Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Traveling the Concrete Jungle!

Hey Everybody,

So a few people have told me they're having trouble commenting on the blog. I have adjusted the settings so you should be able to comment...if you still have trouble let me know!

Also I have good news! I am definitely doing my orientation next Tuesday! So let's pray Salvation Army keeps up the pace and I still start on the 11th!

Also more good news :)...Aliasgar (Ali's cousin) is doing better today. Apparently yesterday in the hospital he couldn't even open his eyes and he opened them today! I also have a little more information on his illness. He has something called Japanese Encephalitis. Apparently it's common in Asia and passes to humans through mosquitos, pigs, and birds. It has lots of symptoms and can be very serious for infants. Luckily Ali's cousin is young and strong. He's not out of the woods yet but there were some positive signs today...I'll keep you posted.

So the link below (ps so proud I figured out how to make it so you all could click on it...I totally had to search their help section tho to figure it out :) is a picture of a monster and i'm not even kidding you! You have to go look at this thing! It washed up on the beach in the Hamptons and is a monster!!!!!

http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Home/News/MysteryThing/tabid/6189/Default.aspx

Okay so now that I've talked jobs and monsters I have pictures today!! Yesterday I documented my commute to school. I wanted you all to get a taste of NYC style commuting! hahahaha

So I left my house at 3:10...I forgot to take a picture of the street I live on...don't worry it's not to exciting.



This is a picture of Richmond Ave. We live right off of this road. It's one of the busiest roads on SI.
















This is Victory Blvd. Another really busy road on SI. If you hit this road at the wrong time of day the traffic can be torture. The second pic is me getting on the SI expressway to get to the Verrazano Bridge.








At 3:18 I hit the SIE (Staten Island ExpressWay)...and the traffice jams begin right away. The first picture is what with SIE CAN look like...the second is what is was like for me yesterday!



















3:28 These are pictures of the Verrazano Bridge that robs me of $10 a day....hmmm do i seem a little bitter about that!?!?!?









3:32 This is me getting off the Verrazano Bridge







































3:33 I get on the Belt Parkway. The traffic always starts out decent and moves to a traffic jam. Yesterday was worse than normal....The 3rd pic is proof I'm moving about 30mph...the 4th picture is what's after the jam!!...NY roads are so weird....it was completely backed up and then all of the sudden clear!!












4:02 Getting off the Belt and onto Van Wyck...by this point I've driven across the southern park of Brooklyn and on Van Wyck I get completely out of Brooklyn and into Queens.















4:04 The Van Wyck Expressway is definitely not an expressway!! I'm only on it for about 1 mile but it takes me a good 10-15 minutes (on really bad days longer to go this distance!) It's deceiving too...the 1st pic is what it looks like for the first 30 seconds and then it turns to a crazy traffic jam...












4:20 I get off Van Wyck and Get on Main St for just a few minutes (2st pic). The third pic is of Union Turnpike. This is one of the major roads in Queens.




















4:26 Finally at school!!! I turn on Utopia and then turn into school!!













Posting pics takes wayyyy longer than I thought (about an hour and a half!!) So i'm going to bed!! You all will just have to wait til tomorrow to see what St John's actually looks like ;)

Good Night!

LOVE
Sarah

Gratitude

Hey All,
So I was going to post pictures today so you all could see my commute and St. John's, but I've had a rough day and don't think I'd do a good job explaining the mass amount of pictures I took...today just felt like a hard day.

I am suppose to be starting a new job this coming Monday, Aug 4th. Yesterday I got some news from my soon-to-be supervisor that I may not be able to start on the
4th, but that she would call me today and give me a definite answer....well she called today with frustrating news. I have to complete a drug test, background check, and orientation before I can start. I was suppose to do all of this either last week or this week...however the big wigs of salvation army are moving verrryy slowly with my paperwork and this testing/orientation won't be happening until the earliest next Tuesday Aug 5th. Grrrr so that means the earliest my first day can be is Monday Aug 11th...and she couldn't even guarantee me that!!!!! Friends I am sooo stressed out right now. My last few checks from Mori are super small and the longer I go before I start my new job the longer I go without a really paycheck....which is a requirement to pay bills. I'm not looking for pity or money...just need to vent a little. I know everything will work out but when things like this happen I just get more frustrated living out here in NY. It's so expensive it makes the stress of having very little money that much greater. My commute is $400 a month. It just blows my mind....I can't even think about it....I am so lucky I have people that I can turn to...I think of all the people that don't have family and a support system...

Today Ali also got some very bad news. One of his cousins, Aliasgar, in India was diagnosed with a possibly non-curable illness. We don't have a lot of information right now but the illness is something that's causing spasms and numbing all over his body. Ali's extremely worried especially because Aliasgar was planning to move to London next month. I couldn't understand why this was such a concern until I pried more information out of Ali. It's not easy to move out of a 3rd world country. It takes a lot of money and luck and this illness may be ruining Aliasgar's chance. This is something i'll never fully be able to understand. Can you imagine....living somewhere were all you can focus on and plan for is getting out...to find opportunity....it's such an overwhelming thought. I too often forget the blessing of being born in a wealthy country....

To continue with the theme of experiences I'll never have...as I was driving to school today I was listening to NPR ( I can't stand the stupid music on the radio anymore) and listened to a news story about AIDS in Uganda. The story was like all the others we hear...the huge percentage of people every day that are diagnosed with AIDS in Africa. The news story was discussing that many of the men in Uganda are getting circumsized to help prevent the contraction of AIDS (according to the news it decreases their risk by up to 60% - doesn't make sense to me but I'm not an expert). Anyways the news story was discussing how the US is giving free circumcisions to men in Uganda but many of the men are hesitant due to the fear that getting circumsized means they will not longer be Christians and be converted to Muslims!! About 90% of the population in this particular area of Uganda are Christian and this fear is very common. Not only did this story make me sit and think about the devastation of AIDS but the lack of education in other countries. I was shocked at the vastness of this believe.

However, to end on a lighter note go to this link. During the news story they played the "circumcision song" that a few Ugandan men came up with to encourage others to get circumsized. Although about a serious matter the song is hilarious! I don't know about anyone else but sometimes I get so discouraged by all the pain and turmoil of this would...but then you have songs like this to lighten the mood :)

(The first link takes you to the story and allows you to hear the song, the second one I think takes you directly to the song but i'm not sure...i'm also still working on how to make it so you all can just click on it...for now it's good ol' cut and paste)

http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/19775
http://www.theworld.org/mp3/CircumcisionSong.mp3


I know God wanted me find out about Aliasgar today and I know he wanted me listen to the AIDS coverage in Uganda. I know because I wanted to spend the whole day having pity for myself and being angry that I'm going to be straped for cash for a couple weeks. But I couldn't....because God showed me issues that really deserve anger...issues that really deserve to occupy your mind the whole day...issues that deserve attention and concern. I will get past my money problems...illness, disease, poverty, lack of education...I have none of these problems.

God gave me another lesson in gratitude today...and I am thankful.

I love you all.

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

LOVE

Sarah

Monday, July 28, 2008

Mini Update

Hola friends!

There’s not much exciting news from the last couple of days so this’ll be a little short! The past 2 days I have been a slave to Morimoto!

However, I did get time to drag Ali to Mama Mia!!! I was sooo excited to see it and then got pretty disappointed. Mama Mia is a movie musical (which I love!) but turned out to be kinda cheesy. I will NOT be admitting this to Ali though my friends... I can’t give him the satisfaction that it wasn’t that good...as he warned me it wouldn't be! The sociologist in my totally came out as well and I completely ended up analyzing the movie in terms of gender...my professors would be so proud!

Other than living at Mori and analyzing Mama Mia I haven’t been up to much...so I think I’ll use this post to “advertise” some posts to come!!! Hahaha!

Get ready kids for for an upcoming list of Hoosier Dos and Hoosier Don’ts!!

You may be thinking I’m crazy and wondering what in the world I’m doin'...so I will tell you ;) Out here in NY I am constantly making the comment “hoosiers do/don’t do that”! I seriously do this so much that people completely know me as the Indiana Hoosier girl at work :) I also drive Ali crazy with this! Just last night at the movie I informed him while in the line at the movie that in Hoosierville we NEVER have to wait this long in lines (or as a NYer would say ON line...so stupid right)...he told me to shut it...then I told him to shut it...all with love of course...kind of....So don’t worry...soon you’ll get to see what I’m talking about...;)

I am also announcing this to all of you so there’s no backin’ out...I’M DOING A 5K!!!

I’m really excited about this and working on my mile time right now! I currently can only run like a 14 minute mile...no laughing people! My goal is to get to a 10 minute mile and then I'll do the 5K. I think I can get there by October so some time during that month I plan on doing my race. I’ll keep you all posted on my progress and where/when I’ll be doing the race.

Also I am going to begin posting pictures...hopefully tomorrow....and dependent on whether or not I can figure out how to include them :) I really want you all to see the craziness of commuting in NYC and to see St John’s....so stay tuned!!!

You're never gonna guess the second thing I'm soooo excited to start posting in my blog....guess....recipes!!! Doesnt' that sound fun!! I don't cook at all really but I am obsessed with the food network, cooking magazines etc and I'm constantly seeing cool recipes...so i'm gonna share them with you all...then you cook them and tell me how it goes ;)

Okay I have to go watch the finale of The Next Food Network Star ;)

Love Sar

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I Renewed My Citizenship

Well...not really :)
I had a very boring day today (I worked 10-7:30) so instead of discussing my uneventful day today I'll fill you all in on yesterday!

Yesterday morning I went with Ali's mom for her oath ceremony to become a US citizen. Very interesting experience. I woke up at 5:15....super early for me as you all know! The doors were opening at 7:30 and you never know how long it will take to get places in NYC and we were going to Brooklyn and the traffic can be insane. Luckily it wasn't too bad for us and we got there early. I had a hell of a time finding parking though! Finally after getting a parking spot and finding the building we got inside and I was taken aback by the man that explained the day’s proceedings to us. I felt like he needed a reminder that everyone in the building was in fact an adult and not 3 yr olds. We were given explicit instructions how to form a line and take our belts off because you know...these can be difficult tasks. As we worked through the line towards the metal detectors we were also told our cell phones would be taken from us. This did not thrill me. They informed us right away we would probably be there until about 1 pm so not having my cell phone to bother all my working friends and fam was going to be difficult. However I did give up both my cell phones...yes I have two... and don't ask why. Once I made it through the line and reluctantly gave up my cell phones I was separated from Ali's mom. She went to a separate room to begin the oath process and family and friends were not allowed in the room. I was sent to a separate room with TVs so that we could watch everything. Lucky for me the room we waited in was a cafeteria so I entertained myself with food :)...and there I sat...for 3 hours. There were about 300 people taking the citizenship oath today and they went one-by-one and took each person's green card, had them sign papers and handed them some more papers. After all that was said and done the cafeteria folk were allowed to join the soon to be US citizens in the court room for the actual oath ceremony. I then sat in on a few speeches about human rights and citizenship and then partook (is that a word??) in the reciting of the oath and pledge of allegiance :) Hey they didn't say I couldn't! hahaha I also got the chance to register to vote this fall. PS everyone better be registered to vote!! Anyways after that was all said and done they then wanted to torture us some more and botch everyone's name one more time and call everyone up one by one and hand them their certificate of citizenship. Luckily Ali's mom was in the middle! And unlike what they show on the news...everyone doesn't get a flag and stand together waving them...you freakin' get your certificate and get out!!!

It was an extremely interesting experience for me. Something I most likely never would have seen if Ali's mom wasn't going through this process. It was fascinating to me to look around a room and see such diversity. I was possibly the only one in the room without an accent and fair skin but I didn’t' feel bothered or insecure about this what so ever. It was an experience that really gave me food for thought....

After renewing my citizenship :)…. I got back to SI (Staten Island) and decided I had to do something about my EZPass. A lot of you probably don't know what these are. It’s just a pass you stick on the windshield of your car so that anytime you have a toll instead of stopping at a booth your pass is scanned and you can keep on goin'. I have an EZPass because I cross a bridge with a toll every time I go to school and will soon do it every day when I start working. Well...this wouldn't be a big deal except that the bridge costs $10 every time you go over it!!!!!!!! So let’s do some math folks $10 X 5 days = $50 X 4 weeks = $200 a month!!!!!!!!!!! Just to cross a freakin' bridge...can you tell this doesn't make me happy. Soooo if you live on SI you can get a discount and pay $4.50 instead...sounds good right?!?!? Wellllll I go to the EZPass office on SI (because I can't stand the automated system crap that you get on the phone) and I wanted a person. I go to the office with plenty of ID and mail with my address on it...at least what I thought was plenty. There are only 3 types of information that they will accept to give you the SI discount 1. A NY sate license...hmmm don't have that 2. A NY state car registration...definitely don't have that 3. A utility bill...and they only accept utility bills...in your name...nope don't have that either. I got annoyed at this to say the least. So I tried to pull the student card :) I explained I'm a permanent resident of Indiana and only going to school out here so I didn't want to change my license or car registration. The woman pretty much told me I better get my name on a bill then....sighhhhhh so now I have to get Ali to get my name on a bill and in the meantime continue to pay the torturous $10 toll.

After all my morning/afternoon shenanigans I decided I needed some Target time. This is often my reward for myself you will come to learn. After a little shopping I picked up Ali from the Ferry once he got off work and we went and saw The Dark Knight. Did anybody else find that movie very violent??!?!? I was actually scared after this movie and didn't even want to be downstairs in the house alone! Totally not kidding!! I guess watching a movie showing killing and torture for fun and games doesn't sit well with me. No wonder our society has become so violent...we desensitize ourselves with all this crap....but I won’t' get on my soap box :)

Anyways kids that was my day yesterday. Like I said today wasn't too eventful. I'm just sitting here waiting for Ali to get home. He had his first official MMA fight today. MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts and it brings together boxing, wrestling and martial arts all into one. UFC and WEC all are MMA shows on TV. If you ever catch it, it’s very hard core and often has blood….do I need to go through my feelings about violence again?!?!?! Anyway...Ali wants to get involved and has been training for a while for this fight. Unfortunately he just called me and said his fight didn’t' go so well. He got caught in a guillotine hold (meaning the guy was going to choke him to the point of passing out) if he didn't tap out. Yeah...I’ll do really well at his next fight! So sadly Ali didn't win… but this was his first fight and he's been so comforting tell me there will be many more to come!

Well that's all I've got for today....I’m gonna go watch some Paula Deen 
Love you all!!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

It's just the beginning.....

Friends and Fam I’m starting a blog!

I have decided to document my life out here in NYC because I feel like no one really knows what life is like out here and what I do most days…. so now I’m going to show you!!

Just in case some of you don’t know, I moved to NYC (specifically Staten Island) this past January. I live with my boyfriend, Ali and his family. The decision to live with Ali and his family was very difficult and created a lot of conflict within me. The decision was and still is helpful financially but difficult emotionally as many of you know! The cultural and generational difference because Indian parents and a liberal American girl is quite different let me tell you! BUT all experiences help you grow….and that’s all I can say. I don’t want judgement for my decision just acceptance that it was my decision to make.

I started working at Morimoto restaurant as a reservationist right when I moved out here to get money ASAP. Ali works for the sister restaurant, Buddakan, and so lets face it…he got me the job ;) I’m still at Mori but I will be leaving soon (on my bday actually) to start a new job in Jamaica, Queens, NY as a social worker for women in a homeless shelter. Friends…this is going to be an experience! It will be much better than Mori because its full time and tons more pay but it will be a challenge due to the diversity of Queens NY. I will be a minority at my job..big time! Queens is one of the most diverse areas of this country…and I’m not making that up…its true!! I’m excited for the challenge though and although my true interest is sociology, I strongly believe in social service and look forward to starting! Trust me there will be a post after that first day!!

Along with working I am also going to school at St John’s University (also in Queens about 5 minutes from where I’ll be working…this is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!) I am alsoooo getting my masters in sociology. I have just started classes and I’m really loving it. I took a class last summer session analyzing race and gender in film and currently studying the sociology of youth. Trust me you will also get tons of posts about my classes…you would be amazed how much sociology causes you to really think about things and question what you think is cold hard truth….I’ll probably graduate next Dec 2009 and hopefully go on to get my PhD…but that’s a ways down the road!

My life is going to be changing a lot over the next year and a half as I am out here. I want to be able to share that change with everyone I love. I feel so far from everyone while I’m out here and I don’t want to feel isolated in this experience…knowing I’ll have family and friends that love and support me staying up-to-date on my life helps to comforts me.

I know this first blog was a really quick overview of everything :) I promise throughout the next few posts you’ll get a lot more…especially a lesson in the geography of NYC…because I know none of you understand the burroughs at all :) You’ll gets tons of storys from my life living with an Indian family, commuting in this insane city, my sociology classes and soon my job…as well as some really emotional blogs…you all know I can cry with the best of them ;)

Thanks for reading everybody and I’ll do my best to post every day or so!!

Love Sar