OBAMA ... and other things

It's been way too long since I've posted anything, so there's lots to catch up on! First, the recent news -- above is a picture from our polling place here in Greenpoint yesterday. We only waited about half an hour to cast our ballots, luckily.


The very helpful Officer Brown kept the line moving and people smiling and motivated. She was pretty awesome.


We celebrated election night in the East Village with our friends Jennifer, Brooke and Sarah.


Jennifer and Sarah are good friends of mine from high school, and this was the first time they had seen each other in (*gulp*) 15 years!! It was awesome to have us all together again, and especially awesome on this historic night ...


Here is Obama coming on to give his acceptance speech. It's good that he had some words, because I was totally speechless. He is amazing and I'm so proud and happy that he won!



The mood was deliriously jubilant ... fireworks were going off, people were hooting and yelling "yes we can," and running around giving each other high fives, as this guy was doing. It was one giant victory party. Today I am happy to report that New Yorkers seem pretty pleased and many of us are still walking on air ...



... in other news, a couple of weeks ago we attended Open House New York, a day when lots of different sites around the city are open for free. We visited the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side, a beautiful late 19th-century, Moorish-style building that has been in the process of restoration for two decades (finally finished now, and they did a nice job).



We also swung by the New York Marble Cemetery. You can't really see most of the marble because it's underground, in the form of vaults! We chatted with one of the caretakers for a while ... pretty interesting!


... and a lovely setting to relax in.


...


... Um, and then there's this. It's the Museum of Sex on 5th Avenue, and they've had an exhibition on animal sex for the past few weeks. I really cannot believe that they are allowed to have such displays in the windows (what awkward questions will little schoolchildren be asking their nannies??) and so of course I had to reproduce it for you here. :)



At the end of September we hosted a back-to-school-and-birthday-party celebration. It turned into a really giant party and we felt really popular and cool.



We had a lot of dishes to do though, unfortunately.

Wow, fall went by fast! I've been heads-down doing homework, so forgive my absence. I'll try to report any further points of interest more promptly in the future!

heading into fall ...

It's been a busy few weeks! I turned in my MA thesis (and passed - I'm a Master of Arts now!), started a new PhD program at CUNY, and Chance started his MA at Hunter. Meanwhile, we received visits from good friends too, and enjoyed the last few hot days of summer with them!


First, my cousin Jeff and his girlfriend Debora from Berlin came to stay with us for a few days. We took a very long, hot walk around Lower Manhattan on one of the hottest days of the summer - here we are at the end, still looking perky!



We revived ourselves with some tasty pizza at Grimaldi's.



A week later, our friend Suzie came to visit from Chicago. Chance took us to a bar where they serve drinks in styrofoam cups that are as big as Suzie's head. Not good for the environment, but easy on the pocketbook!


We visited the MoMA, too.

Fall seems to be fast upon us now ... the weather is cool and we haven't turned on our air conditioner in a few days! It's a relief. We're getting into the swing of our new schedules and liking our new programs. In all, a good start to the school year!

a widding!

We have just returned from a day spent in Seattle, where we attended my sister Gillia's wedding!


I helped her get ready at her place ...


... then we went down to the courthouse where the ceremony was being held. Unfortunately, her fiance had already turned into a pillar of salt --


-- just kidding. She and John got married overlooking this gorgeous view of downtown.


With my parents, Jon and Elizabeth.


I helped her do her hair. It turned out nice!


Chance tried to be very serious with his glasses.


I'm not sure how we all ended up color-coordinated, but somehow we did. From the left, my cousin Karlynn, my dad Jon, mom Elizabeth, John, Gillia, my sister-in-law Candace, Chance, me, Gillia's friend Yael, and my brother Kyall.


:)


Oh Nara, won't you stop talking so we can make a toast?


There was a bit o' dancing.


And much silliness. Good food too.


Our table (me, Chance, Kyall and Candace) quickly became "the kids' table."


In all, a lovely day. Many congratulations to the happy couple! I am so proud of my little sister, who is all grown up and now moving to Italy with her hubby. A glamorous life, with so much fun ahead!

a marathon week, but a good one

Last week, I finished up my job as a teaching assistant at SIELP, an intensive ESL program for kids who are entering high school. I miss my class already! It was such a great summer with them.



This week, except for a day spent at CUNY orientation, I have sat here. Every day. All day. Writing my thesis. And it's almost done!! Yay!!!!!

Tomorrow: on to my sister's wedding in Seattle ... stay tuned ...

VIP tour of the UN

Today our friend and former Paul's house roommate Sune took us on a tour of his workplace -- the United Nations!


Because Sune is an intern (he's been working for his country, Denmark) we got to go into the special, non-tourist areas. Very V.I.P.


Sune showed us everything ... (here's a room designed by a Danish architect - he was proud).


The highlight of the tour was, of course, the security council chambers!


So cool. Normal tourists do not get access to this part. They have to stay up in the balcony. Ha ha.


We were allowed to sit in the chairs. So awesome!


Here's our friend Hadley, putting Chance (Libya) in his place ...


She also tried out the magic translation listener things. They weren't on.

In addition to seeing places normal people don't get to see, the architecture was just fantastic. I love Modernism done well! I hope they never get enough money to redo it (apparently that's what's been holding up the remodeling since the 1950s, and the whole building is asbestos-ridden) ...

It was an awesome tour and we're lucky to be in New York and have such well-connected friends!

Paris, enfin

My last few days in Paris went something like this: I took a picture of our crappy hotel from the outside so you all could see how deceptively cute and harmless it looks.


.... but if you look closer, you'll see that the hotel is "in the works of renovation" -- i.e. no hot water, excuses for crappy, overpriced service etc. If you lift up that taped-on message, you'll see there are no stars under there. Hmmmmm.



We managed to get to the Centre Pompidou for an hour. It was unfortunate that we didn't get more time, but that's how things sometimes go when you are with a group and you are all very hungry. It was a really good collection and I am definitely interested in seeing it again next time ...


The balconies are pretty but you can't go out on them -- don't know what that's about.


These were part of the design collection -- interlocking pieces that you can hook together to make these branch-like room dividers. Very pretty. And clever.


Here's the outside, which gives me a bit of vertigo ...


Beautiful view, though! (I mean the buildings, not me.)


Here's the courtyard of our school building, where we often ate lunch. This photo proves that French people, in addition to walking around eating baguettes and bicycling while smoking AND talking on their cell phones, really do have banquets outside with wine and salads of haricots verts, and lie on the grass and relax even though it's cloudy and the grass is rather damp. Actually the girl lying there is our classmate and new friend Noemie, who on Friday night took us out in her very cool neighborhood in the 10th arrondissement --


We had food and wine at a really great little French bar, and then took a nice stroll through the quarter. We even passed over the canal that's in the movie Amelie. It was pretty.


Now, after overcoming the hurdles of striking train operators, gigantic hotel bills, and being bumped to a different flight, I am home. Chance had this lovely, tasty, and romantic dinner prepared for me. It's so nice to be back! I had a good time in Paris, but there's no place like home.