In three hours I'll be on a Super Shuttle that I ordered via my trusty iPhone towards JFK, onto a plane back home. Home, oh how I miss thee so much, that I've come to hesitantly hate certain aspects of this city. It's really sad that a lot of my good friends are from this area. Sometimes I think I can swallow it and stick it through the dirty roads and grimy air. A friend once told me how he hated being alone, and didn't care for traveling to places unless his friends were there or with him. I thought I could love this city for the sake of my friends, but I'm trying. And it's frightening. This "concrete jungle" or "city of dreams" that Jay-Z describes it more like a jail to me.
For the people that know me, they know I'm slightly crazy. I'm not afraid to walk alone in alleyways. My friends constantly whisper, "Oh my god, Christal, where are we going?" before I bring them to a shady ass restaurant that takes cash only. And yet for the first time last night, I was frightened to take the subway alone. This is coming from a girl who walked from 22nd st. to 42nd st. at 2AM on Thanksgiving weekend, who walks around LA KTown by herself - I don't get scared. But last night there was the worst uneasy feeling in the world as I hailed a cab home. Even in the cab I thought I was going to die. The car felt like it was flying, lanes didn't exist - the taxi driver purposely bumped into the car infront of him... I learned how to drive in LA, and people here cannot drive!
I'm aware of the appealing aspects of this city. I love wandering around Soho, East Village and Chelsea. The other day I sat with a friend in a darling french café and spotted Ethan Hawke talking animatedly to his daughter. I listened to two theatre actors talk about the new Aaron Sorkin HBO pilot. I went gallery hopping, saw a breathless play, and ate great food. Everything is accessible - I really shouldn't complain, but I feel like there's an underground discomfort flushing through the city, probably via the subway system. In my opinion, there is a huge distance between quality, quantity and payment; and in a sense, NYC seems more pop-culture driven and "Hollywood" blinded than LA. But that's my opinion.
Someone convince me what's so great about this big city? I don't feel any inclination to return after this trip.
For the people that know me, they know I'm slightly crazy. I'm not afraid to walk alone in alleyways. My friends constantly whisper, "Oh my god, Christal, where are we going?" before I bring them to a shady ass restaurant that takes cash only. And yet for the first time last night, I was frightened to take the subway alone. This is coming from a girl who walked from 22nd st. to 42nd st. at 2AM on Thanksgiving weekend, who walks around LA KTown by herself - I don't get scared. But last night there was the worst uneasy feeling in the world as I hailed a cab home. Even in the cab I thought I was going to die. The car felt like it was flying, lanes didn't exist - the taxi driver purposely bumped into the car infront of him... I learned how to drive in LA, and people here cannot drive!
I'm aware of the appealing aspects of this city. I love wandering around Soho, East Village and Chelsea. The other day I sat with a friend in a darling french café and spotted Ethan Hawke talking animatedly to his daughter. I listened to two theatre actors talk about the new Aaron Sorkin HBO pilot. I went gallery hopping, saw a breathless play, and ate great food. Everything is accessible - I really shouldn't complain, but I feel like there's an underground discomfort flushing through the city, probably via the subway system. In my opinion, there is a huge distance between quality, quantity and payment; and in a sense, NYC seems more pop-culture driven and "Hollywood" blinded than LA. But that's my opinion.
Someone convince me what's so great about this big city? I don't feel any inclination to return after this trip.
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