Oh, New York!!! A city that has everything, and where everyone finds something of their own!
After 3 months of living here, you start to believe in the impossible; the rapid whirlwind of life constantly pushes you forward, there is absolutely no time to be sad or doubtful!
Back home, looking at photos of New York, I thought it wasn't for me! I imagined it as a gray, big city where nobody cares about anyone else!
I wanted to spend the summer somewhere closer to the sun, the beach, palm trees, and kind Americans—basically, in Florida!
But my friends insisted on New York, for which I am extremely grateful!!!
The first few days spent in a Chinatown hostel looking for housing and work cannot be called the best time!
In those moments, I didn't really feel like I was in the capital of the WORLD!
But as soon as we got to Manhattan—that was it... I already love New York!
Our first acquaintance started with Times Square! OH!!! We ended up in a movie!!!
Huge skyscrapers, bright billboards, even during the day everything was dazzling before my eyes!
Of course, at night, Times Square is just cosmically unreal!
One of our favorite pastimes is the big orange ferry to Staten Island!
And you can ride it at any time, 24/7, for free!
A whole half hour of magical views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty!
We rode the ferry about 5 times over the summer) It's just a pity that we never caught it in sunny weather, but we also liked the romance of the overcast sky with lightning and rain) We even just rode it sometimes to sleep inside!
We were just very sleepy, in a lazy mood, but we couldn't go home, it was a day off after all!
One weekend, Ira and I took the ferry (as always, free) to Governors Island! A performance of a Shakespeare play was being held there!
Having slept half the day, we naturally only made it for the last 15 minutes, but that's not the main thing... This island made a very strong impression on us!
It was as if we had ended up in the times of Catherine the Great! It felt like no one had lived there for a whole century... old houses with peeling paint on the columns, cozy courtyards, whimsical shapes of trimmed bushes, sunny alleys!
Interesting buildings resembling white-stone fortresses, a powerful circular fort, stone embankments!
Literally at every step, we encountered something unusual... a huge green meadow surrounded by a moat, two cannons on a hill in the center, and even geese!...
There were no shops or cars here... the only thing missing was aristocratic ladies in puffy dresses with corsets!
Despite all this, you only had to look towards the Hudson River, and there it was... the modern world—the skyscrapers of Manhattan, surrounded by huge ferries (one of which resembled the Titanic). That's New York for you—a city of contrasts!
Along the entire Hudson River embankment, there are picturesque parks with bright flowers and powerful trees! We loved these long walks along the embankment, or just watching the sunset while sitting on a bench! A particularly romantic atmosphere descended there with the arrival of the evening! We were drawn like a magnet to the soft, mysterious light of the streetlamps!
And what an unforgettable feeling of freedom you experience every time you walk across the Brooklyn Bridge!
Before this summer, I had never seen such beautiful bridges as in New York!
It's worth writing a little about other districts of New York too! In a nutshell—it's sleepy Queens, fun Brooklyn, and wild Bronx!
These are just my associations with these districts!
In reality, every district (even Manhattan) has everything: entertainment centers, gang-ridden slums, and quiet, peaceful corners!
The most interesting thing is that in New York you can meet people of many nationalities who usually live in separate micro-districts where they stick to their own way of life! They have their own shops, cuisine, language, and even some houses differ from American ones! I only managed to visit the Mexican district and Chinatown; we never made it to Harlem, which is a pity.
All these different people unite into one big, fun crowd for festive celebrations! On weekends, parades of different countries were held very often!!!
The most enchanting and large-scale one (that I caught) was the Dominican Parade!
I heard its approach from the subway! The roar! Drum beats! Dressed-up people! Dominican flags everywhere!
I don't know what it's like at carnivals in Brazil, but it seemed to me that I was somewhere there ))
I squeezed into the front row... here I was constantly getting some advertising flyers and even 2 CDs with Latin music))
I really wanted to catch a sausage stick that they were throwing into the crowd, but unfortunately, I had to go hungry..(
We got huge pleasure from the fireworks on Independence Day!!! In my city, everyone is used to monotonous fireworks that only capture attention a little bit at the end!
But here... we sat on the embankment with a stunning view of the bridges and for a whole half hour admired the colorful performance in the sky, not taking our eyes off it for a minute!
My favorite activity in New York, like probably almost everyone's, was shopping!!! I remember my first store—Strawberry! I wanted to stay and live there!
SO MANY colorful, cool things, and most importantly for SUCH money! Sales on every corner, $5 tops!!! aaaa!!!
I immediately had the desire to work, work, and work, just to spend it all later!!!
At first, there was very little money, and we walked around the shops just for the pleasure of the eyes, like in a museum))
Then... almost every day after work (waiting for my friends to get free), I wandered along 34th Street in search of something, not knowing what myself)))
Sephora cosmetics store—an awesome place! Every day you can use testers of the most famous and high-quality cosmetic brands for FREE!
Which I did constantly, tidying myself up after a workday, finally trying out a new type of perfume, for example, PRADA or Chanel!
In huge malls, we could spend the whole day! Here, for $30, you can dress for a club from head to toe, and experienced masters can also do your makeup and hair for FREE (all for advertising purposes).
How quickly can you earn money for Armani jeans in our city.. mmm, you need to save your scholarship for the whole year!
And here, one day is enough, because the prices for branded items are quite realistic, especially in relation to the salary!
Here I drew several conclusions about things!
No need to buy cheap shoes for $5-10, they last for a couple of times or a week) The same applies to bags! Better to buy for $20-30 but for a long time!
Which I cannot say about clothes, this rule does not always work here!
If you dig well in the sales, you can find a cheap, high-quality item!
And the coolest thing is that in many stores you can exchange an item or just return it (wear it for a week and get your money back).
It is very sad that now in Russia I cannot buy anything at such ASTRONOMICAL prices!
I just can't bring myself to pay 1500 for a thin blouse that is not of the best quality, when in America it was $20—expensive!
The same applies to technology—everything is 2 times cheaper there, what can I say...
The most important thing is that Americans have absolutely no stereotypes about clothes! Everyone dresses as they want, for comfort, according to their mood...
How I got used to seeing girls in offices in flip-flops, shorts, or rubber boots!
You can always afford to wear what you wish, without even thinking about what people will say... they won't say anything, everyone here is used to everything!
And in general, clothes are not the main thing, here they will look at them last!
The only factor that makes you think is food! You choose for yourself—to buy cheap food (which doesn't even spoil) or expensive, healthy food!
Maybe in our big cities like Moscow, there haven't been healthy products for a long time!
I'm just used to eating natural products from the garden or bought at markets almost all year round!
Although I can't say that their food is tasteless (except for kefir)! They cook especially well in various restaurants, where you can try a dish of any cuisine in the world!
And what huge portions there are, and everything you don't eat, they will pack for you to go))
You can stretch one portion for the whole day)
But of course, I saved on food as much as I could) At work, they fed us for free, and I also took food with me for dinner and breakfast)
And on weekends I ate buckwheat, which I brought 3 kilograms of from Russia, and got a kick out of that forgotten taste)
I remember how we were at an American barbecue as guests, which was organized for the loaders of one company.
We ate the most harmful, purely American food with both cheeks—hamburgers, hot dogs, AND for dessert, lots and lots of watermelon!!! We ate so much that it was hard to walk))
Strangely enough, there are many centenarians in America, maybe their food is not that bad, or they are saved by the complex of vitamins that they constantly take!
Finally, I want to say about Americans! It's difficult to draw any general conclusions, but... everyone I talked to was polite, friendly people, ready to help you with everything!
You get so used to hearing the phrase "Have a nice day!" or just "How are you doing?" from complete strangers every morning!
Constant "Sorry!" and "Excuse me"! Enchanted looks from men, hundreds of compliments to your face!!!
And most importantly, how many people look carefree and happy, or at least skillfully hide their bad mood!
I saw only one serious drawback in this fabulous city—it's very difficult to return to reality afterwards...
