:40 pm leaving Atlanta, 8:28 pm arriving at JFK airport in New York City. The whole day I had been feeling rather unemotional – I mean I was happy and satisfied with my trip and that I had the opportunity to do this, but I also wasn’t sad that it’s coming to an end. Funny. I was so calm and satisfied, neither very sad (that it’s almost over) nor particularly excited (to be back in New York). Until, well, we were waiting for our backpacks at JFK and I borrowed Verena’s cell phone to call my friend Veronika about when to meet her tomorrow. And that’s when the excitement kicked in – I suddenly felt so happy to be back, to see my friends soon – it’s wonderful to be back in New York

So on Thursday, I met up with Veronika and her two kids, Maximillian and Katharina, whom I both adore, and we spent the day together – catching up about their time back in Austria and my travels in South America. I felt as if I had never left. That’s what it always feels like with true friends – no matter how often we see each other, once there’s a certain connection it’s always there

Later I met up with Peter, his brother Patrick, and his cousin Frank for a couple of drinks. It’s always fun hanging out with these guys   On the way home, I ended up falling (well, more being thrown) into a fountain, but I won’t go into details on this blog   Just that much: I was soaked and I had a lot of fun that night

On Friday, I went to the GRADUATION of Manhattan Center of Science and Mathematics H.S. (MCSM) - at 10 am at Hunter College (69th Street on the UES), and although I had planned on watching from the back, the principal asked me to come up on stage (where most of the teachers were sitting) when he welcomed everybody at the beginning. Although there were (and still are) issues between the administration and a lot of teachers, and I haven’t forgotten the protests last year after Mr. Thomas was sent to the rubber room, etc.,  I felt this wasn’t the time for me to make a point, and I simply walked up on stage and watched the ceremony from up there. It was wonderful to see my former students (who had asked me to came back for their graduation when I left MCSM, New York and the U.S. at the end of last school year) graduate. Sitting there made me look forward to teaching again But I still wouldn’t want to stay here. I still feel the same way I felt last year: it’s time for a change, time for me to move on. I’m glad I still feel the same way a year later. It’s time to move back to Europe, back to Vienna and teach there. I know it’s been 7 years since I left (summer 2002) and people keep asking me if I’ll be able to adapt to the Austrian way of life again or whether I have become too American to be happy there. Well, first of all I don’t believe I have become too American to live in Europe. (There’s this saying: “You can take the girl out of Austria, but you can’t take Austria out of the girl.” And I believe this to be true to a certain extent.) Anyway, going back to graduation. Here’s the video from the principal’s introduction – including me walking up on stage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnVyWSsL1Cc

It was wonderful to see my former students graduate and I also have to admit that it was lovely that they gave me such a warm welcome. Afterward the ceremony I got the chance to talk to some of them and their families   Memories of the 5 years at Manhattan Center kept coming back… And it was such a great finish – sort of – to my trip, one leading me back to teaching. And the good thing is that within this year of traveling I feel I got myself back, well I mean the person I like. At the end of last year I wasn’t like that. I had somehow over the years in the city and working for the DoE lost some of my positive outlook on life, some of my groundedness, some of my faith in people, etc. Last year around this time I felt I was ready to leave New York, but I wasn’t ready to go back to Europe yet. It’s not that I needed to find myself, I know who I am, what I do and what I stand for. I needed to get – in short – my happiness, my groove, or whatever you want to call it, back. And I consider myself lucky to have found it. I’m back the way I like myself   I know I’m not going to change the world, and I’m still saddened at times that I couldn’t do more and by the fact that good teachers like Mr. Thomas (since last year) and Mr. Moshos (since this year) are still in the rubber room and about other things. But this part of my life is over and sometimes no matter how hard you try, how hard you work, and how much energy you invest – sometimes (not often, but it happens), you still don’t win and things don’t work out. So I let go… For those who don’t quite understand what I’m talking about I just want to say one thing: the students at MCSM never really gave me any problems and the joy of teaching the students at MCSM (and teaching Mathematics in English) is one of the reasons why I stayed in New York for all those years. Overall, with all the good and the bad, I wouldn’t want to miss any of these 6 years, though   I learnt an awful lot, I truly enjoyed teaching in East Harlem, I made some really good friends and I guess  this is why New York has become my home - but not the one where I’ll grow old. That’s more likely going to be Vienna. But then who knows what life brings… Maybe I’ll grow old in Fiji, or in New Zealand, or somewhere else… Or in Vienna

I’ve just been letting my thoughts wander off…

PS: Later that day I bought a cell phone (prepaid) for $20. Funny isn’t it: I have traveled around the world for more than 8 months without a cell phone, but can’t really do New York without one

Arequipa & Colca Canyon & some thoughts on friends & traveling

On Monday, back in Cusco, Verena and I had an lovely day: post office (sending home  the latest picture dvds), the most delicious breakfast at Granja Heidi, a German restaurant in Cusco, sightseeing, HOT STONE MASSAGE (and waxing - that was funny!) – awesome, back to the hostel, ran into Kati and Daniel, also on their way to Arequipa, but on a different bus, and then took at taxi to Cruz del Sur. As we arrived there at 8 pm (the bus was supposed to leave at 8:30 pm) we were told they had just cancelled the bus as the company was too concerned about the protests that were announced for the next two days around Cusco. Of course no one spoke English, but Verena and I are getting better in Spanish every day. Our grammar is  still rather bad, but we   often surprise ourselves how well we can make ourselves unterstood - not always, though   So we had to get to the main bus station. The guy from the bus company just  hailed a  cab from the street - a cab with no sign, no sticker. To take such a cab is not a good idea as there is the chance to get robbed by such ¨fake¨ taxis. So I told him to call an official taxi, but he didn`t understand why. So I told him that  tourists have been robbed and even killed by taking such unofficial taxis. Eventually, we got an official taxi, drove to the main terminal, ran inside as it was already 8:25 and check-in was already at 8 pm for buses leaving at 8:30pm. We managed to get a ticket with another bus company, and  just got on the bus literally a minute before it left. 9 1/2 hours later…

on Tuesday morning around 6 am we arrived in AREQUIPA   We met Kati and Daniel at the hostel, checked out a few more hostels, went for breakfast, met a couple from Vorarlberg (he was wearing a ¨Kletterhalle DORNBIRN¨ t-shirt), strolled around the city center, checked into our hostel, went for lunch, then went our separate ways. Verena and I  went on a 4-hour city tour which was nice and informative   In the evening Verena was about to buy a deck of cards when there was a blackout in the city – or at least the part of the city we were in. So we did some shopping using candles

On Wednesday Kati, Daniel, Verena and I took the bus at 6 am from Arequipa to CABANACONDE, where we arrived around noon. That`s where the Colca Canyon is located and we went our separate ways from there: Kati and Daniel trekked down (and back up the next day), and Verena and I rented mountain bikes  to check out various viewpoints in the afternoon

In the evening we were just about to leave our hostel as Stephen (Claire`s boyfriend) walked in – we had met them in Rurrenabaque on the pampas trip) and next ELI  walks in. This was such a nice surprise. We were hoping to meet up in Peru, possibly Arequipa, but we did not expect to see each other in the small village of Cabanaconde. Claire came a little later, and we all had dinner together: Verena, Eli, Claire, Stephen, Armin (from Austria), and a guy from Spain. It was soo nice and it felt as if being with old friends

On Thursday we took the 7 o`clock bus to the CRUZ DEL CONDOR, a viewpoint at the COLCA CANYON where you can see condors in the morning between 8 and 9:30. While Eli, Claire and Stephen stayed on the bus back to Arequipa, Armin, Verena and I got off to watch the condors. And we weren`t disappointed: we saw LOTS of CONDORS        Then we  got our mountain bikes on the next bus and rode back to Cabanaconde. The bike ride was beautiful!!! Then Colca Canyon looks like a mixture of Tuscan landscape and Swiss/Austrian Alps   And we had the road pretty much to ourselves – no traffic. At one point there was a  rather aggressive dog that Eli had warned us about – and we biked FAST   Back in Cabanconde we returned the bikes, took a shower (a real HOT shower -  yes!), had lunch, and at 2 pm took the bus back to Arequipa where we arrived aroudn 8 pm. Back at the hostel Kati and Daniel were already waiting, Eli stopped by, too and the 5 of us had a nice reunion dinner at an Italian restaurant. We played a few rounds of ¨shithead¨, a card game that Eli had taught us on the Uyuni trip. Good thing Verena had bought some cards, as Eli`s were stolen about a week ago (his backpack, actually). We had a fun evening – the last one probably with these guys. Eli, Kati and Daniel will climb Chachani mountain tomorrow, then travel through Peru – same direction but at slower pace. Verena and I have to travel faster as we have to make it to Colombia. So we-ll be taking the overnight bus  from Arequipa to Lima tomorrow night and then head to Ecuador.  I`ll miss Eli, Kati and Daniel!

Today, Friday, Verena and I are taking it easy, which means, not getting up in the wee hours of the morning to do some hike or catch a bus. We`re spending some time in the internet cafe near the Plaza de Armas, where we met Stephen and Claire, who`re heading to a campsite tomorrow…

Having  to say good-bye to Eli, Kati and Daniel made me a little sad and also reminded me of my friends back in New York and Austria. It`s been 7 months now that I have been traveling and I feel the same way I felt back in January (about 3 months into my trip) when all of a sudden I missed my friends. It`s funny how it comes in waves and also how it hits you all of a sudden! I don`t know why. Maybe at a point when you`ve seen a lot,  are tired, I don`t really know… So far it`s been really exciting to travel in South America, but since we arrived in Arequipa I feel I`ve seen so much already, and I just enjoyed the company of nice people whom I had met before. – Sometimes people ask me if I think I`ll be ready to return to a ¨normal¨ life again at the end of this year, and I believe I will be ready. I`m incredibly thankful for  having had the opportunity to travel this year,  to see all the places I have seen, to meet all the people I have met, to have had all the experiences (the good and the bad) I`ve had! But I also don`t want to ¨live¨ like this forever. I`m looking forward to getting an apartment in Vienna, working (teaching)again, spending time with my friends…

PS:  Taking the overnight bus to Lima tonight.