Life Highlights: First Day on My Own in NYC

I'm not ashamed to say I yet again used Bowie as a model for the best way to tackle rolling my cart down the streets of New York (I originally was pushing it on four wheels rather than pulling it on two) - despite the fact that I'm almost 100% certain this music video was filmed in LA rather than NYC

It's officially my first day on my own in New York City! Woke up to the sounds of honking cars and bustling people down below (it was 9:30am, but my body definitely still feels like it's 6:30am).  After contemplating laying in bed all day - my first free day from non-stop stress about travelling, moving, and general anxiety-inducing activities - I decided to get up, get dressed, and test my knowledge of the new neighbourhood.  I am happy to say that I successfully walked to and from Target without using my GPS once! A mere 10 city blocks away, I happily trotted along with my new cart and took in the sights.

On the way back I was interested to observe the completely different ethnic makeup of my new neighbourhood.  In East Harlem, it's not exactly rare to see a Caucasian individual, but it's certainly more unusual.  Most people here seem to be African-American or Puerto Rican in comparison to my predominately Hispanic/Mexican and Caucasian neighbourhood in Whittier.  It's also interesting to see that most people around the apartment are what I would call "working class" individuals.  This is in comparison to the East Village, where there are definitely more Caucasian people around - although the composition of the neighbourhood seems firmly "international" rather than predominately one ethnicity or another.  Additionally, everyone down there seems to be of a (slightly) higher class, or at least more in the realm of "young professional" or "young artsy type" (which makes a lot of sense considering the history of the East Village/SoHo area - and the fact that Bowie lived there).

But no matter where I go, everyone seems to know each other (it's not unusual to pass people, young and old, happily greeting each other on the street), and everyone appears to be more interested in their community than I've ever experienced in a city.  It's unique and it's refreshing.  Within less than a week of moving here, I definitely see what Bowie meant when he said, "There are certain cities - London, LA, Paris - where I don’t have a good time. I have a great time here: [he and his wife Iman] can go where we want, eat what we want, walk out with our child, go to the park, ride the subway, do the things that any other family does … In London it’s more excitable and becomes more event-oriented, but here the recognition is almost at a community level. It’s like, ‘Hi Dave, how ya doing!’ It’s a very friendly thing over here". (Pegg, 2016)