With love from America

Hello again.  How are you?  We're good, if a little shorter in stature from all the walking we've been doing. Ollie had his first cold this week which made life a little more interesting (but he looked so cute with little red cheeks and a runny nose) and we've kept ourselves busy with visits to Soho, Harlem and got through 9/11.  The weather has been shocking: either peeing with rain or incredibly humid.  I hear Sydney had some extreme weather too. 

 

This last weekend we headed out to Harlem to do a 'Big Onion' walking tour.  I'd helpfully forgotten exactly where to meet for the tour but once we saw the big group of white people hanging around with Jerry Seinfield trainer-style shoes on we figured it out for ourselves.  The tour itself was fantastic as they're run by history buffs with a sense of humour.  I would highly recommend anyone coming to NYC to go on any one of their numerous tours .  I didn't realise that Harlem was originally built for rich white people (there are lots of beautiful brownstone buildings with wide, leafy streets) in the late 1870s and we learnt all about the local history of the early 20th century including the Harlem renaissance over about 2 - 2.5 hours. 

 

We spent the next day with Ben having brunch and wondering the streets of the East Village and visiting our first flea market.  By the state of most of the stuff for sale, the fleas were in abundance and Jeff had to hold me back from buying betamax copies of aerobic videos full of legwarmers and headbands.  We visited our first vegan shoe shop were I bought a vegan handbag and had lots of cuddles with the four shop cats.  This weekend a jaunt down Fifth Ave and Madison Ave was good for day dreaming and the little 'turquoise box' didn't materialise despite much hinting in Tiffany's.  I'm still waiting for my baby/labour bling (a carat per kilo of bub I'm reliably told).

 

The hunt for the elusive decent coffee still continues and I'm that desperate I have resorted to trying Starbucks.  And yes, I can hear the gasps of horror from all over the world considering my frequent anti-Starbucks rants, so there is no need to further chastise me; I've done a good enough job myself.  I thought I'd go all out mind and have a frappacino in the Trump Tower.  I wanted to live the ultimate corporate dream.   Both the tower and the coffee lived up to my (low) expectations and I won't be doing that again.  Disappointingly we didn't meet the Donald to ask him how having so much money didn't give him any more taste and, of course, how he keeps his hair looking so good. 

 

I also went to my first yoga class without Ollie in a long time.   Much as I love spending all day with the little man, it was blissful to have some time to myself, even if I did have to get up at 6am to do it.  The yoga centre I found is downtown but has so many classes. Once on a roll I decided I'd head to the star-studded Jivamukti yoga school which has opened an uptown location across on the East side near the park today.  The class itself was excellent and made all the more exciting by the fact it was taught by Uma Thurman's brother.  I didn't get to practice with Sting or Christy Turlington though, it was only me and the regular New Yorkers who seem to come equipped to their yoga classes with a mat, very tight pants and a huge Starbucks coffee!

 

Then there was 9/11.  In many ways I was pleased that we were in New York for the 5th Anniversary, as I was curious to see how the city would cope.  Surprisingly it wasn't as emotional or quite as big a deal as I'd thought it would be. There were events throughout the city during the week - lots of church services, free concerts in virtually all the big parks and a dawn walk through the city to Ground Zero on Monday.  Unfortunately it was hard to find exact details of a lot of the events so I didn't manage to find out about the walk until Monday morning which was not a lot of use! 

 

Ollie and I  walked down to Ground Zero to pay our respects on Monday afternoon. Funnily enough it wasn't the site that I found emotional but the skyline and the obvious absence of the Twin Towers.  Looking up for me was harder to do.  I also found it interesting that there were a lot of dissenting voices at the WTC site and only a few Bush/Cheney supporters.  But essentially New York was like any other day, aside from heavier security and lots of firemen in dress uniform (don't get too excited Katie) going to memorial services. 

 

So we've had a busy week or so and have now got lost in Central Park several times. But it doesn't seem to bother any of us as it's so pleasant walking round this vast green space that often leaves you wondering if you're in New York at all.  

 

Lots of love to you all and it's great to hear everybody news. Keep the emails coming!  Next week my Mum comes over so the coffee hunt and pastry eating will intensify by some degree and we're off to the see the Bodies exhibition and lecture.

 

Much love,

 

Em, Jeff and Ollie xxxx

 

ps I don't want to make everyone in Australia jealous but I'm having a banana smoothie every morning.  I can buy them 5 for $1.  

 

pps The photos are Ollie with his cold; Ollie very casually reading whilst chomping on his toother (more coincidence than actual co-ordination); Ollie loves Central Park so much he has to get nude; and finally Jeff being a true New Yorker and bringing home the shopping in one of those brown bags (shame the celery/baguette isn't sticking out the top to make it completely authentic)

Jeff's addendum to the email

You'd be more impressed by the paper bag photo if you knew how much effort was involved in preventing the checkout chick from putting my paper bag into a plastic carry bag. 

A couple of days before this, I told someone I didn't want a bag and they double bagged my stuff (stuff = a bottle of water and small packet of asprin), presumably out of spite.  Maybe it was my accent, although I did try to speak clearly and distinctly.

The week before that I had the following conversation with someone at a convenience store:

"I don't need a bag, thanks"

Brief incredulous look from checkout chick. "Nah, it's okay, I'll give you one".

"It's fine thanks, I don't need one".

"It's okay, it's no trouble".

"No, seriously, I don't need one thanks".

"There you go" (hands me plastic bag with single small item sitting forlornly in the bottom).

The worst was probably the first day I went to buy lunch at work.  In most places order your food at a counter. They put it in a heavy plastic disposable container with a heavy plastic disposable lid and hand it to you to take to the cashier to pay.  So far so good. 

However, even if you plan to eat in -- say by sitting at that table three paces away -- they still load you up with a plastic bag to get you there, along with a plastic knife and fork in a sealed plastic bag with a napkin, an average of eight additional napkins for your grease absorbing convenience, and often a takeaway menu.

When I reached the cashier this first time, I said I didn't need a bag (please).  Brief pause.  Guy grabs my lunch, puts it in a plastic bag, and hands it to me with the following solid gold advice: "You have to have a bag".

Crazy times.