(From my 2011 summer internship.)
First NYC Subway ride!
The next morning I woke up around 8:00 and got dressed. My mom called me to make sure I was up and getting ready. We were going to find a church to go to nearby. I was “Polo fresh” in my lavender striped shirt, gray dress shorts, and Sperry Top-siders. I even decided to wear my hair down. As I was putting on my make-up, I heard a little bit of thunder. Great, it’s going to rain, I thought. I grabbed my Louis Vuitton bag and my umbrella and headed out the door to go downstairs. The house was so quiet. I wondered if anyone else was staying here, or at least I wondered if anyone was staying on my floor. I didn’t have a neighbor, which was a good thing because I didn’t have to share a bathroom. I got to my mother’s door and knocked.
“Is that you,” she asked.
“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be,” I said. Right then I heard a man’s voice from behind me, “Hello.” I jumped and screamed. I realized it was the security guard just making his rounds through the building. I laughed at myself for being so scared and told him hello.
My mother swung the door open. “You’re too late,” I told her. “If it had been something serious, I would’ve been dead.” Ignoring me, she grabbed her things and we headed downstairs to the parlor and proceeded out the front door.
We made our way to Seventh Avenue and decided to find some breakfast. It started raining. We found a Starbucks on Grove Street and made our way inside. We each got a sausage-egg-and-cheese muffin, and mom had tea while I ordered a hot caramel coconut Frappuccino. We sat at a table by the window and enjoyed our breakfast. The place was full of people drinking their morning coffee while doing whatever on their MacBooks. We finished up and headed out to get to the church. We walked up a couple of blocks and found the Church of the Village.
The doors off the church were open, and there were members in the narthex that greeted us and offered us coffee and fruit. We walked into the sanctuary and took a seat near the back. The outside of the church had that gothic cathedral style, and the inside did as well. The inside was absolutely gorgeous, complete with tall columns, arches, and stained glass windows. Most churches in New York City are designed in this same style. As I mentioned before, they are gorgeous, but there is just one problem; they don’t have central air conditioning. That just ain’t Christian I tell you. However, they do typically have plenty of fans in the outer aisles. Luckily, due to the rain, I wasn’t hot inside Church of the Village this particular day.
The service was nice, and all of the members were very warm-welcoming. The church was welcoming two new pastors so the mood was very joyful. I really liked how the church seemed to accept anyone who may just be walking in from off the street.
After church, I was happy to see that the rain had stopped, however, now it was chilly outside. I was used to Florida weather. The kind of weather where when it rains, it’s still sunny and ninety degrees outside. We were ready to take on one of our many big adventures of the day, riding the subway. We walked to the end of the block to 14th Street and journeyed down into the subway station. I am a semi-germophobe so I was a little grossed out, but my hand sanitizer was at the ready. We first needed to purchase our Metro Cards. Mom got one with twenty dollars on it and I got an unlimited card that would be good for a month. Now $104 may seem like a lot at first, but when you add up the cost of each ride, it’s really worth it, and it is much cheaper than gassing up my SUV at home.
We were ready. We swiped our cards and walked through the gate. We then walked downstairs to wait on the platform for the local 1 train that was going uptown. After about five minutes, the train arrived, and we got on and took our seats. Our destination was at 116th Street which was a good twenty to thirty minute ride. This would be my new morning commute for work. We sat on the train eagerly awaiting our stop. 18th Street, 28th Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street, 50th Street, 59th Street, 63rd Street, 76 Street, 86th Street, 96th Street, 106th Street, and finally 116th Street. We exited the station right at the front gates of Columbia University on Broadway Street. We continued to walk to 120th Street and turned left, then walked a block to my new work building.
Where my work building is located, there are many cathedrals in the area. Mom and I walked around the neighborhood to look at all of the beautiful buildings. We continued to make our way uptown a couple more blocks. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were actually in Harlem. The neighborhood had definitely changed though. Since I needed some groceries, we went in a neighborhood grocery mart to get cereal, bread, and Pop tarts. Everyone in the store and out on the street spoke Spanish.
After leaving the store, we walked back downtown to Columbia. I made my mom take my picture outside of the gates and also by the journalism building, which is on Broadway. It was thrilling to be at the school that I hope to attend one day for graduate school. I asked the security guard at the gate if it was okay to walk around the campus, and he said yes. I walked through until we got to the next street. Since neither of us knew which way to go, we turned around. The area we walked through was between two libraries, one of them the main library. I love books; therefore, I love libraries. I had my mom take my picture again. This could be where I will spend time studying someday. The main library was huge. The biggest library I had ever seen. I knew it had to be filled with probably a million books and other resources.
My mother and I made our way back to Broadway and walked around going towards downtown. We went into another market, Morton Williams, and bought some juice, oatmeal, peanut butter, jelly, plastic spoons, and paper bowls. I had to buy one of those reusable grocery bags from the store so it would be easier to carry my items. I never thought about how much a car comes in handy when you go to the grocery store until now. If you have to walk, you can’t get as many items or shop in bulk. No wonder they didn’t have a Sam’s Club in Manhattan. Next, we went into a shop that sold Columbia paraphernalia. You know I had to get a t-shirt. This would be my motivation. In my head, if I could see myself in the ‘nalia, I could see myself in the actual school. Besides, I couldn’t walk around with an Ivy League school brand on and have no intentions or aspirations of one day attending. We left the market and walked back up to 116th Street to catch the train. Our next stop was going to be Times’ Square.
Miss Gabrielle Bellamy 