Take II

I'm back! Sorry it took so long. I had a ridiculously busy weekend and then I've been gone camping with Mom and Ray, so I haven't had a chance to write. But now I'm finally continuing the chronicle of my New York trip.

Day Three: Saturday.
This turned out to be the most interesting day of the trip, though that wasn't my intention. After walking everywhere Thursday and Friday my hip was giving me pain, so I decided to take it easy for the morning (aka afternoon, since I don't think I left the house till noon). I took the train all the way down to South Ferry, where the ferry leaves to go to Ellis and Liberty Island. I wanted to get some cash, finally find some postcard stamps, and then just sit in Battery Park and read for a while.

Unfortunately, nothing happened the way I planned. I went to a Duane Reade (which is the pharmacy in New York; it's like Starbucks in San Francisco. There's one on every corner.), where it turns out I couldn't get cash back. I did get a compliment on my haircut, but no money. So then as I continued up the street, I finally found a post office. But because it was Saturday, there was no counter open, nor was there a stamp vending machine. So now stamps and no cash. I did get some money at a bank (because USAA is awesome and pays ATM fees back) and so I walked to Battery Park to relax and read. However, this plan was also soon foiled.

I sat down on a bench and starting watching tourists getting on the ferry, snacking on some almonds. I was there barely five minutes when a squirrel approached me. I shook my head and told it politely that I was not planning on feeding it, but this did not satisfy. The squirrel promptly jumped onto the bench, into my lap, and proceeded to try and enter the bag of almonds my hand was in. Not wanting to let the squirrel eat my almonds, I attempted to shoo it away. It would not be shooed. It persisted in trying to get into the bag, or at least chew holes into it, which I would not allow. People were walking by, and then were stopping and taking pictures of my struggle with the squirrel. One man asked me for an almond so he could feed it, and I refused. I did not want to perpetuate the trend of aggressive animals. One girl asked me if she could take a video. She said, "You're so calm. I would be freaking out." And while I agree that I maintained a level of composure, after about five minutes during which the squirrel actually did chew a hole in the bag of almonds, I was ready to be squirrel-free. So I picked up the squirrel by its middle and moved it off my lap, during which it nibbled on my finger. I stuffed the almonds in my bag and the squirrel, finally thwarted, ran away.

While I was attempting to regain a more solid sense of reality, I realized the finger the squirrel bit was actually bleeding. I rinsed it off with water from my bottle, but the bleeding would not stop. So I started walking around the park trying to find a way to clean my wound (which wasn't that big; I have no idea how it bled so much). The bathroom at the ferry had, of course, a long line, so I went into the bookstore and asked if they had a first aid kit, which oddly enough, they did not. There was a police car idling, but all of the windows were blacked out and I couldn't even tell if there was anyone inside, and since I didn't want to knock on the window because that seemed sketchy, so I went across the street to the Museum of the American Indian. I went inside and asked the guard if they had a first aid kit I could use, as I had been bitten by a squirrel. He gave me a funny look, but called downstairs and told me they had one I could use, and that someone would bring me something shortly. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to find downstairs, because I kept going down the wrong corridor. Once I did, however, there was a guard who, after I told him what I was needing, told me I could sit and wait while the sergeant brought me some alcohol swabs and antibacterial hand wipes.  So then of course he asked what happened, and when I told him, he was very surprised. I told him the story and he thought it was hilarious and strange, because apparently no one had ever heard of anyone being bitten by a squirrel before. He started telling the other guards about what happened, and soon I was recounting the story to them all, making clear I was not feeding the squirrel, but rather it aggressively approached me while I was just trying to relax and eat my almonds. I found I adopted a tiny bit of an accent while I was speaking with the guards; it gave me a certain amount of pleasure they didn't take for granted I was a tourist. Then the sergeant came and we joked about turning into a were-squirrel while I cleaned and bandaged my wound. They said several times I should get a rabies shot, and while I was reluctant (I really didn't think it was that big of a deal), they finally convinced me it would be better to be safe than sorry. Blaine texted me about this time to let me know he was done with work and on his way, so I waited for him to arrive, and when he did I told the whole story all over again.

Agreeing that it would be better to get a rabies shot than take the chance of my dying from a squirrel bite, we decided to try a Duane Reade and see if they offered rabies shots. We went to the same one I had no luck getting cash back at, where we were informed by the pharmacy that they did not give rabies shots, nor was it likely a doctor's office would carry them. We then decided to find a hospital, which for some reason proved more difficult than it ought to have been. We asked a female police officer, and she pointed us in the right direction, though she couldn't remember the name of the street. We did find it, by randomly taking the street we thought looked promising, and talked about 9/11, since the site was very close to where we were. We realized the hospital I went to was probably very busy on that day, and it was interesting to reflect on what it must have been like.

At the hospital we went to the emergency room, which was not nearly as busy as I thought it would be. We were there for about an hour and a half, and the woman who took down my insurance information was very, very nice. (I had brought my insurance card along with me that day, for no particular reason. Thank you foresight. And probably God.) The man who cleaned me up and re-bandaged my finger was also very nice, although he accidentally stabbed my hand while he was trying to cut off the fabric bandage from the museum. The hospital did not give me a rabies shot, having never heard of a case of rabies in a squirrel, but sent me off with a prescription for antibiotics, which I filled at good old Rite Aid (since I had filled there before, but let me tell you, it was difficult to find one in the sea of Duane Reades).

We took it easy that evening, after a crazy afternoon, and ate burgers at some place near Times Square, because we had tickets to see "Clybourne Park." If you know nothing about the play (as I did not), here is a link to a New York Times article about the production: http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/theater/reviews/clybourne-park-by-bruce-norris-at-walter-kerr-theater.html?_r=0. Although I would disagree with some of the article's main points. I liked the script for the most part, but I did not care for the majority of the actors. I did like Sarah Goldberg and Jeremy Shamos, but none of the other actors seemed particularly realistic. In some cases I don't think the part was written very well, but sometimes the actor would affect a certain physical characteristic that was completely distracting. I did like the parallels between the first and second act, when one character in the second half would repeat a line another character said in the first. However, with some plays it's difficult to ascertain a playwright's choices and purpose. In some cases an author has a specific agenda, and in others she just wants to bring attention to an issue. Gentrification and racism are still huge issues, particularly in the United States, but I wasn't sure what the playwright's final motivation for writing the play was. It was an interesting show, and it sparked lively conversation between Blaine and I and I'm sure other patrons, but it was not the best show I've seen.

This has become a much longer entry than I imagined (that darn squirrel), but Sunday was pretty mellow, so I'll wrap it up with a quick summary of that day's adventures.

Day Four: Sunday. 
Blaine had Sunday off from work, so we did the two things I asked him specifically to join me in: go to the Natural History Museum, and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (and we have good pictures, I promise. I'll get them up soon). On our way to the museum, we walked across Amsterdam Street, and discovered there was a street fair going on, so we walked up and down the fairly uncrowded street. That was one of those things tourists wouldn't necessarily know about, so it was mostly locals, and not that many people at that. I found my gift for Cat (some fresh passion fruit tea that she says was amazing) and looked at all the other interesting wares. There was a cotton candy truck (hallelujah) but we waited till after the museum to come back so I could get some.


The museum was wonderful, of course: lots of dead animals and weird historical recreations, and of course DINOSAURS. I had a blast and we spent a good chunk of the afternoon there. I did not go to the spiders exhibit because it cost extra, which is a shame because I just read an article on CNN about it. Oh well. But then we decided to go into Brooklyn and walk around before we went on the bridge. We went to Prospect Park (potato salad!) where I tried to find a bridge like the one they dumped Buzzy Bellew's body off of, but did not find one. We walked a long ways and saw a lot of people out playing and having picnics. It's always nice to see people out having fun and laughing in the sunshine when we're so technologically-centered these days. But the park is beautiful because it's huge (almost 600 acres!) and when you're in the middle of it you can't even tell you're in the city anymore. You can't see any buildings, just grass and trees and blue skies.

Then we took the train back into Manhattan so we could walk across the bridge back into Brooklyn (I'm not sure why, but it was a really good idea) and it was gorgeous. We crossed it at the perfect time of day (about 6:30pm) and although parts are under construction and the view is obstructed, there are still plenty of places to look out at the city and Liberty island. It was lovely. We then had dinner at a delicious pizza place called Ignazio's, wandered around by the river, then took the train into the Village where we walked around for a bit before heading home to eat Ben and Jerry's. It was a fun, interesting, and fairly peaceful day, which was just what we both needed. It was great to spend time together and catch up, which is really why I went in the first place. So mission accomplished.

Only two more days to write about, but they're full ones, so I'll try to get them up soon! Ciao till then!