Taking a Small Bite Out of the Big Apple
Sometimes I overestimate my capabilities and have to force myself to take a step back from the craziness that my overexcited past self planned. My long layover at Newark Airport was exactly that.
Since I had a 13 hour layover in Newark on my way to Paris, I figured I’d take a quick trip across the water to take a small bite out of the big apple. I had an itinerary taking me all across Manhattan, seeing everything from Central Park to the Brooklyn bridge.
After a 3-hour red-eye flight to the city that never sleep, I definitely needed some sleep. Finding a quiet corner by baggage claim carousel 6, entangling the straps of my backpack and purse around my arms, I bagged a couple hours of sleep.
At 8am I was refreshed and ready to go, so I hopped on a shuttle and began my adventure at Times Square - the center of America’s media and capitalism. With nothing but an 11am lunch plan, I mindlessly wandered the streets of Manhattan.
I spent a couple minutes at the Good Morning America exit hoping to get a glimpse of the guest of the morning, who happened to be Shemar Moore, actor in one of my favorite shows Criminal Minds. Without any luck, I headed to an aesthetic coffee shop to satisfy my grouchy stomach. I wandered over to the Public Library to see the silent study space, which looked like a smaller version of the “Harry Potter Room” of Suzzallo library.
At 11am I met up with a friend from Marketplace Church who recently moved to New York to pursue his Masters at Columbia University. Justin and I grabbed some breakfast sandwiches and coffee at a cafe in midtown. We talked about life in new cities and the process of looking for community and leaving behind our childhood homes. It was really nice to connect with someone going through the same kind of big life changes.
After filling up on breakfast, we walked over to a spot I had picked out to get a different perspective of the big city. A couple days ago I found out from Instagram that my friend Lixi, a fellow coding bootcamp student was also in New York, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet up with her as well.
We met at the rooftop bar of a hotel called Pod39 and sipped on our daytime alcoholic drinks while chatting about all the new things happening in our lives. Meeting up with Lixi was surreal, especially since it was only a year ago that we officially met. September of 2017 was when Lixi and I began our journey at Coding Dojo. Within 3 months, out cohort was as tight as ever and I am thankful that our friendship continued after we graduated. So many people came from different places and we all went our separate ways after the program was over, but even through all of these transitions, we continued to stay supportive of each other’s journeys.
Lixi and Justin were off on their way, and the rain didn’t look like it was going to hold off for much longer. I still had a couple hours left before my flight, but I decided to head back to the airport.
