I'm assuming you've read the post directly below this so you know how difficult it was for me to get to where I am now. I'm writing this in true New York fashion, sitting on the window sill of my room by the fire escape. The only thing missing really, is the cigarette. Too bad I don't smoke. Besides that, I think I've got this New York lifestyle down-pat. It's not so hard.
But seriously though, NYC is pretty massive. The people here are really friendly too, contrary to popular belief.
Since arriving (late, well, not that late, but still, later than I was originally meant to be there) we've just been wandering around. Xmas day was pretty uneventful as well, only got one present - a bar of chocolate from Grenada which I am still yet to open. We also went to an Italian restaurant for a late lunch/ dinner which was pretty cool. It didn't snow either which was sort of disappointing but there was still snow on the ground which I suppose sort of counts... I didn't really feel like xmas though, to be honest. Sure, there were lots of xmas decorations around but I just couldn't get into the spirit. I don't know why, I guess family makes xmas. That's pretty much all I can put it down too. Also, the fact that I didn't need to buy any presents for anyone this year. I hope you'll all forgive me for that, I kinda can't afford it right now.... (see exchange rate below)
We also checked out part of Central Park and Times Square and had a museum day where we visited the Guggenheim and MoMA which were extraordinary. Some of it wasn't really my kind of thing but I mean, you can't be expected to like EVERY piece of artwork, right?
Also, the exchange rate is killing me right now. As of this morning it's 1NZD to 56 US cents so I'm pretty much paying double. For EVERYTHING.
On a brighter note though, my fake ID is working. 3 out of 3 bars and 1 out of 1 nightclubs (which wasn't that great by the way - drinks were super expensive and everyone was super old. I suppose that's what happens when the drinking age is 21 huh? Also, for those of you who think that me having a fake ID (sorry, a souvenir ID) is wrong, I can justify it by saying that the drinking age at 21 is just stupid.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Bloggin at the airport
So, I’m sitting at Toronto airport. Y’know, just chillin as I usually do. I had a flight to New York City this morning. It went well. The flight was delayed three times and then cancelled, after sitting on the plane for about 2 and a half hours. Now I’m sitting at the baggage carousel, waiting for my luggage. Nothing new has come out for about 20 minutes. Best Christmas ever. The next flight out is at 6pm which makes things better though. Hopefully I’ll be on it, luggage and all. This is the first time I’ve had any trouble at the airport and it just happens to be on Christmas Eve; a Christmas present and congratulations on your first Christmas away from home from Toronto. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Right, so after about two hours of waiting at the luggage claim, my bag finally comes though. It’s covered with wet spots from the rain/snow but I don’t care. I don’t care about any of this shit at this point. By now it’s about 3pm. I’ve been at the airport since 6. Now I have to go in search of a new ticket. Hauling my recently acquired 20kg bag around (cos I can’t afford the $2 for a trolley) I literally walk from one end of the terminal to the other trying to find the ticket counter. I manage to get another ticket for a flight which at 5.15 which isn’t too far away, no guarantees it’ll be taking off though. So now I have my new ticket, I’m back at square one. I need to go back through customs and do all that shit. Again. I got a bit hungry as you can probably imagine and airport food isn’t that cheap. Especially for what you’re getting.
It’s been a long day, and I still haven’t left the country yet! I need a drink. ....Fuck!
Right, so after about two hours of waiting at the luggage claim, my bag finally comes though. It’s covered with wet spots from the rain/snow but I don’t care. I don’t care about any of this shit at this point. By now it’s about 3pm. I’ve been at the airport since 6. Now I have to go in search of a new ticket. Hauling my recently acquired 20kg bag around (cos I can’t afford the $2 for a trolley) I literally walk from one end of the terminal to the other trying to find the ticket counter. I manage to get another ticket for a flight which at 5.15 which isn’t too far away, no guarantees it’ll be taking off though. So now I have my new ticket, I’m back at square one. I need to go back through customs and do all that shit. Again. I got a bit hungry as you can probably imagine and airport food isn’t that cheap. Especially for what you’re getting.
It’s been a long day, and I still haven’t left the country yet! I need a drink. ....Fuck!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Cuba (aka a week without the internet and clocks)
Right, so I got back from the airport today at about 4am and haven't gone to bed. Lovely stuff. I'm just sitting in my room, slowly getting all my shit together for the final days in Toronto. I've got a lot to do in the next few days which, quite frankly, I'm quite annoyed about. Tonight I have a dinner with some relatives in Missisauga and I don't even know whats going on with that... The next night I have a xmas dinner party thing with someone else and the night after that, I'm meant to call home. The following morning is my flight to NYC. I have to do all of that, not to mention saying goodbye to a few more people (which I'm getting better at by the way). I'm also quite annoyed because there are several things stopping me from doing all the stuff I need to get done before the 23rd. I need to plan my east coast trip still, but I'm waiting for someone to call me later on today. I need to do my laundry but everyone is still asleep and I don't have any detergent. I need to send all the stuff I bought from Cuba home, but I don't think the post office is open today and I also need to take care of my contract, which I can't do till tomorrow. Argh.
Anyways, that's enough about that. Cuba. That's where I've been for the last week. I saw a lot of things in that one week. A massive contrast between rich and poor in such close proximity. The aftermath of a revolution. The commercialisation of a country.
Where do I start? A rant about how annoyed I am about people who go to countries and don't even leave their resort? Yeah, lets start there. To be honest, the resort/ hotel that we were staying could be anywhere. Cuba, Fiji, Hawaii, anywhere. But I mean, it's all very well to take a vacation to an exotic place like that but if you don't leave the premises what's the point? I mean, you can say you've BEEN to Cuba, but have you actually SEEN it? What annoyed me the most was in the market in Veradero (tourist capital of Cuba - the highest concentration of hotel/ resorts in the entire country) where a group of teenage girls were looking in the same store as we were and pointed to a picture of Che Guevara and wondered who it was! I mean, it's fine if you don't know exactly what he did but you have to know that name at least, y'know? On a side note, I wonder how Che would feel about having his face plastered on EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING - hats, t-shirts, bags, flags, everything.
I'm not sure how to proceed from here. A day-to-day run down of the entire week? Nah, cos nothing much happened really. Met a few cool people, hung around the resort for a day or so (kind of hypocritical, I know) but we also did a day tour to Habana and we rented scooters and went to see a small town just 15kms away from Veradero called Cardena's. If Veradero is the 'fake' Cuba then Cardenas is what I imagine the 'real' Cuba to be. Apparently a city of about 50 000, Cardenas is run down and poverty stricken. Everything you can imagine, houses falling apart, no doors, people just hanging out in the streets, open sewers. The whole town is more or less in ruins. As if the people were hermit crabs; just trying to make a home where they can. Contrast that to the some 58 resorts in the greater Veradero area and the countless developments happening throughout the peninsula. It makes one wonder where all the money goes, because it definitely doesn't go back to the people.
I really don't know what else to say. I feel that this should be a lot longer considering the magnitude of this trip but I dunno. I guess I'm not really in a blogging mood right now. Consider this a work in progress.
Anyways, that's enough about that. Cuba. That's where I've been for the last week. I saw a lot of things in that one week. A massive contrast between rich and poor in such close proximity. The aftermath of a revolution. The commercialisation of a country.
Where do I start? A rant about how annoyed I am about people who go to countries and don't even leave their resort? Yeah, lets start there. To be honest, the resort/ hotel that we were staying could be anywhere. Cuba, Fiji, Hawaii, anywhere. But I mean, it's all very well to take a vacation to an exotic place like that but if you don't leave the premises what's the point? I mean, you can say you've BEEN to Cuba, but have you actually SEEN it? What annoyed me the most was in the market in Veradero (tourist capital of Cuba - the highest concentration of hotel/ resorts in the entire country) where a group of teenage girls were looking in the same store as we were and pointed to a picture of Che Guevara and wondered who it was! I mean, it's fine if you don't know exactly what he did but you have to know that name at least, y'know? On a side note, I wonder how Che would feel about having his face plastered on EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING - hats, t-shirts, bags, flags, everything.
I'm not sure how to proceed from here. A day-to-day run down of the entire week? Nah, cos nothing much happened really. Met a few cool people, hung around the resort for a day or so (kind of hypocritical, I know) but we also did a day tour to Habana and we rented scooters and went to see a small town just 15kms away from Veradero called Cardena's. If Veradero is the 'fake' Cuba then Cardenas is what I imagine the 'real' Cuba to be. Apparently a city of about 50 000, Cardenas is run down and poverty stricken. Everything you can imagine, houses falling apart, no doors, people just hanging out in the streets, open sewers. The whole town is more or less in ruins. As if the people were hermit crabs; just trying to make a home where they can. Contrast that to the some 58 resorts in the greater Veradero area and the countless developments happening throughout the peninsula. It makes one wonder where all the money goes, because it definitely doesn't go back to the people.
I really don't know what else to say. I feel that this should be a lot longer considering the magnitude of this trip but I dunno. I guess I'm not really in a blogging mood right now. Consider this a work in progress.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
It's all coming to an end. The first four people in our little (or rather, large) exchange family have gone. Two aussie girls and the two English girls have returned to their respective homes and they've left a little void here for the rest of us in Toronto. A couple more have their last night tonight and the large majority of us have our last night in Toronto tomorrow. We're all going our separate ways but we'll always have Toronto. Always.
I may have mentioned it before but a reunion of sorts has been informally organised in Australia for June or July next year which would be amazing!
We've already done the 'you're welcome to come stay with me/ us whenever you're in ________ (insert country name here)' which will be handy in the future ahahahahaha. Of course, I've said the same thing, and I mean it.
I thought I'd be a lot sadder than this right now, but it just feels right. The time has come. It's not goodbye forever though, just indefinitely. The title of this post says it all. You can thank Mr. Churchill for that one. I'm pretty sure I'll see them again. It's not a matter of if, but when. Hopefully in 2010 after I become a fully trained Journalist! That's right! I've been unofficially put into the major that I wanted for my final year of Uni! (Final year?! Oh, god. It feels like I've only just started yesterday!)
I've also layed out a unconfirmed plan for my travels before my flight home which is cool. About time too. I have to book at least some of it by tomorrow before I leave for CUBA! Anyways, here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/5n79gj
Keep in mind that this is just a provisional plan and could change (though most likely, the dates will change, not the places). This seems like quite a lot to fit in to the time that I have left to travel but I think I'm up for the challenge.
That is all.
I may have mentioned it before but a reunion of sorts has been informally organised in Australia for June or July next year which would be amazing!
We've already done the 'you're welcome to come stay with me/ us whenever you're in ________ (insert country name here)' which will be handy in the future ahahahahaha. Of course, I've said the same thing, and I mean it.
I thought I'd be a lot sadder than this right now, but it just feels right. The time has come. It's not goodbye forever though, just indefinitely. The title of this post says it all. You can thank Mr. Churchill for that one. I'm pretty sure I'll see them again. It's not a matter of if, but when. Hopefully in 2010 after I become a fully trained Journalist! That's right! I've been unofficially put into the major that I wanted for my final year of Uni! (Final year?! Oh, god. It feels like I've only just started yesterday!)
I've also layed out a unconfirmed plan for my travels before my flight home which is cool. About time too. I have to book at least some of it by tomorrow before I leave for CUBA! Anyways, here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/5n79gj
Keep in mind that this is just a provisional plan and could change (though most likely, the dates will change, not the places). This seems like quite a lot to fit in to the time that I have left to travel but I think I'm up for the challenge.
That is all.
Monday, December 1, 2008
The Hardest Part
I'm depressed.
It's December which means the first wave of people to leave Toronto are leaving next Tuesday. I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again - I want everything to stay this way forever! I can't think of a life that isn't here with all the people I've met and the thought of having to live out of a suitcase (or in my case, backpack) is a thought that I don't much enjoy. I also know that this life and my current lifestyle is unsustainable considering my current financial situation (i.e. super poor with no money coming in and everything going out).
It makes me sadder that with everything ending like it is right now, there are a lot of Goodbye parties and whatnot going on in the next week or so. I've been trying to find time to hang out with specific people (more like, specific person) before I leave but I don't think that it'll happen before I leave for Cuba. The situation is out of my hands as well which I don't much enjoy either.
Also, the majority of my post- uni traveling hasn't been booked yet and I haven't sorted out this contract shit out either. I really can't be bothered doing any of it right now. Especially the latter.
It seems as if there isn't any time left to do anything. Everyone has exams this week and next (I've got one next Tuesday) so its not as if I can go anywhere fun or do anything while that's going on. Did I also mention that I'm running out of money? This whole trip has gone too fast. In no time I'll be back home, missing everyone that I've met here. I know it's going to be weird not seeing them on a daily basis and I mean, there's always Facebook and Skype and whatnot but it just doesn't compare to seeing them in real life. There's been talk of a reunion of sorts in Melbourne in June or July cos some of the guys are coming over which I'm looking forward to as far away as it is.
I guess we'll see on Tuesday if saying goodbye is the hardest part of the whole thing. It's not goodbye forever, I know, but for an indefinite period of time. On the plus side though, I have a reason to go traveling. I've met people from all over the world and made a lot of friends for life. I feel as if I've accomplished more in my few months away than I have in the majority of my 19 years on this planet. Its weird, I've changed and yet I'm still essentially the same, introverted sometimes extroverted person as I was when I started this thing. Sure, some of the things I say may have changed (what's the craic? etc) and my view of the world has changed but I'm still the same immaturely mature person that I've always been. I've also learned a lot about my priorities and what comes first.
I'm not gonna lie to you - I have no idea where I'm going with this. I guess what I'm trying to say, and this is connected to one of my previous posts, is that this trip has kind of been a catalyst for change. The changes that I've undergone here in Canada would have taken me a lot longer to achieve back in New Zealand if they happened at all. I guess it was because I'd voluntarily thrown myself into a completely different environment (well, not completely. If I really wanted that I would have gone to Austria or the like) and was forced to fend for myself. No parents, no help, no nothing. I think that's what I needed. I think that's what everyone needs at some point in their lives (sooner rather than later). I realised how strong I can be - making decisions on my own, living on my own, solving my problems on my own (well, most of them). I also appreciate a lot more what I do have back home - family, friends, a good support system.
Wow. This post did NOT turn out how I pictured it would. I didn't plan on writing most of this but I don't really like to stop myself once I get going. This whole post is kinda all over the place so you'll have to forgive me for that too.
Also, if you wanna hear about some good things, I went to an NBA game AND and Ice Hockey game recently. They were both pretty awesome. The latter because we were sitting right in front on the glass so when the players knocked into it we could feel the whole thing vibrating! It was actually kinda scary. Also, the game went into overtime AND there was a penalty shoot out which was really exciting. The NBA game was also cool. Even though the home team (Toronto Raptors) lost it was awesome cos we got a free slice of pizza if they scored more than 100 points. Which they did! 103 to be exact. I also went to see Chris Cornell live which was absolutely amazing. He played for about 2 and a half hours and I knew probably about 90% of all the songs he played (there were a few Soundgarden ones that I didn't know). I think that's all I've done actually. I've been taking things a bit more slowly because of the money situation mainly, but also because I want to pace myself. I keep forgetting that I still have 3 months of travelling left to do!
It's December which means the first wave of people to leave Toronto are leaving next Tuesday. I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again - I want everything to stay this way forever! I can't think of a life that isn't here with all the people I've met and the thought of having to live out of a suitcase (or in my case, backpack) is a thought that I don't much enjoy. I also know that this life and my current lifestyle is unsustainable considering my current financial situation (i.e. super poor with no money coming in and everything going out).
It makes me sadder that with everything ending like it is right now, there are a lot of Goodbye parties and whatnot going on in the next week or so. I've been trying to find time to hang out with specific people (more like, specific person) before I leave but I don't think that it'll happen before I leave for Cuba. The situation is out of my hands as well which I don't much enjoy either.
Also, the majority of my post- uni traveling hasn't been booked yet and I haven't sorted out this contract shit out either. I really can't be bothered doing any of it right now. Especially the latter.
It seems as if there isn't any time left to do anything. Everyone has exams this week and next (I've got one next Tuesday) so its not as if I can go anywhere fun or do anything while that's going on. Did I also mention that I'm running out of money? This whole trip has gone too fast. In no time I'll be back home, missing everyone that I've met here. I know it's going to be weird not seeing them on a daily basis and I mean, there's always Facebook and Skype and whatnot but it just doesn't compare to seeing them in real life. There's been talk of a reunion of sorts in Melbourne in June or July cos some of the guys are coming over which I'm looking forward to as far away as it is.
I guess we'll see on Tuesday if saying goodbye is the hardest part of the whole thing. It's not goodbye forever, I know, but for an indefinite period of time. On the plus side though, I have a reason to go traveling. I've met people from all over the world and made a lot of friends for life. I feel as if I've accomplished more in my few months away than I have in the majority of my 19 years on this planet. Its weird, I've changed and yet I'm still essentially the same, introverted sometimes extroverted person as I was when I started this thing. Sure, some of the things I say may have changed (what's the craic? etc) and my view of the world has changed but I'm still the same immaturely mature person that I've always been. I've also learned a lot about my priorities and what comes first.
I'm not gonna lie to you - I have no idea where I'm going with this. I guess what I'm trying to say, and this is connected to one of my previous posts, is that this trip has kind of been a catalyst for change. The changes that I've undergone here in Canada would have taken me a lot longer to achieve back in New Zealand if they happened at all. I guess it was because I'd voluntarily thrown myself into a completely different environment (well, not completely. If I really wanted that I would have gone to Austria or the like) and was forced to fend for myself. No parents, no help, no nothing. I think that's what I needed. I think that's what everyone needs at some point in their lives (sooner rather than later). I realised how strong I can be - making decisions on my own, living on my own, solving my problems on my own (well, most of them). I also appreciate a lot more what I do have back home - family, friends, a good support system.
Wow. This post did NOT turn out how I pictured it would. I didn't plan on writing most of this but I don't really like to stop myself once I get going. This whole post is kinda all over the place so you'll have to forgive me for that too.
Also, if you wanna hear about some good things, I went to an NBA game AND and Ice Hockey game recently. They were both pretty awesome. The latter because we were sitting right in front on the glass so when the players knocked into it we could feel the whole thing vibrating! It was actually kinda scary. Also, the game went into overtime AND there was a penalty shoot out which was really exciting. The NBA game was also cool. Even though the home team (Toronto Raptors) lost it was awesome cos we got a free slice of pizza if they scored more than 100 points. Which they did! 103 to be exact. I also went to see Chris Cornell live which was absolutely amazing. He played for about 2 and a half hours and I knew probably about 90% of all the songs he played (there were a few Soundgarden ones that I didn't know). I think that's all I've done actually. I've been taking things a bit more slowly because of the money situation mainly, but also because I want to pace myself. I keep forgetting that I still have 3 months of travelling left to do!
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