Day One.

Well, here we are. America hasn't gone anywhere. Truly. And here it is, the grand return of a not-so-grand person. Because, honestly, who am I to America? Who are we all to this country? It's funny to think about. But that's not the point right now.

Just like a year ago, I was met by my close friend Ruslan, someone with whom we are a piece of our homeland here for each other. Together with him, his friend, and another compatriot, we set off to "get things done."

We drove quite a bit, by the way. You have to be very smart about roads in this city and know the best way to go, as the traffic is no joke. Just open Apple Maps and see the congestion. Sometimes it's easier to take a route 1.5-2 times longer but arrive significantly faster, because the short way is jammed.

What has changed in this year of my absence? Nothing. As I said, New York absolutely doesn't care about those who arrive. (Well, except for the Mexicans. Without them, all of America would grind to a halt.) It lives its own life. It still runs, jumps, walks, drives, shouts, laughs, and most importantly, shines brightly at night. Right now, it really feels like nothing happened. I mean, those 8 months of waiting didn't exist, as if I fell asleep in New York on October 6th and woke up in the same place on May 17th, because now you look around and see the exact same life you saw 2/3 of a year ago. Without any changes. It even adds a touch of sentimentality.

We first got to his work, where he set me up with a new SIM card, and then to his home. After dropping off my things and meeting the new member of Ruslan's family (yes, he recently had a daughter who managed to get scared of me, but it was sooo cute), I decided to set off to conquer the city once again.

The first stop was the Manhattan Bridge, famous from the movie "Once Upon a Time in America." "Noodles, I slipped." - a phrase not as famous as the quote from The Godfather, but no less tragic. Although few will understand me now.

Actually, Sergio Leone's film has always been one of my favorites since my early youth. And so I had wanted to visit this bridge for a long time. But anyway.

It's interesting that there were quite a few tourists on that very bridge. And most of them were Asian. I always thought this landmark was mainly interesting to fans of the movie, but apparently, I was wrong, or maybe they are all fans. Who knows. The only problem with traveling alone is taking photos. I'm not a big fan of selfies against the backdrop of gorgeous landmarks, so I usually ask other people. But it's worth noting that both Americans and tourists are always ready to point a finger at the magic button even for strangers. I have helped others very often myself. And sometimes, when I see a group of two or three, I offer to take a group photo for them and ask them to take one of me in return. Is everyone happy? Of course.

Looking ahead, I'll even tell you about one girl who managed to touch my soul. On my second day in New York, I was standing in Times Square and saw a cute (not just cute, but hot) girl of about 22 who was taking photos of herself on a timer, having placed her phone on a construction cone. I offered to help her, and she didn't speak a word of English. After the first photo, she asked for another, and then started scrolling through her album to show that she needed another photo in the "Follow me" style, where you hold hands. She grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the billboards. Well, I did everything, and she skipped away. And all I understood was that she was Argentine (I told you she was hot), but unfortunately, she was faster than me, so I didn't see her again.

After the bridge, by the way, I needed to exchange money, as in my stupidity I only brought money in $100 bills. For those going for the first time - a tip: Take smaller bills, as few people here need $100. I went into several stores, and everywhere I was refused, and finally, in one pizzeria, a cook agreed and gave me five $20s. Although $20s aren't the best option either. Ideally, it's $1, $5, and $10. Seriously.

After the bridge, I decided to head to the famous Coney Island, known for its attractions. It was not far from home, and I had long wanted to see it in person. Arriving there, I was a bit shocked. Its territory is really large, and the attractions are scary to even look at, let alone ride. I just felt sorry for the people who were inside those things. But I didn't ride anything myself; I just came to observe. Everything here is really like in the movies, you know. There were even contests where you had to fill balloons with water pistols to get prizes.

When I was getting home, I thought that Brooklyn is not America. America hasn't been here for a long time. And it's not even Rasha-town, as many are used to calling it. It's such a cluster of different nationalities from all over the world with a small percentage of the American community somewhere in the corner. But mostly you will feel at home here. I was standing on the street once talking to my mom on the phone and accidentally caught sight of a pole where tear-off ads in Russian were hanging. Yes, in essence, signs in Russian are the norm here, but seeing that pole, for a minute I felt like I was back in my homeland. In essence, that is what Brooklyn is for immigrants (or almost immigrants). A second homeland.

Day Two.

Day number two began with a long and long-awaited trip to Manhattan. I hadn't been there for almost a year. And finally.

The subway in America is wonderful (I've already written about this), but it's terribly long. It's not like in my hometown. And the point here isn't the subway, but the scale of the city, and even the traffic. What the hell kind of traffic, you ask? Well, the most ordinary kind. The train goes, stops. The conductor announces congestion on the line. We stand. We go further. And this is the norm. That is, you are going somewhere during rush hour - add another 10 minutes to your plans, thanks to subway traffic. That's how it is, guys. And in general, getting from point to point usually takes about an hour. And that's without transfers, on a direct route. And there are so many lines there. There are so many routes there. In short, do you want to figure out the subway system? First, have a drink for courage and download a phone app, which is simply necessary here.

So, today according to the plan, I headed first to the Central Park Zoo. Actually, there is a larger zoo - in the Bronx. For the sake of interest, compare their sizes. I just realized that I wouldn't have time to walk around everything in the one in the Bronx in a day, and it takes 1.5 hours to get there. As is already clear from the name, my zoo is located in Central Park. Accordingly, for starters, I took a walk there and stumbled upon this miracle place, which once again confirms the nickname of this city - "Concrete Jungle."

And the zoo itself is incredibly pleasant from the very entrance, and demonstrates all the delights of animal life: photos, statues, etc. You want to go into it, honestly. Entry is $12 - that's ridiculous for something like this, it seems to me.

You walk in and feel like you're in a really clean and tidy park, where everything is cleaned up and it doesn't smell at all. The first zone is tropical, where birds live that fly over your head and can even land on you, as well as snakes, lemurs, mongooses, and the like. It's terribly hot here from the very entrance. As hot as these inhabitants are used to. It's done the same way at the end of the zoo with the penguins, where you don't feel the cold, but behind the glass, you can see ice and a zookeeper who is dressed very warmly.

The zoo, unfortunately, has nothing to do with the famous cartoon, but that doesn't diminish its merits in any way. There are penguins, for example, right? So: "Smile and wave."

The main highlight of the park is two snow leopards who have been allocated perhaps the largest territory, where they can simply hide from visitors. But they don't do that. They just play with each other in front of satisfied visitors.

Besides them, there are also red pandas, bears, turtles, seals, and sea lions.

Sea lions are actually in the very center of the zoo and are ready to delight visitors with a performance 3 times a day for a portion of fish. I just happened to catch one of these shows.

In general, the zoo is divided into two parts: the main one and a small one, where domestic animals of the goat, sheep, goldfish, cow, and even one llama species live. Some of them can be fed. A portion of something that looks like their own poop (pardon) costs 50 cents, but I was lucky and one local dealer in a staff uniform was shoving it to everyone for free. And so I was feeding the goats, and they were running around as if I were giving them coke.

For an extra $4, you could also go to a 4D movie. At that time, they were showing "Rio." A small thing, but it's nice too.

To be Continued.