Day 5: Blistered feet and St. Patricks Cathedral

I have been getting home so late and so exhausted that I have to write my posts a day late. Yesterday I woke up so well rested. I brewed some coffee, wrote my blog post, and hung out with Megan while we watched Sex and The City and Private Practice. So relaxing. I find it funny how easy it is to move from working 60+ hours a week with school to not having an obligation to speak of. I met Megsy's roommate Ciara [spelling?] and we decided to head out to the Brooklyn flea. Sadly, I was already completly dressed for church - and mass wasn't even until 5 hours later. So - wearing a red dress and high heels I walked the gravel grounds of the Brooklyn flea. I purchased a beautiful post card from August, 1920 and ate a delicious corn on the cob. While we sat at a picnic table down by the water the girls and I watched as these little kids used silly string to tag rocks haha!! Culture is a funny thing - we always sprayed it at each other and here were these kids using it to write initials and make pictures on objects as if it were spray paint!

 We finished up and headed out on the East River Ferry, taking it from Brooklyn to Midtown. By this point my feet were absolutely throbbing from pain so we decided to head over to payless for comfortable shoes. Along the way we stopped for drinks at these little carts people push around. After charming the man into a smile [gee whiz NY - lighten up!] I found myself staring at the cutest little old man known to man kind. I admired him from a distance for a good three blocks - completely thrilled with how he held his hands behind his back while he walked. gahhh!! I would like to mention that I greatly improved yesterday - I found myself not fearful of New York and actually appreciating it's various parks, abundance of people, and ridiculously exciting pace of life.

We decided that if I ever lived here I would become a dog walker or get a job in P.R. Maybe both? After purchasing a super cute pair of black wedges and an over the shoulder purse [my other ones strap snapped my first night here!] we headed over to St. Patricks Cathedral for evening mass. That place is gorgeous. Stunning even. The amount of detail put into every square inch is mind boggling. Construction took 20 years and the church is 135 years old. Pictures show it standing among other buildings barely tall enough to reach over the highest tree tops. Mass was short and sweet. The priest was interesting and tried to be funny but honestly was quite awkward. Not only that but the way he enunciated every word was almost hard to take - but really, his message was great and I would completely recommend going to a mass there to anyone! After mass we found ourselves in the lower east side visitng our good friend Lindsey! Sitting in a corner bar over drinks and sweet potato fries I found myself falling in love with this city.
 I also found myself talking to four New York EMT's with Megan outside about 20 minutes later. They had such thick accents and were so polite and wonderful - I had a blast hearing about their stories and what to do in New York. I never thought I would come to love a city but this one is captivating. I've been urged that I must return to Chicago because it's also amazing there - we'll see ;)
New York City is littered with various religions, cultures, languages, and accents - everywhere you turn you hear a new voice, a new language set apart from a person only ten feet away.You can go from glitz and glamour to sketchy and filthy in a matter of blocks and even there the people seem worth talking to. I have also found that, like most places, there's a lot under the surface, going on behind closed doors - it is these things that still scare me. I am so looking forward to spending today doing touristy things with Lindsey and finding out more about this fantastic city.