Amreeka Trip [Three] I want to go to there.
30 Rock
I’m a Tina Fey/30 Rock fan.
PilgrimageAlert. And since I was in New York, I had to pay a visit to the
Rockefeller Center. On my last visit to New York, I think my uncle dropped us
there for about 5 minutes to look around, so we could cover driving through
other parts of the city. I had also heard that the view from atop 30Rock was
pretty great. Looking at the crowd that day though, we decided to come another
day. Instead, we went to the NBC Experience Store. While it was mostly filled
with Jimmy Fallon paraphernalia – there was sizeable Friends merchandize.
Archita picked up a couple of ‘Friends’ t-shirts and I bought an ‘I want to go
to there’ fridge magnet (one of Tina’s catch phrases from the show). The
cashier was pretty chatty.
Surprise, surprise.
I say this because almost every American I
have interacted or rather, not interacted with at all, seems chatty. Back in
2011, during my first trip to the US, on Day 1 in Ann Arbor, I spent the entire
day convinced that my brother had made many friends all over, during his Master’s
program. My brother is a friendly person, but I think it’s safe to say that my
general social circuit was always much bigger than his. I was impressed. By the
end of the day, I came to realise that my brother didn’t really know all these
fine people of Ann Arbor. It was just them being nice and saying, “Hey! What’s
up?” to us, random strangers, while they were on a run or just leisurely
walking past. They were pleasant to us without any reason – for just a couple
of seconds, which really didn’t hurt anyone. It takes a while to also know that
you don’t necessarily have to engaged in conversation – just smile or say hi
(or “What’s up?” because apparently that is perfectly acceptable in today’s
parlance, in place of “Hi”). In fact, after having spent a month getting used
to this, when I got back home, it seemed to have rubbed off on me. Once,
someone rang the bell at 3 PM – the time when you’re contemplating that
afternoon siesta, the time when sales people or fundraisers ring your doorbell,
leaving you annoyed. Instead, when I opened the door, I was quite chirpy and said,
“Haaaiiii!” (those of you who know me know that haiiiii), thus leaving this boy
and girl extremely puzzled and shocked out of their wits. The guy asked me,
sounding slightly fearful for odd reason, whether I knew them from before
because they certainly hadn’t seen me before (they came from an NGO, asking for
funds, btw). Feeling embarrassed, I lied saying they looked like my friends and
I was mistaken.
Anyway, a part of the conversation I had
with the cashier:
Cashier: Is this your first time in New
York?
Me: No, I actually visited about 4 years
ago.
Cashier: Aaaha, so it seems to have called
you back!
Me: I guess so! Certainly not complaining.
Cashier: But you know, New York is so
crowded and there are just way too many people. Might be uncomfortable for you.
Me: I’m from India, I think we trump you
guys in terms of population generally.
Cashier: Oh really? Alright then. Have a
good day.
I don’t know whether or not to feel
surprised about the “Oh really?”
On my last trip to the US, we visited Ann
Arbor (a university town that reminded me of Chandigarh), Detroit (which was a
ghost down, post 2008), Washington DC (saw lots of tourists like us, but yes,
sort of crowded), parts of New Jersey (very suburban), New York (I’ll come to
this soon), Aurora – near Chicago (suburban), Chicago (touristy and
semi-crowded), LA and around (during the 4th of July weekend, bound
to be crowded). Of all these places I visited, I think I felt most comfortable
in New York City. Granted, we spent a day and a half, mostly in Manhattan. But
still, there were people all around. In population terms, New York is close to
4 times that of Chicago or LA. And still less than New Delhi. My mother often
jokes how in most places in the US, one can’t spot dogs, birds or people. It
sounds better when said in Tamil. New York feels like less of a shock to an
Indian. At least that’s how I feel. And of course, the city has a lot more to
it than just the sheer number of people.
Central Park
Once we were done doing all things
touristy and otherwise at the Rockefeller Center, we headed to Central Park. I
had to meet someone and pass on a package (not shady, btw, as this sentence seems to indicate. Really). IndianCourierServices. Since the
person was near Strawberry Fields in Central Park, we decided to walk from the
subway station to that side of the park. It’s gorgeous! Our Delhi’s Central
Park is central as it is in the center of Connaught Place and park because of
the green and all, but otherwise a joke in front of the one in NYC. The one in
New York is massive (about 3.41 km sq for those who need numbers). It is a
lovely walk, with visuals of the Manhattan skyline from time to time. There
were those in horse carriages. Others jogging past. A photoshoot arranged by
parents for their young daughter.
And then, within minutes a drizzle turned
into rain and we had to exit the park to get some shelter. We walked around and
passed the American Museum of Natural History and other interesting landmarks.
We spotted a Shake Shack and decided to snack up. The crinkly fries were so
perfect at that point of time – the closest thing to having pakoras at that
time I guess. The rains had lessened to an almost drizzle. Just alright for us
to resume walking, without the raindrops being annoying. It wasn’t completely
dark just yet. It was a lovely walk to nowhere. We ended up at a shoe store
though. The US trip was also in part, the search for Archita’s first pair of
boots. If I’m not wrong, we stopped by the DSW Designer Warehouse. We had to
abandon the search for the day, though. The one
was far yet. Our next stop was Dublin House, home to Divija’s favourite
Guinness. Dublin House is a cosy little Irish pub. It wasn’t too crowded when
we visited – kind of the perfect amount. We sat around for a while and then
headed out again to grab dinner.
 |
| Top Row: near Strawberry Fields, Central Park. Bottom Row: Horse carriage in Central Park, Rockefeller Center |
If I hadn’t mentioned in my earlier post,
Italian, Mexican and Mediterranean are usually the go-to cuisines for
vegetarians abroad. Freddie & Peppers was the closest pizza place. It was
tiny! But had some decent options for toppings. It was pretty homely. Also, had
a lot of photos of famous people who had eaten food. And I thought I saw that
only back home (photos of paranthas eaten by Ranbir Kapoor etc.).
We finally got around to heading home. It
was quite a close call with low phone batteries, tired bodies and race to get
an Uber. Through most of our trip, we Uber Pool’d it – a good option if you’re
a group of 2-3. Basically, it’s a fixed fare to your destination if you pool
along with someone headed that side of town. Uber cabs were also the source of
some interesting conversations I’ve had.
Our driver for the night was a Chinese
American. As we made our way back into Williamsburg, we exchanged views on
culture, education and other random things. One of the interesting things he
mentioned was how he believed Indians were far more hard-working and smarter
than the Chinese – he was full of praises (not sure if it was because he had a
few Indian girls riding with him though). He was interested in understanding
the value of education for Indians and how people get married – how marriages
are arranged, about the joint family, etc. He also mentioned towards the end
that he ran or at least was part of this dating website for college grads - in a sense, indicating a cocktail of sorts of most of what we discussed.
And soon after, our Saturday night gave in to sleep.
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