Sunday, January 28, 2007

The moment you've all been waiting for

I got soooooooo lost yesterday!!!!!!! oh my, it was really bad. I was going to meet Tonya in person for the first time and, of course, we set up to see a ballet performance. Well, in the morning, Al and I went to a home improvement store called Lowe's, and we got a little carried away (him more than me actually! hehehe) so I didn't have time to come back home and change, put on some make-up, nothing. That was to begin with. So I left her a message saying I was gonna be a little bit later than the 1:30 pm we had set, and went...I was supposed to get off the PATH train on 33rd st, the last stop, then get the D train then the 1 (that's how Al had told me). But I was kindda alseep in the train (that's always happening here!!) and I end up getting off two stations before, on 14th. I looked aroudn to see if I could catch the MTA (ny subway) from there, and I could...but when I got to the entrance there was no D train there...but there was the 1, so I figured it was the same that I'd have to catch later. The thing is that this NY subway is a maze, and there are a million platforms, a million lines coming in each platform, and a million different stairs that lead you to hundred different directions. So I waited for 15 mins untill the train came, only to realize I was in the wrong platform (I was trying to follow the signs but it didn't quite work!!! :S). Then I finally got to the right platform...and then comes a 3 train....and then a 2...and then a 3 again!!! I'm like "wait a minute, what's happenning here???" But I heard the voice on the speakers saying sth about "1", so I asked a guy "is this the 1?" He said "yes, it's going local". Hum...ok...what's that supposed to mean?!?!?! So the train marked 3 becomes 1 cause it's "going local"...Geez! At that point, I was so frustrated and so mad with myself cause I hate letting people waiting for me, that I just thought I should take the chance. Gladly, it did left me where I wanted...only I got there one hour later!!! and the performance began at 2! It took me some more minutes to figure out where the entrance to the theater was, then I got in and I must've looked so lost that the security people "recognized" me right away and asked if "my firend was supposed to have let something for me". Yes!!! thank goodness Tonya made the right decision and got in the performance (a little bit late tho), leaving me the ticket in the box office. I got upstairs and people were begining to get out for the intermission. I spotted her right away and I was almost crying with embarassment! I don't remember feeling that embarassed in years!!! Gladly she's very sweet and understandable, and it was great meeting her! I watched the second half of the program, then we ate at this cute french bistro nearby, Le Pain Quotidien. (in which, by the way, the tea bowl is twice as big as the soup bowl! hahaha go figure...). My huge embarrasment aside, I had a really good time, and we're definitely meeting again, right Tonya? ;-) This is a rushed pic of he beaaaaaaaautiful State Theater (cause the guy wouldn't let us take pics inside.)

Al and I were supposed to go to his friend's b-day at night, but we both were so tired that we just flicked it... :S We had been in the mall here in Jersey City to get my phone (which was serioulsy in demand!!). Turns out a guy at the T-Mobile kioske there found a way to "bypass" that 90-day rule. Yay!!! I'll email you guys my number so we can text each other. (I even got MSN on my phone!)


Yesterday we had dinner at Times Square and then we watched Babel there (higly recommended!) at AMC theater, this huge complex with 25 rooms! It had been the coldest day in two years here, and in the morning my limbs were almost falling off frozen. :S I'll update my flickr with pics of my paralized and miserable self waiting for the bus (and more!). Here are some pics of the Times Sq and the restaurant we ate.


Also the day before yesterday, I was cleaning the bathroom and there I was throwing water all over the place, when Al gets by the door and asks "what are you doing?" me: "cleaning?" he: "but you can't throw water like that, there's no drain (ralo) in there!". Wow!! how I was supposed to know, I've never seen a bathroom without a drain in my whole life!! One more lesson learned.

8 comments:

tonya said...

ha ha ha ha ha -- i'm about to write a blog about this too! it was so great meeting you -- yes, definitely again! soon! ha ha -- those guys all recognized you because i told about five different people to look out for you. i didn't want to go into the theater but everyone kept assuring me they'd see you and lead you in the right direction! i was so worried -- i kept telling the ushers and everyone it was your first time int he country and your english might not be that good, and then i went to describe you and realized i couldn't really see how long your hair was, etc, from the blog picture -- so i was like well she's from brazil -- which they all laughed at because of course how does someone from brazil look exactly! they all assured me though that they'd spot you! then right at intermission, i was heading right down there, practically running, when you found me! ha ha -- i'm so glad you're weren't really seriously lost, though -- i was really worried -- was going to call al again at intermission if i didn't find you!!! i had a great time -- let's get together again soon :)

Anonymous said...

Os hábitos de limpeza dos americanos são beeeem diferentes! Não que as casas sejam imundas, mas não existe essa coisa de faxina que existe aqui. Não existe "passar pano" ou "lavar chão". É só espanar, passar papel-toalha com Windex (o Veja de lá) e dar uma varridinha. Não me espanta que muitos restaurantes e lojas tenham tantos ratos e baratas...

Quando você for para a área da Union Square, não deixe de dar uma passada no cruzamento da 6th Ave com a 8th St (tem um McDonald's, um Gray's Papaya e um Barnes & Noble) - é onde eu morava (53 West 8th). Na 8th Street, aliás, tem um monte de lojas de sapato, se você estiver precisando :)

Anonymous said...

Lindas fotos!

Anonymous said...

kkk... aqui tambem nao tem ralo. Soh tem o pequeninho da banheira. Eu nunca vi minha sogra passando pano no chao, papel-toalha, nada. Ela soh aspira com aspirador. Aih tambem pode jogar o papel higienico no vaso? Aqui pode!!! Isso eu acho bem legal. Soh que eu estou resfriada e ando assoando o nariz toda hora, aih ontem eu joguei milhoes de lencinhos ao mesmo tempo e acabei entupindo a jabirosca, rs.

Dea said...

eh, essa era outra coisa que eu ia falar, aqui tb se joga papel no vaso! Nos banheiros publicos nem tem lixeira, mas aqui em casa temos pra jogar qdo assoa o nariz ou coisas do tipo...ainda nao me acostumei direito com isso, tenho q ficar pensando onde vou jogar hahaha
erica, c ctz vou passar la onde vc morava!!!

tonya said...

I'm reading this again -- ha ha! So, you got back okay, right -- just took the 1 train to 14th and then got on the Path? Yeah, I don't know why they do that -- make the normally express trains local and vice versa -- it's very confusing -- most of the time NYers don't know what train is going where either because of all the changes.

I'm still so shocked you spotted me in that crowd! Can you imagine if you would have gone in and sat in our seats and I would have been down in the lobby frantically calling Al telling him you were still lost and I didn't know what to do!

So, I don't understand the drain thing -- so there's usually a drain on the actual bathroom floor? Or you mean there was no drain in the shower?! Ha ha -- something else to discuss next time I see you :)

Dea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dea said...

Yeah, I did get back ok, thanks!! hehehe I did exactly what you said! hehehe
About the drain, in Brazil there are drains in the shower/bathtub and also one in the bathroom floor. In our bthr here we have the drain in the bathtub but not on the bathroom floor but I didn't even notice, so I was throwing water on it but didn't have anywhere to drain it to! hahahaha
(I ended up drying it with a towel, at least I hadn't flooded the floor!)