Well, 3 weeks have already passed since I arrived in the States. At first, I felt a bit strange, then I started to enjoy it, soon there were many disappointments, and now it feels familiar and even comfortable here.

And now, a little more detail about all of this.

New York

Almost a 20-hour flight, and of course, with a 4-hour delay. Well, at least it was 4 hours and not 8, like Vova had!

I arrived in the USA feeling as squeezed as a tube of toothpaste.

I was met, grabbed by the arms, and dragged off to book tickets for tomorrow to Los Angeles.

Next was the trip to the hostel.

Subway

I didn't really see New York itself, just the path from the airport to our hostel and back. We traveled by subway. It is terrible, pathetic, and I didn't like it at all. The train comes every 5-10 minutes (yes, it's not like ours where it comes every minute, and even then, if it's late, you start getting annoyed, but at least theirs works 24/7), the line map is completely insane, if anyone is interested, here it is) http://metro.donetsk.ua/other/maps/metro47.gif .

The main thing to learn is that there is no one-to-one correspondence between the train and the station in the system. If in Moscow you always know where the train will take you at any station, even if you get on it blindly, that approach won't work in New York.

Subway lines are marked with different colors: red, blue, green, orange, yellow, etc. Trains also have their own names, which are indicated either by numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; or by Latin alphabet letters: A, B, C, D, and others. The color on which the number or letter is depicted corresponds to the line color.

The train name is indicated on its "head" on the front part, as well as on the side of each carriage. Trains following different routes run on the same line. Therefore, you cannot jump into the first train that arrives, like we do!

But I think it's quite possible to figure it out and get used to it, after all, people live there!) And we were lucky on the way from the airport to Candy Hostel (that was our hotel for the night), we didn't mix anything up. Actually, maybe they did, but without me, since the guys arrived a day earlier. And so, in that not-so-fresh and best condition, I dragged myself onto the subway.

We bought a MetroCard (these are NY travel tickets, I bought one for $2.25 and it's valid for the day) and in such a lousy state, sitting in the dirty New York subway, Vova was telling me what he had already managed to see here and how interesting everything is. But I had to interrupt him and ask him to shut up, because I wasn't processing anything. Soon I felt ashamed... And I agreed to listen, but on the condition that I wouldn't answer.

In the NY subway, I felt literally like a white crow with three albino crows sitting next to me, because everyone around was black! I saw white people a couple of times, but they flashed by so quickly, maybe they wanted to get away faster)))

In general, their subway is transport for the poor, and for us Work and Travel students, probably that's why there is trash everywhere, dirt, it stinks, and I even saw poop on the platform! Awesome...))))

City

But the city itself seemed quite presentable to me. On the way from the subway to the hostel, I didn't see much, of course, but what I did manage to see, I liked! And we even got off at the wrong exit, so we wandered around looking for the right street, the guys were looking, and I just followed them and looked at everything around me.

It was already night, but I didn't want to sleep even after such a long flight, because at that time it was the middle of the day in Moscow, and my body still thought it was there and forced me to stay awake.

Everything around was illuminated, it was beautiful and completely unfamiliar. Unclear signs suggested I walk "down that street," but my back was aching because of the annoying backpack, and forced me to go where I could take a shower, lie down, and relax.

Even though it was almost impossible to meet people on the street, this city was full of life.

And in general, it differs from Moscow only in that it is still unfamiliar to me, well, people speak differently, big deal! (: It's the same metropolis, and it was just as cold as in Moscow.

Upon arriving at our hostel (by the way, Candy Hostel (: ), I called my mom on Dima's work phone, which he swiped from his job)) I hoped that this unlimited phone would be with us always, but the next evening it was disconnected :(

I don't think I slept at all.

Airport

The next day early in the morning we headed back to the airport to fly to Los Angeles. But upon arrival, we discovered that the tickets we booked yesterday had suddenly increased in price! Total madness...

We spent a long time deciding what to do. Staying another night in NY is expensive, buying plane tickets is also expensive, the option to go by bus for 100 bucks exists, but that's 2 days of travel!!! To hell with it. In the end, after spending a couple of hours at the airport, we chose the plane. A different flight, a different airport, maybe a little more expensive than planned, but cheaper than it turned out to be in reality!

A kind African American lady, who fussed over us all this time, called us a taxi, and we were taken to another airport for free! I am very grateful to her for all the trouble she went through with us! And thanks to Vova's English, without which we would have been stuck there for a long time, I think....

And then a not-so-pleasant surprise awaited us. If you check in one piece of luggage - 25 bucks!!! Damn....((

And each of us had a bottle of vodka (exclusively for the employer!))) and also Bacardi from duty-free. And we aren't 21 yet!

Idiots, we hoped that the bottle wouldn't show up on the baggage check monitor for carry-on luggage))) and how we were moving all this around... ugh...

And destroying it wasn't an option, too little time for airing out))

In the end, we gave everything to the airport worker. Oh, you should have seen her eyes, stunned with happiness!!! Well... it was a pity... that was the first moment I hated America!))

Well, then they took away my body cream and face wash, and Vova's shampoo and toothpaste. Plus, I, an idiot, shoved my passport into the bin for clothes, which goes under the X-ray and something else... And a picky American forced me to spell my name from the passport, asking me to repeat every letter each time, tripping me up about 10 times! What the hell! I pronounce the letters of the English alphabet correctly!!! And I am Elena Makarova, not Elina MakarOve! Stupid jerk.

We flew through Philadelphia, Charlotte. Vova and I an hour earlier than Dima and Pasha. And of course, our flight from NY was delayed, and we missed the next one from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. But since it wasn't our fault, they put us on the next flight, exactly the one where the guys were (:

Oh, it's not easy here.

And the scariest thing is that it's all just beginning!

That's all for today.

When I have time, I will tell you about and show you a completely different Los Angeles. Yeah, everything here is really like in the movies, and sometimes not quite))

Date June 1, 7:16