After the airport, this was my second shock. When I flew to New York, I didn't think at all about how I would live in a hotel. It didn't matter to me, but suddenly, we were given keys, and I realized that I clearly wouldn't be living alone or even with just one other person; it threw me off balance. Well, okay, it's not such a tragedy, it's just hard to live in one room with strangers, at least for me (if you are a sociable person by nature, this won't seem strange to you). I really didn't think there would already be several people in the room. Moreover, the girls had taken two beds, and there was simply no room for two more. The night search for an extra bed and sorting out all the problems exhausted me. I desperately wanted to sleep, at least a little. I didn't have the strength to walk around the night metropolis as I had wanted to, although others didn't put off walking around New York for long. It was very difficult to immediately get used to the thought that you cannot explain something in Russian. You need to speak and think in English. It's not easy when I had no practice as such. After an hour or an hour and a half, we were finally able to solve the problem. We were offered a folding bed, and we gladly accepted this offer. They didn't let us sleep for long. From the very morning, we had to solve the issue with copies, and find a cafe to eat something. There are problems with this in New York too. And if you are not a fan of fast food, you will have to pay oh so well to eat properly. And since I don't really like all kinds of hamburgers and sandwiches, I firmly decided that I would find more adequate food. I didn't want to ruin my stomach. In the end, we wandered into the nearest Starbucks (coffee shop), I limited myself to one cup of tea, and that was the end of my breakfast. By the way, only at Starbucks was I able to get on the Internet for the first time; I didn't think there would be difficulties with this in New York, but reality is cruel. Fortunately, I notified my loved ones about my arrival in the city of dreams via SMS (don't forget to enable roaming). After the coffee shop, we ran back to the hotel for the program orientation, where they told us a bunch of useful things and told us where to go to get a Social Security Number.
And we had to go quite far, so the general decision was the subway! Honestly, I never in my life wanted to ride the New York subway. Fear number one! It seemed incomprehensible and scary to me, with a bunch of dangers at every corner, and in general, I was afraid of going in the wrong direction. Compared to the Moscow Metro, it's night and day. And here I realized that I madly love the Moscow Metro with its clear signs, transfers, and escalators! Fortunately, I was not alone, as it was at the very beginning of the trip.
There were many plans for the day: we needed to buy a ticket to Virginia Beach at Greyhound, walk around the city, and find a cafe with delicious food. After we finished with the insurance, the group split up. Some wanted to ride the free ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, others decided to go to the famous Wall Street. Sergey, my friend who calmed me down on the plane, and I went to get tickets to our resort towns. And... since all this was still before lunch, the general decision was made to walk to our hotel, practically from Wall Street. As a resident of a small town, I immediately supported the idea of a walk. In my understanding, if I see the object I am heading to, I will arrive there in a maximum of fifteen minutes. Our landmark was the Empire State Building. Oh my God, how wrong I was! Instead of fifteen minutes, we walked for about two hours! My feet couldn't feel the ground, it was stuffy, and in the city, because of such stuffiness in the summer, there is also not a very pleasant smell on the streets; believe me, this is not the New York that once seemed like a fairy-tale place to me! With great difficulty, we reached the Port Authority Bus Terminal and bought tickets. I took a ticket to Norfolk because I thought I could independently get from the bus station to the hotel by local bus for a lower cost (I paid 67 dollars for the ticket). For the time after Port Authority, my friend and I went to our rooms; we needed to rest and eat. I again refused food in favor of plain water (I paid a little over four dollars for three liters, Whole Foods Market – prices there are not cheap, and don't be surprised if at the checkout they ask you to pay more than the cost of the product; the state tax is added to the cost, in New York it is 8.8%). Time was rushing forward, and I still couldn't eat; evening was approaching, hunger was overpowering, and only because of a kick from my mom did I have to go at least for a sandwich. If it weren't for my mom, perhaps I wouldn't have been able to enjoy my last day in New York before leaving for my town. Honestly, I didn't want to go anywhere and spend money because I was exhausted by this city to the limit, and I wanted to leave this bustle as soon as possible for peace, where there wouldn't be such an unpleasant smell, people, crowds of African Americans offering their music on the streets. But when one of the girls said that students are sold a ticket to the Empire State Building for 15 dollars (in fact, it costs $30), I ran to get it without hesitation. I wanted to save this attraction for the last week of my stay in America, my dream was supposed to remain unfulfilled until the end of the summer, but I couldn't resist and... Everything I needed to change my poorly formed vision of New York was to go up to one of the tallest buildings in the world. Since then... I fell in love with this city. And the view from above is much better! I just enjoyed the view and realized that my lifelong dream had come true!
An indescribable feeling, you have to see it, feel it. I didn't want to leave, I was ready to set up a tent there and stay forever, but... it was impossible!
Going down, I stopped noticing the smell, some shortcomings of the city, I just wanted to walk, walk, and walk! I didn't see everything I wanted, but for a start, it's enough: Broadway, Times Square, the light of the spotlights was blinding, but it was worth it, the famous red steps, I managed to sit there too! We didn't have much time, but it was the beginning of something bigger. I went to bed only at four in the morning, and in a couple of hours, I had to get up and hit the road. I arrived at the bus station two hours early to get in line for the bus (there are no seats, whoever comes first will leave on the first flight). To be honest, only African Americans were traveling with me on the bus, but they were also kind. I even managed to talk to one woman, she was interested in where I was going, it's amazing, but Americans are such positive people, they are always ready to help you, which you can't say about Russians; in Russia, they simply don't smile, although maybe that's a plus, you always know how a person really feels about you.
