Thursday, December 13, 2007

Back home side

New York. I love that city. I was walking around Herald Square with my backpack on wheels, looking at the people, looking at the Christmas mania happening around me. It's like no place on the world. How could I think about not going back, I thought in that moment.

Then I waited an hour and forty five minutes for a bus to Boston, simply because it didn't occur to the people in Port Authority to tell me that the ticket for a 5:30 bus they sold me didn't actually mean there was a bus a 5:30. And I remembered how enormously complicated everything is here.
In Ecuador this kind of thing should be attributed to cultural norms having to do punctuality, efficiency, and customer service. In New York it should be attributed to everyone being an asshole.

Now I am in Cambridge, a charming city full of excellent cuisines from all over the world, stunning late afternoon winter light, and a river I can jog by.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

but you must admit, living in new york makes you learn to appreciate the asshole to the point of missing them when away. i kind of miss city norms that allow you to honk your horn the second the person in front of you doesn't move or ignore the folks you pass on the street.
we're flying to ny this friday (if we aren't stopped by the snow here or there). yay!