Here is my first letter home:
I really enjoyed flying by plane)) It was a bit scary the first time during takeoff and landing, I guess it's like that for everyone)
I sat by the window)) I wanted to bathe in the clouds, the view over the mountains and continents was unreal—like from space!
The food was tasty (though maybe we were just very hungry), everything was packaged so coolly))
I especially remember the wine, they poured it in full glasses)) They also played various movies)
Our airline was Alitalia, with a layover in Rome. The luggage arrived without any losses!
Everything is good with us, except for minor problems!!!
We don't have money yet to buy a laptop, so we use the internet at the library, the time is limited here, only 1 hour per day! But the internet is free everywhere—wi-fi!
We spent all our first days in New York trying to find work and housing!
Now we are already living in an apartment (or rather, in the basement of a private house). The owners are an elderly Russian (or rather, Jewish) couple!!!
We found it in 4 days))) Before that, we lived in a hostel (in Chinatown) in a small, cramped room (we booked it 4 days in advance).
At first, there was no time to even walk around the city because of various errands, we were always sleepy and hungry!! We saved on food, I lived almost entirely on bananas so that we could pay for the apartment, we had to pay a deposit for 2 months immediately, $700 per person. We lost a little weight)) We often bought something at a diner, the portions here are huge everywhere, you can stretch them for the whole day! Now our "torments" are behind us!!!
It's a 2-room apartment, a small kitchen, a shower, generally okay! There was little furniture there, but gradually we dragged a lot of useful things into the house! Here, it's customary to put everything out by the road on trash day, and on the way home, we found many interesting things for ourselves: leather chairs, a TV with a rolling shelf, and a dresser))
Only there is nowhere to do laundry (you can do it for money at a laundromat). So we all walk around in dirty and wrinkled clothes)
We will pay $1050 a month for the three of us (including utility bills!) The area is very quiet and calm (Briarwood, Queens), it reminds me of a cottage settlement. There are many shops around, even Russian ones, it's a 15-minute walk to the subway... It takes half an hour to get to Manhattan.
In general, we like everything!!! Now we can cook food at home)) I already spotted all our cereals (the brands are the same) and black bread in a Russian store)) We walked around the city and went shopping several times))
It just blows your mind with the abundance of things (prices in the city center are much lower than at our market, and the items are good, famous brands!!!) So we dreamed a little))
New York itself is a city of dreams: huge skyscrapers, crowds of people from different corners of the world, everything around is bright and unreal, as if you ended up in a movie!!!))
The only drawback is the subway! It can't be compared to the Moscow one—it's dirty, ugly, doesn't run as often, and the map is very confusing!
On the weekend, we went in the evening on the free ferry near the Statue of Liberty!!! BEAUTY... everything is in lights!!!
And we also went to the famous Brighton Beach! Russians everywhere, everything is covered in trash, lots of people, and the water is cold! Not very good impressions of the beach!
For a week now, there has been wild heat outside!!! But everywhere indoors and in the subway, it's very cold because of the air conditioning!
So I have to carry a jacket with me constantly! I even caught a slight cold)
We recently bought a liter of rum!!)) We celebrated our move-in)) We already have a friend, Valdo—an American)) He helps us look for work and promised to drive us around the city in his car!
I barely understand Americans((( I only understand standard questions and compliments))
There are a lot of handsome guys, which you can't say about the girls!)
And in general, Americans are very polite and responsive, more open to communication than Russians, if only I could understand them better)
