F made me wake up at 8:30 in the morning and take a shower. i didn't like waking up so early (cuz its like 5:30 me time) but i did it because i'm a dutiful wife. so we planned on walking to F's work, but i was too slow and wanted a coffee at Starbucks and he ended up putting me on a tour bus and taking the subway into work.
i bought my ticket from Enrique of the Dominican Republic. He was very nice, but he had only been in NY for 1 year and was still struggling with his english, however, he was taking night classes and learning fast. I waited a very long time for my bus and finally got on the Downtown City Line Tour bus. My first tour guide was 6.5/10. It was pretty fucking cold on top of the bus and i was sad i didn't bring any warmer clothing. i got off at the UN because the tour guide really seemed to think i'd like it, and i was so cold i had to agree.
i went inside the UN and was happy to get a ticket for the next tour starting in 25 minutes. i sat around and looked at my city book. i planned to go to the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum that looked pretty close by. My UN tour was interesting but quite somber. there were lots of stuff on poverty and war and stuff. it made me sad. but then the tour guide mentioned genocide and how there were only 3 acknowledged genocides to date: Rwanda, Holocaust, and the Yugoslavian one. I wasn't sad anymore and asked, what about the Chinese genocide by the Japanese during WW2 when 6 million chinese were murdered? she blushed (sort of- cuz she was very dark skinned) and said- well, thats whats been agreed on by the UN, so i guess its a matter of personal opinion if you want to consider it a genocide. there was a japanese man in the group so for the rest of the tour i decided to focus my time on glaring at him.
next i walked over to the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum. I stupidly wore ballet flats today and my feet started to really hurt after two blocks. but i persisted and got there in one peice. it wasn't very interesting, but i got in for student prices so i was pleased with that. The museum is divided up into four sections. the first section is cool cuz its the library of Pierpont Morgan as he had it in his day. Pierpont is the daddy of JP Morgan. but they are all dead, and left the museum to tourists. its cool, cuz he collected lots of books and some stuff, but its not that cool. there was this ongoing thing happening in each section; old women were shouting at each other from across the room, "hey mary, ya gotta come look at this!" it was very irritating. the other rooms are lame but the top floor was interesting cuz it had cartoons from the new yorker. there were some completely random things that were pretty cool. I discovered two new artists today that i will explore more of later. they are Lenore Beran (i reckon she is a contemporary of Jospeh Cornel, who i learned about in my sculpture class), and william anastasi.
I left to museum and walked to the bus stop for me to continue my bus tour. it was quite a ways away so i found a deli and bought a tuna wrap (low carbs) and a large coffee. i waited at the bus at the waldorf astoria for a long time and then it finally came. my tour guide was excellent, but unfortunately the tour terminated very shortly after i got on and i had to change buses. then i missed my bus because i was talking a ticket salesman. new yorkers are very friendly in fact, i was very pleased with that. i got on the next bus and was very disappointed with my tour guide so i got off at the next stop and got on another one. the next tour guide was equally poor as neither of then spoke or seemed to know any facts at all about the city. i got on the third tour bus and had the tour guide from before who i thought was excellent. he was still excellent and was a 10/10 for tour guides. i saw soho, and tirbeca, and the fashion district and ladies lane. he told me many interesting things indeed. finally i got off the bus where i began and walked back to the apartment. i popped into St Paul's church first, as i understand it is where they set up shelters for ground zero aid workers. it was alright- full of memorial stuff and a bit depressing. i lingered there for a bit but they began a 15 minute prayer and so i quickly left.
i tried walking back to the apartment but got lost for a long time. this whole area is covered or fenced or bridged because of the construction works going on. i eventually made it back home at around 17:30, and am now resting my feet. i just washed my face to see the water turn grey from the pollution, and ate my tuna wrap (finally!)
later tonight i think i will go out with FF and his french crew. i will make sure i cut my toe nails before, and wear comfortable shoes.
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