Summer Room with a View

Well, there's a satisfactorily New York-ish view from my apartment, which I'm sharing with the lovely Claudia of Bolivia and Layla of Abu Dhabi. It's a bit crowded, but once I learn to fight my way through the crowds at Trader Joe's I'll love the Union Square area. Actually, being easy walking distance from a subway hub, gigantic Barnes and Noble and Strand Bookstores, and just about anything else you could want, how could I not be? Ventured out for Insomnia cookies and more than decent $1 pizza last night (in that order), and then discovered that there's tango in Union Square park every Sunday night throughout the summer. Hit up the farmers' market this morning and raided the sketchiest Salvation Army store I've ever seen for pots and pans, and am now prepared to cook classy college-style for the rest of the summer.

I love the city even if it is a little overwhelming...and we Abu Dhabi kids will have a few things to learn. No longer will we be stared at on the street, but neither can we be indiscreet about our people-watching. We don't take up the whole floor so don't shout in the hallways at all hours (or perhaps even whisper, since the walls seem to be thinner than paper). Stop looking at and commenting on the skyline if you don't want to look like a tourist. And for goodness sake, don't hold the elevator for ages or keep trying to talk to the people on it! Speaking of which, notable difference between NYU Dhabi and NYU on the square: the presence of Sabbath elevators instead of non-visitation floors. As it was explained to me, pushing buttons counts as work and is therefore forbidden to more conservative practicing Jews on the Sabbath. So, on the Sabbath the elevator just stops and opens it's doors on every floor. Slow but very cool, although I couldn't help thinking hiring a non-Jewish button-pusher would have been an equally interesting solution.