What did we do before iPhone's? Honestly my daily routine now depends on so many of the features that it offers me. Sounds like I am an Apple employee but like I have mentioned before I love technology. I love gadgets that make my life simple. My real love has been “googlemaps” since I got to New York. It’s amazing that I can literally NOT get lost here. I have walked up streets with both kids and watching my phone to see if I am on the right path. Luckily I have not tripped of walked into anyone yet.
Yesterday I decided on my “day off” I would head over to East Harlem to where the Manhattan Costco is. I remember visiting the one in Irvine California last year and just being blown away. It’s that bigger and better American consumerism thing that just blows me away. I dropped off the girls and proceeded to my daily ritual of Starbucks. Yes I know you Australians are now thinking “oh My God she drinks that”. However here in New York it’s the done thing as they are literally every two block. They are convenient and free wi-fi. I have recently been promoted to Gold member status which means I feel like Starbucks royalty! All I can say is When in Rome. As I sipped on my double tall skim latte I programmed my google maps to guide me to costco. I had two busses to catch so I proceeded to the first bus stop. The first bus took me cross town which basically means going from the Upper West side to the Upper East Side and you do this by driving through Central Park. The next bus I caught on the corner of 1St Ave and 116. It’s also amazing how different the city becomes as you go from area to area. Finally I get to Costco and bought so much toilet paper and other toiletries that I think we are set for 2011. The next dilemma was finding room for it in a small Manhattan Apartment.
As I have mentioned people don’t have cars here because there is no where to put them. They have a taxi service outside the Entrance of Costco that you can use to cart all your mega bulk purchases home. I had the funniest trip home as the cab driver was from the Dominican Republic. I have set another goal for myself and that is to try and get more in touch with my Latin side. So this was my opportunity to commence the journey. After a bit of English conversation I told him where I was from and that my parents were from Ecuador. He asked me if I spoke Spanish and I responded in Spanish that I did.Well the whole tone of the conversation took a different direction. I felt warmth that is very common with Latin people. I cannot describe it but it’s like a sense of unity and that we are all from the same place. I know back home in Australia we are the same except for me I am lucky to have these two cultures that are part of who I am. I really want to explore this here as I know when we go back home it will be non existent. Santo was his name and we laughed and joked about the typical characteristic on New York. He gave me so much advice about what to do and see when it comes to Latin Culture here in New York. Lucky Hugo also wants to explore this too as he also has the Latin connection on his mother's side. I am very excited to explore this and hopefully my girls will also learn about it while we are here. Isabel starts in February a after school programme called “let’s speak Spanish”. It’s an introduction to the Latin culture and the teachers are native speakers. I could not be happier for her to experience all this as it’s a once in a life time opportunity. She is very excited and she knows they will be learning about each Country that speaks Spanish and their individual culture.
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