Surreal - First Day

So - I'm living in Manhattan - holy crap! Going out today, it just seems so surreal. The city so intimidated me before I got here. Now, it feels like just a big city - and very navigatable! But it's also THE city. Will it let me in past the hard exterior - the wall it puts up? I don't quite trust it yet. Don't get me wrong - I feel totally safe everywhere I go, but I'm not yet familiar enough with the city to tell it my secrets. I think once it shares some of its secrets, I'll share some of myself :-).

It's so weird up and moving to a city you don't know at all! For some reason I really want to seem or be like a resident (even though I'm not speaking a different language and I don't look Jewish and I don't have a dog in tow!). I've been just walking the city to get a feel for it - I vehemently don't want to be a tourist here. I'm not sure why. But it's hard to feel like a local right away. And I'm sure I'll get the bug to see the touristy things soon.

But enough esoteric stuff. My first day was awesome! Forget what I said about not being able to be healthy. I walked out my front door today, and right there was a farmer's market with fresh vegies and fruits - score! That made me happy. Then I went running around Central Park which I LOVE! Holy crap! I was going to do the inner 4 mile loop, but somehow I missed the turn and ended up going around the whole park - 6 miles. But I was happy to see it (and I walked some - I wish my knee was better!). The park is magical - there is everything in there literally. Tons of exercising (even people on weird new gizmos), ponds, children's playgrounds, trails, stages, fields - everything. Even tennis courts :-). So surreal to me that this is everyday to everyone else - that people raise kids in the middle of the city. I accidentally went the wrong way around the running road - clockwise instead of counter. Whoops - I hope that's why I got a lot of looks. But the park is going to be a great resource. I already looked up the website and the park's weekly activities :-).

So this afternoon I went sojourning again. I'm definitely logging a lot of miles. I walked to the upper east side (after my slice of broccoli pizza - yum). I walked mostly down Lexington. Nice to walk everywhere - and have tons of little pastry shops, coffee shops, tailors, fruit stands, etc. at your disposal. Everything seems so accessible. Finally made it back home, tired from walking but happy. I bought a weekly periodical that's supposed to have the goings on in it.

So tonight I had my first subway ride - and on an express which is so awesome. Very fast! I went down to Union Square to meet a friend for dinner - Tara for those at my brother's wedding! Funny how she happened to be in the city this weekend! Was glad to have a friend to see, and we had some nice dinner sitting outside - nice area and good people watching. I love just hearing people playing the drums on some corner. The area down there seems more hip and happening - lot of restaurants and bars. We ate some nice dinner at a place called "Coffee Shop" - I know, but it's really a restaurant/bar. Then I had a mango mojito and she had a blueberry one. Interesting. We met up with some of her friends at a Brewery, but they wanted to head home. I went home around midnight feeling like it was an early night - weird. There's so many people out here still! I have to remember the bar they recommended to me - 230 5th. - it's supposed to have a cool rooftop.

So a very successful first day filled with firsts. Everything seems doable in this city - shopping, getting everywhere, eating anything - but I hope someday it doesn't seem so surreal. Am I dreaming?