New York New York :)
There is something so special about living away from your own country and it's that when you return to it, you have this automatic appreciation for where you are from. It's as if you ignored all the amazing things it had to offer in the first place and every time you re-visit, you are reminded of all the good.
About two weeks ago I got to fly into JFK, which looks like it's going to be a regular thing for me as I'm going there again in 1 day :)
We stay in a hotel in Long Island and it's about a 45 minute train ride away from New York City!!! I decided this past trip that even though it's only a 24 hour layover, I'd go spend the day in the city. Luckily, there were 2 other awesome girls from the flight that came with me and we had an absolute blast.
I woke up around 4 am New York time and I was really hungry!!!! However, breakfast wasn't available until 6 am so for 2 hours I tried my best to occupy my time by watching good old American TV- man, I forgot about how many commercials come on during a show- I honestly felt like I only watched 5 minutes of episode, 20 minutes of commercial!! This didn't help time pass at all. I waited until that clock hit 6 am on the dot and dialled room service and they brought up a nice New York bagel with cream cheese! Yum :) Around 8 I walked down the road to the Starbucks to get my favorite drink. As I walked there, I had friendly faces saying "good morning," "happy Sunday," "beautiful morning, isn't it?" Oh, I felt like I was in Pleasentville and all that was missing was a musical number in the background. Being back in the States, I felt comfortable and simply happy.
After Starbucks, I met up with the other girls that decided to come into the city and we took the train together. When we got to Manhattan, I was amazed by how big it was. I thought Dubai was a big city, but boy is it tiny compared to New York City. You look up and there are skyscrapers surrounding you. It was quite fantastic!!! We decided to take a hop-on, hop-off bus and toured the area all day. We saw the Empire State building (although it took us awhile to figure it out). We looked up at the building and asked each other, "Isn't that the Empire State Building?" Now being American, they both looked at me for confirmation and I just said with slight uneasiness, "I think so." It's just that I thought it would be taller as it's the 3rd tallest building in the world. On the tour it was confirmed that the building was in-fact the Empire State Building and all three of us, in unison, nodded as if we knew all along.
I was able to witness a street dance which was really cool- but it ended too quickly and the dancers wouldn't do any more dancing until money was given to them and then they wouldn't dance until more money was given to them! So it was little bits and pieces of dancing here and there. But what I saw was good. I'm pretty sure those dancers made a small fortune that day :)
Let's see, I also experienced getting ripped off- There was someone dressed as the Statue of Liberty and he had a Statue of Liberty outfit that he wanted to dress me up in, so I decided to go over and put on the outfit. My friend then snapped a picture and when I took the outfit off he said "that will be $5." What??? That would have been nice to know, before you dressed me up !!! (see picture below of the silly outfit)
We also got to take a boat taxi to Staten Island and back, which passed the Statue of Liberty. The view of Manhattan from the boat was incredible! I was actually in awe.... So so nice.
The last stop we made was in Times Square and all I can say is WOW- what a lively place. There were bright lights, big screens, tons of people and lots of shops. I even saw a naked cowboy and cowgirl (she was about 70 and was wearing stars over her boobs- it was quite horrific).
All in all, it was a fantastic day filled with a lot of laughs, good food and good sight-seeing.
Even though I'm not from New York, being in the U.S. felt comfortable. I felt at ease and happy. When I headed back to Abu Dhabi that evening, I felt like I was leaving home and it saddened me because let's face it- living away from your country or home, makes you realize just how great it is. It gives you a new appreciation each time you return. The nice thing is knowing that your home is always there waiting for you to come back anytime you want!
Look forward to going back in a day !
Pictures:
There is something so special about living away from your own country and it's that when you return to it, you have this automatic appreciation for where you are from. It's as if you ignored all the amazing things it had to offer in the first place and every time you re-visit, you are reminded of all the good.
About two weeks ago I got to fly into JFK, which looks like it's going to be a regular thing for me as I'm going there again in 1 day :)
We stay in a hotel in Long Island and it's about a 45 minute train ride away from New York City!!! I decided this past trip that even though it's only a 24 hour layover, I'd go spend the day in the city. Luckily, there were 2 other awesome girls from the flight that came with me and we had an absolute blast.
I woke up around 4 am New York time and I was really hungry!!!! However, breakfast wasn't available until 6 am so for 2 hours I tried my best to occupy my time by watching good old American TV- man, I forgot about how many commercials come on during a show- I honestly felt like I only watched 5 minutes of episode, 20 minutes of commercial!! This didn't help time pass at all. I waited until that clock hit 6 am on the dot and dialled room service and they brought up a nice New York bagel with cream cheese! Yum :) Around 8 I walked down the road to the Starbucks to get my favorite drink. As I walked there, I had friendly faces saying "good morning," "happy Sunday," "beautiful morning, isn't it?" Oh, I felt like I was in Pleasentville and all that was missing was a musical number in the background. Being back in the States, I felt comfortable and simply happy.
After Starbucks, I met up with the other girls that decided to come into the city and we took the train together. When we got to Manhattan, I was amazed by how big it was. I thought Dubai was a big city, but boy is it tiny compared to New York City. You look up and there are skyscrapers surrounding you. It was quite fantastic!!! We decided to take a hop-on, hop-off bus and toured the area all day. We saw the Empire State building (although it took us awhile to figure it out). We looked up at the building and asked each other, "Isn't that the Empire State Building?" Now being American, they both looked at me for confirmation and I just said with slight uneasiness, "I think so." It's just that I thought it would be taller as it's the 3rd tallest building in the world. On the tour it was confirmed that the building was in-fact the Empire State Building and all three of us, in unison, nodded as if we knew all along.
I was able to witness a street dance which was really cool- but it ended too quickly and the dancers wouldn't do any more dancing until money was given to them and then they wouldn't dance until more money was given to them! So it was little bits and pieces of dancing here and there. But what I saw was good. I'm pretty sure those dancers made a small fortune that day :)
Let's see, I also experienced getting ripped off- There was someone dressed as the Statue of Liberty and he had a Statue of Liberty outfit that he wanted to dress me up in, so I decided to go over and put on the outfit. My friend then snapped a picture and when I took the outfit off he said "that will be $5." What??? That would have been nice to know, before you dressed me up !!! (see picture below of the silly outfit)
We also got to take a boat taxi to Staten Island and back, which passed the Statue of Liberty. The view of Manhattan from the boat was incredible! I was actually in awe.... So so nice.
The last stop we made was in Times Square and all I can say is WOW- what a lively place. There were bright lights, big screens, tons of people and lots of shops. I even saw a naked cowboy and cowgirl (she was about 70 and was wearing stars over her boobs- it was quite horrific).
All in all, it was a fantastic day filled with a lot of laughs, good food and good sight-seeing.
Even though I'm not from New York, being in the U.S. felt comfortable. I felt at ease and happy. When I headed back to Abu Dhabi that evening, I felt like I was leaving home and it saddened me because let's face it- living away from your country or home, makes you realize just how great it is. It gives you a new appreciation each time you return. The nice thing is knowing that your home is always there waiting for you to come back anytime you want!
Look forward to going back in a day !
Pictures:
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