Be Here Now

This morning I saw the majestic skyline of Manhattan. At lunch I enjoyed good Mexican food with my family. In the afternoon I heard the soft sounds of rain at home.

In eleven days I will be in Monterey, California. Although cliche, it feels like yesterday I was only thinking of applying to the Monterey Institute and now I'm actually going. I have to travel to Houston to apply for my visa for France, which I will need for my study abroad in Paris in the fall. I feel like I have so much to look forward to in the next few months, which is both a good and bad thing. After all, if you know exactly what you will do for the next 6 months, is that relieving because you don't have to worry about anything or stressful because of expectations to live up to?

And although I have so much to do, I have to remind myself to be in the present moment. Even the most mundane things are as important as the most exciting.

The Big Apple

As I type this post, I'm in sunny New York City...Manhattan, to be exact. Yesterday I had the very unpleasant experience of finding myself in Brooklyn. Because of my naive view of the world, I imagined Brooklyn to be a nice contrast to Manhattan. In my mind, I envisioned Brooklyn to have wide streets, shaded with large trees and old red brick buildings with lots of character. Instead, upon exiting the Atlantic Avenue subway station, I found myself in an area not unlike a third world country. There were wide streets, filled with trash and lots of ethnic people walking around. There weren't any buildings with character, unless you think graffiti constitutes character. My boyfriend and I walked about six blocks before deciding to go back to Manhattan, otherwise known as civilization. Maybe I missed the "hip" and "trendy" parts of Brooklyn, but honestly, I didn't want to walk around long enough to find them. The only redeemable part of Brooklyn is the Brooklyn Bridge...why? Because it can take you back to Manhattan.

Greetings

Hello all and welcome to my new blog! Happy reading!