Finally, after such a trip, I made it to New York. Thank God, during my layover in Washington, I met two other outcasts like me from Russia who had absolutely no idea where they were going to sleep in the Big Apple or what to do at all. The shock started when we took off from Washington. That was when I saw the full scale of what was happening.

We landed. The weather didn't seem the most favorable. However, despite the clouds and occasional rain, it was very hot—that's the local climate for you.

We arrived at the Port Authority. And that's where the most interesting part begins. Broadway, Madison Square Garden, NY Subway. And this is my first trip abroad. Who would have known what I was feeling in those first few hours.

We decided not to waste time and look for a hostel for the night. I found an ad for a hostel on Amsterdam Avenue. After giving a strange taxi driver 12 bucks, we walked into a lively hostel. After the question: “Do you have a reservation?”, we were a bit bummed out, as there were no free beds. A friendly African-American girl with a Muslim crescent and star tattoo on her arm started calling other hostels. After a long conversation, she said there were 3 spots at the Chelsea International Hostel. No choice, we took the subway there. The subway is a separate topic. A hundred times livelier than the Moscow one. Not in terms of the flow of people or the crowd size, but how people behave in the subway. It turns out that Chelsea is not far from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where we came from. We arrived and checked in. I was put in a room with two German girls. When I arrived, they weren't there. I took a shower and just as I lay down to sleep, they came in. I said a few words to them through my sleep, something like: hi, i’m only for one night, and only for sleep. Hearing an 'ok' in response, I passed out.

Morning started with rain. A proper, short-lived rain. I woke up before the girls. I lay there for a long time, then one of them woke up. We had a nice chat, I told her why I came and where I was from. And she shared her impressions of Russia in return; she had been to St. Petersburg once and complained about the terrible cold, talking about -16 with wind. And I told her that where I live, it even gets to -30.

Then a nice breakfast. You walk up and get a bagel with jam, butter, and an apple, then you make yourself coffee or juice of your choice, you could also have cereal. Overall, everything is very pleasant and civilized.

Next stop - Port Authority again, from where I am writing this post. I don't want to say goodbye to New York, I've ended up in a dream. But what can you do, it's time to go to Lake George.