July 16, 2009

After arriving in New York, I spent two nights in a hostel in Harlem and only on the third day did I find a place to stay and move into Brooklyn. We are now living with another guy in a basement that we rent for 475 a month for both of us. I have to say, this basement is actually pretty decent, and there is a toilet, shower, and kitchen in the adjacent room. We cleaned up, and all in all, it's livable.

However, that's not what I want to talk about yet. We spent 4 days looking for work and, having found nothing, we walked up to a rickshaw stand one evening, again in search of a job. Imagine my surprise when, as I was leaving, I ran into a guy I had lived with in Norfolk. He and three other students had left for New York about 10 days before us.

They had been looking for work for a week, and eventually, three of them were hired at McDonald's for 7.5 an hour. But Yura (that same guy) didn't get the job. He never found other work, and his money ran out pretty quickly (New York is a very expensive city). Naturally, when he ran out of money, he was evicted from where he was staying and ended up on the street. With five dollars in his pocket. That was exactly the situation he was in when we met him. He told us he had spent one night sleeping in a park. He wanted to do the same the next night, but he ran into Jehovah's Witnesses (what the hell are they doing in NY? I have no idea) and they took him to a homeless shelter. The place turned out to be so lousy that these Witnesses didn't even leave him there for the night; they took pity on him, drove him to a hotel, and paid for the night. Later, though, they disappeared. And he was left in the morning with those same five bucks and no home. He spent the next night in the subway.

Upon hearing this, I took him in with us because we at least had a mattress for him to sleep on. In the morning, I talked to the landlord and asked him to let a third person move in with us. Naturally, he asked for more money - 550 for the three of us per month. We gave him 25 - everything we could scrape together - and still owed 50. Where to get it, nobody knows yet.

Meanwhile, I started working as a rickshaw driver to get at least some money for food. However, if things go well, it should be enough for everything else. All I want right now is to buy a blanket because it's terribly cold here at night.

That's how things are. What makes me happy is that for the next three weeks, at least I have a place to live.

P.S. To those writing to me: I'm having some internet issues right now, I can't find a decent connection. Sorry if I disappear from ICQ or don't reply to your messages. The best way to reach me right now is by email. Have a nice day, guys.