Thursday, December 27, 2012

Day 01: Onward to the Big Apple!

The night before was spent over at VeenaN’s place to make travelling to the bus stop easier. By then, I already learned the names of my travel mates, seen their faces on campus, but little was known about them. I don’t hang out with these individuals considering the distance I live away from UMBC, plus the fact that HJ didn't fancy one of them since orientation. Yup, I agreed to go simply because I lacked plans for Christmas. The whole notion of not wanting to spend time alone got to me like one fast swing of a sledgehammer. When VeenaN called me to ask if I was interested at all to join them, I became attracted to the offer like a moth to light. It never occurred to me how clashing of personalities may manifest themselves considering all of us weren't close friends and as spontaneous as trips get, something is bound to go wrong.

At 6.50am, YuPingZ (YP), Vee and I moved towards the bus stop that would take us to White Marsh where the NY bus is supposedly located. That’s fine, we were early and it shouldn't take us more than two hours to reach the place. All we have to do is board the bus at 9.30am and we’re good. Good? The morning started with a slight hiccup. SwatiV meant to meet us, but failed to do her homework and ended up having us miss the first bus. She narrowly made it for the second one to which I swear I was near panic mode if we choose to not get on it. Just as one hurdle cleared, Vee talked about not bringing any photo ID with her. An international student shouldn't be walking around without an ID and on top of that, girl booked our hotels for the stay.

Both Vee and Swati decided to back track while YP and I went on ahead. The bus arrived later than expected, closing in on two in the afternoon. After checking in, we both parted ways. I wanted to meet RyanA (who was in the city with his parents) before he goes back to Kalamazoo. At Times Square we did, and I was so glad to see him, despite for just 30 minutes. From there, I headed to South Central Park, hoping to reunite with YP. That girl and I were on the phone for almost an hour, to a point I was certain she doesn't know how to read maps. When the two Indian girls finally arrived, we decided that it was best to head back to the hotel and rest up.

We four had Turkish for dinner. I had a decent baklava, sweet to the brim and crispy on the top.

Mush chickpeas,
Vonnie S.

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