New Yohk

by Jyll
6:09am
LaGuardia Airport

I've been here since 4:30am. I SuperShuttled it to the airport ($15 + tip) and they dropped me off on grandparent time. Who shows up to a domestic flight two and a half hours early? It seems the answer to that question is broke grad students who are at the mercy of shuttles and subways, and old people. I almost roughed it on the subway/bus track this morning but realized that I could instead sleep in and not freeze my face off/get mugged/knifed/raped/talked to by alpha drunks waiting for public transit in Queens. Naturally I only slept an hour last night and of course the shuttle was late, thus rendering my early wakeup useless, but hey, here she is at the airport, the sun isn't up yet, the coffee is decent, and I get to watch the sunrise from the plane. I'm excited. Also, I'm flying to Denver, and so far there are 6.5 hot cowboys and counting waiting for this flight. Tthe one in front of me is cute from the side but I haven't seen his face full on yet and from this angle I can't tell if all the shapes will merge into a pleasing aesthetic. Oh, and my outfit is adorable and my makeup is flawless because I'm too tired to make facial expressions (movement = mussing) so I'm quite pleased with that.

On the way to the airport today I thought about how sad I would be if I were really going to leave New York. I'm only going home for the week, and generally I don't get so attached to a place, but New York City is my home, and I don't think it's just the sentimentality that comes with having watched a Sex and the City marathon last week. New York is such an alive city. The energy here is palpable, and I've never felt anything like it in my own country before. I've travelled a lot in Europe but not much outside of California, so this exploration of my home turf is really an adventure for me. I've felt the energy in other major cities that I've lived in, but they were abroad and there's just something about feeling a vibe in your own country that makes it completely different. Thus far I've found the weather in New York to be freezing, the to be women incredibly (intimidatingly) beautiful, and the men to be short, but its energy alone makes it worth sticking around in.

Provided I don't fall in love with one of the hot cowboys on the flight and relocate to Denver. You never know.