Once again, I woke up around 6 AM due to jet lag and couldn’t fall back asleep. My mom came into my room in the morning, and told me that my grandma had passed during the night. This is sad, but I am very grateful I got to see her yesterday. The services are not until tomorrow night.
When I got up this morning, I didn’t feel like having cereal for breakfast, so I opted to make eggs. This is something I obviously can’t do for breakfast in France. I tried to change things up and make the “Gordon Ramsey” version of scrambled eggs. To do this, you cook the eggs on low heat so it barely clumps up. When it is ready, it has an almost truffle-like consistency. I spread it on toast and it was really good.
After breakfast, I played guitar for a while. I played so much yesterday that my fingers were starting to hurt. This is a sign I haven’t played guitar in a while because I don’t have calluses.
Once my fingers hurt too much to play anymore, I went to do another activity I haven’t done in a while, play videogames. I was playing this one skiing game that takes place in the Alps. It is ironic because I have skied so much in the Alps recently. The character in the game didn’t fall nearly as much as me though.
I got bored of this after a bit, and got changed to head to the gym. Going to my home gym felt great. I didn’t have to walk there, could play basketball, and a million other benefits. Moana Club serves its purpose in France, but it is nothing compared to Lifetime.
I played basketball by myself for a bit before working out. I felt really dumb because I accidentally locked my stuff in a locker without remembering the code. It has been too long and I forgot how the lockers worked. Luckily, a worker opened it up with a key for me. Today I did shoulders and biceps, and then finished with the ab wheel. At one point, I went to ask someone if they were using something and I almost spoke French accidentally. It’s hard to knock some habits.
After the gym, I was feeling hungry and went to Coppola’s for lunch. Despite being in Italy a few days ago, I was craving Italian food, or at least the American variety of it. Coppola’s was the spot we would always go to for lunch during high school. I got thick slice with broccoli and a white slice. They both were amazing.
My pizza
When I got home I took a shower and hung out for a bit. Yesterday while driving back from Staten Island, I told my mom how I wanted to see some friends in Manhattan if I had time while I was back home. I sort of expected her to say no, but she it was okay if I slept in the city Friday night and came home Saturday morning. After finding out my grandma passed this morning, I asked her again if it was okay and she said yes.
The reason I wanted to go to the city is that I wouldn’t be able to see some of my friends for a long time if I didn’t this weekend. I come back from France a weeks after they leave NYC, so it would be too late and they would be home for the summer. Tonight I am sleeping over at my friends Danny and Mitchell’s place. We are going to hang out with our friend Sam as well. Technically, these are really my brother’s friends from NYU, but I have become friends with them as well. Plus, I knew Danny from high school. I am planning to get breakfast with my friend Venus on Saturday morning too. It should be a fun time.
My sister dropped me off at the train station and I headed to Manhattan. This is very reminiscent of my days of commuting to the city every day for work this past summer.
I soon got into Penn station and took the subway to the west village. I was heading to the physics building first to meet Mitchell. He signed me until the building and Sam met us there shortly. Since Mitchell is a physics major, it was nice to talk to him about what I was learning in my physics classes in France. Mitchell had to work on a presentation, so Sam and I headed to meet Danny at what was Andrew’s old apartment.
On the way there, Sam and I were hungry so we stopped at the dining hall. One of NYU’s dining halls has a Chick-Fil-A which I haven’t eaten in a really long time. It hit the spot and I thanked Sam for using a meal swipe on me. I talked to Sam a lot about my travels and time in France.
We then met up with Danny and hung out at his and Mitchell’s place. They have another roommate named Byron who wasn’t there. It’s funny because I had been to the apartment at least five times and have never run into Byron. At this point, I probably never will.
We hung out for a while and eventually went for a walk. While we were going through Washington Square Park, there were some demonstrations going on. Having Washington Square Park in the center of campus is definitely one of the best parts of NYU. Danny wanted to eat, so Sam and I accompanied him since we ate already. On the way back to the apartment, we grabbed a six pack of beer to have while we hung out later. Sam is 21 which greatly simplify things.
Shortly after we got back, so did Mitchell. We just stayed at the apartment hanging for a while then went to meet some others for a drink at this bar called MacDougal’s Ale house. I had met a lot of the other people before, so they knew Andrew twin. This one guy I had never met was really confused though. We only really stayed at the bar for one drink since I didn’t want to stay out too late. I said goodbye to Sam, though I am planning to meet him in London in May with Andrew.
Danny and I at the bar
On the way home, Danny and I stopped for a late night snack at a place called Pommes Frites. It’s too bad I don’t know any French and can’t understand what the restaurant name means.
The restaurant only has fries, but they’re super thick and really good. Plus there was a bunch of really good dipping sauces to choose from. When we got back, we quickly devoured the fries. Afterwards, I went to bed.
Foreign Tourist with No Grasp of the Local Language 
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