Come with Me, to NYC (Part 2)

It was a full week before I could sleep through the night. I would lie in bed and scary movie after scary movie would come to mind. But I never had to leave the light on. I discovered the first night that it is never really dark in Manhattan. My bedroom stayed bright enough at night that I could have read without even turning on a light.

It’s also never quiet in the Big Apple. Creaking floors, neighbors slamming doors, sirens, and screeching tires were the soundtrack of my night. These noises went along with the Bachata and meringue music from the 24-hour Latin restaurants on my block. “The City that Never Sleep” is a very appropriate nickname for New York City.

During the day, the city throbs with energy. There is so much movement and life happening that it’s visually overwhelming. On my two-minute walk from my apartment door to the train station, I would pass 10 restaurants, a grocery store, two elderly Dominican men selling homemade breakfast treats, two people giving out newspapers, and at least one person collecting cans and bottles from the trashcans on the street.

Every day NYC started with a 10-minute wait in Dyckman Street Station where the heat, humidity, and stench were nearly suffocating. But from that point on the whole city began to open up to me.

"from that point on the whole city began to open up to me."

I signed up for a black-and-white photography class and once or twice a week I would go out and tour the city with my camera, visiting places such as Madison Square Garden, Times Square, Central Park, Fifth Avenue, and Fort Tryon Park, my favorite place in the city. Despite the stunning views and amazing architecture I was struck by how normal it all was. It was just a normal city with dirty streets and stinky subways.

Yet this “normal” city had a variety of not-so-normal people: creepy panhandlers, a blind one-legged singer/harmonica player, a bass player who made songs up about you on the spot, and schizophrenics talking to themselves on subway cars. I also found some more normal folks at Sovereign Grace City Church in Brooklyn. Everyone was wonderful in welcoming me and including me in their lives. I was encouraged by my Queens' caregroup during the week and by the times we spent outside of meetings at picnics and concerts on the weekends.

Adjusting to city life was an interesting process, but before long it began to feel normal. It was a challenge both emotionally and spiritually, but God was so faithful to me the entire summer and I could see his hand in every detail from my being accepted to working out housing and financial issues, to the people that he allowed me to meet on my job. And as for my job, that is another story  in and of itself.

Stay Tuned for part three of Kennesha's "Come with Me, to NYC."