Newark Stories.....

I cannot believe I am actually in New York. I booked the ticket for this trip a year ago, and really didn't think the time would ever come. But now, here I am, sitting in a gorgeous little apartment in Queens, hanging with a very cool couple who have a very cool cat.

I don't plan to write a lot while I am away, simply because I want to experience the place as much as I can, and, probably because of the company I've been keeping lately, I realize the irony of trying to escape on some exotic adventure and then finding that I spend most of it tied to a computer, talking to my friends.

So - for this - day two of my New York adventure, I will just share the small epiphany I had this evening while sitting in a little italian diner eating chorizo and jalepeno pizza sprinkled with oregano and garlic (a practice I am going to continue as it is friggin' delicious).

My idea was to have an adventure that would shake my routine, put me completely outside my comfort zone, and force me to stay focused and rely on myself to navigate the journey. Well, I've definitely gotten that. In fact, earlier today, in Penn Station, I nearly gave up, wanting desperately to throw myself in a limb-flailing, crying heap in the middle of the busy corridors.

I got in to Newark late last night, and - I don't recommend this - maneuvered myself and my luggage to the 'hotel rental' board, scanning it for the cheapest hotel available. Calling them, I managed to secure a room, and get instructions for getting from teh terminal to the shuttle area. It was about 10 minutes of the guy going 'take the monorail to peefoh' - ummmmm where? 'peefoh, peefoh' - ummmmm I'm sorry what are you saying? 'peefoh. take the train to 'peefoh'- ummmm, really, I don't......ummmmm....(panic rising) could you spell that for me? 'P as in Parking'.....OOOOHHHHH P4!!! You want me to go to Parking area 4.....whew. okay. I get it. Christ. (no - not said to him) Okay - so I figure out the train and find P4. My shuttle is there and the driver is sleeping. Me, ever so polite, finding a 'red coat' customer service agent and saying 'ummmmm - if he's sleeping can I just like, knock on the window?' 'HELL yeah' she says, proceeding to pound on the window of the van for me while the rest of the taxi line watches in interest.

Okay - slightly embarrassing but - now in the shuttle - no seatbelts - shooting at 100 mph down the highway; driving way further than I thought we were going. Past porn shops and hard core industrial areas....stopping at a dingy travel lodge in the heart of scaryland new jersey.

But it's cheap - so I'm happy. Until the next morning, when I realize the clock in the room is wrong and I've missed the airport shuttle. The guy says sorry no more shuttles and basically isn't going to do anything about it, so we have to have a discussion, because his wife had promised a shuttle at noon and now they say the last one was at 11. Eventually I convince him I need to go, and that it is not a good idea for me to spend another night at a rundown Travel Lodge in Union.

The driver they give me is the angriest guy in the universe. He hurls my luggage in the back and is screaming the whole way about how much he hates the owner of the lodge and how he came to his dad's funeral when he didn't want him there - all the while punching the horn and swearing at all the other drivers on the road. I am literally hanging on to the seat with both hands, hoping desperartely that i can keep myself from becoming a projectile should we careen off the road or into another vehicle (the only other time I was that scared was on a bus in Thailand where the driver popped a bunch of blue pills before getting behind the wheel on an overnight run).

By the end of this run though, I've got him talking about maple syrup farmers that he knows in Canada. A family, three kids, 'Rainbow' Farm. Maybe you know them?

Anyway - my next challenge is to get the train from Newark to Penn Station, where I am going to transfer to another rail line to get to Woodside, where I am staying. The first train is awkward because my stupid bloody suitcases don't fit down the aisles, and I freak out once, thinking I've gotten the wrong train. Two young girls giggle at me the rest of the way. When I arrive at Penn Station - I am COMPLETELY overwhelmed by the size of it.

I walk in circles a couple of times and finally go to customer service, where, while I am waiting, this crazy cart woman decides she likes a button I am wearing, and suddenly attaches herself to my coat. So she's on top of me, crowing about the Beatles and the Monkees, and I am standing there meekly, sweating through my wool pea coat, unable to find a way to extricate myself from the situation. Someone else in line saves me by distracting the crazy cart woman. Okay, whew. Another crisis averted.

I'm soooooo hot. I'm at the wrong customer service agent - so I've got to lug my luggage (aha - now I see why they call it that) around to the other end of the station - me running around with neon blue, green, and pink bags - no I am totally not a target. After running up and down several track entrances (well, weaving actually, by this point. The luggage is so heavy, the coat is so hot), I finally find the right train for the Woodside connection. I get on without incident, and ride into Queens.

Off the platform, two cabbies see me exit the elevator and actually get into a fistfight over who will take me in his cab. They are screaming at each other and punching the hoods of the cars.....It's a little frightening, but it's okay. I'm close. So close.

And now I am here. I am sitting, warm and cozy, on the couch with a laptop, writing this little story for you. A little string of white christmas lights illuminates the room. Earlier, I took a walk down Skillman and stopped at the Pizzeria, where I sat listening to oldies on the sound system, eating my glorious pizza, and watching all the people come and go. And i realized that I am soooooo happy. And I wondered why, when so much went so wrong, and I was stressed to the point of breaking, would I still decide this day had been an extraordinary experience?

And - yes - (here comes the epiphany) I realized that it's because I had no expectations at all, no sense of what my experience should or shouldn't be today. And so, no matter what happened, I ended up enjoying my day, simply because I was being allowed to have the experience at all And then I realized that if I can do this in my every day life, trying not to let the routine become routine (if you know what I mean), or something that I feel entitled to, then maybe I can make every day as joyful and fun as this one has been for me.

This has been a pretty revolutionary epiphany. I am now so glad I didn't plan anything because if the whole trip is as crazy and extraordinary as the past two days have been (well, and, even if it isn't), then I really couldn't ask for anything more.

Okay, signing off now - gotta watch America's Next Top Model with my roomies - who, by the way, oddly, are very connected to the comedy and improv scene here. I couldn't have planned this better if I had tried ;)