Day 3 (8/17/2016)
I think my body and brain are still on Oregon time. Last night I went to bed at 1am (10pm OR time) and woke up this morning at 10:30am (7:30am OR time). I woke up to the sound of the exterminator knocking on our door. He was very kind. He said we had a lovely apartment, he said Emily and I had beautiful names, he loves us both, and he hopes we are happy people. Now.... he was only over for about 10 minutes, but none the less, he wanted the best for us -- no matter how long he'd known us.
After that sweet man left, I had a promise to myself and my parents to keep: I was going to go to Manhattan today. I got ready, put on an outfit that wouldn't draw too much attention, and headed for the door. Emily had shown me where the Subway entrance was, but I still used google. I filled my metro card (after asking someone how) and into the Subway I went. I was going towards Manhattan, so I got on the right side train. Now, Emily had told me that I'd want to get off at Union Station, and she told me that it would be one of the last stops, but I was still paranoid. However, I looked at a map and realized that she was correct.
I got off at Union Square and headed up 3 flights of stairs to meet the street. Now this is the New York I was talking about. People in suits, dresses, bit sunglasses, blazers, taxi's everywhere, constant honking, tall clean buildings. The Manhattan Special.
My goal for today was to become comfortable using the Subway, and I did. I only stayed on 14th street near 7th avenue because I didn't want to get lost, and I was proud myself either way. To put some things in perspective, I was on 14th Street and 6th Avenue. Times Square is on 46th Street and 7th Avenue. Central Park starts on 59th street and is is around 5th-8th Avenue and starts on 59th. Street's go one way, and Avenue's go the other.
Honestly I didn't know that. Emily told me that and I also just had to Google Map it... Whoops. But it's getting easier to understand.
I took the Subway back, I took the L Line because that's the one that goes from mid Queens to Midtown (and all places in between). I got off at Wyckoff and tried to find Starbucks. I was on the right side of our apartment, but I thinks Starbucks is on the left. Instead of Starbucks I stopped of at a tiny (and I mean tiny) convenient store that sells on the go items, drinks, deli meat, and even makes it's own food for you. I was dying of thirst so I just grabbed something to drink and came back home (picture at right). I still can't believe how hot it is here. Everyone you see is either red faced or dripping with sweat, but it's normal. In Oregon, we'd think they'd just got done running a marathon or something, but nope. They're just waking to get some coffee.
My window has a fire escape right outside. I was woken up from my nap by the sound of 20 or so Pigeons fighting and flying and flapping. It was an interesting sight to see, and reminded me a lot of what I saw in Manhattan earlier.

When Emily got off work she asked me to meet her around Union Square so we could go see a movie. I took the subway and met up with her at AMC Village 7 movie theater. You get your tickets using a touch screen, and you even choose your seat from there. We decided to see Bad Mom's. Our theater was all the way at the top -- building a theater up rather than out is something to get used to. After our movie ended (and getting lost for a second) we went to the famous "Joe's Pizza". Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, NPH, Tom Hanks, and many other celebrities have been there. The pizza was delicious and phenomenally priced.
On the way back home Emily and I talked about what I want to do for my last two years of schooling, and it got me thinking all over again.She suggested that I figure out what I want to do for a living (at least for the next few years and out of college) and make plans to get there. Well.... for the last 6 years I've been making plans based on the decision to be a real es
tate agent. But now I'm rethinking that. I want to be able to travel to different states and countries. For real estate I'll have to know so many different laws, tests, and languages.
I called mom and pops and they told me how much they liked my writing. I talked to them about my dilemma and they mentioned how people get paid to write, especially about traveling. This gave me some hope, and some options.
I love to write and I love to travel..... now I just have to make a living out of my passion. That's always a breeze, right?