“New York, New York!”
I fell for New York from all the movies that I’ve seen, so I was soooooo jealous when Thapelo said he was going for the December break. I mean I’m still waiting for my I Love N.Y t-shirt, but hey it’s cool, no hard feelings ges! Thanks for Representing! See his NY photo’s here on our Flickr community.
After saying goodbye to the family I was off to New York for the first time ever, all on my own! As daunting as it sounded I was excited and anticipating a great trip, so dollars in hand I began my journey to The Big Apple. First stop was a little town called Yonkers, where I rested after my thirteen hour flight- I stayed in a place called Tuckahoe Motel, where I had a view of yellow busses lined up outside my window and strange houses that looked like those doll houses for little girls.
Big City Life!
After getting rested I was ready to brave the big city- New York, finally! A trip to the heart of the city Manhattan, really felt like a scene from a movie, one minute I was walking down an ordinary looking street and the next I was slap bang in the middle of Times Square filled with billboards and lights and what seemed like millions and millions of people; I thought Johannesburg was fast – paced, but this was something else- a huge concrete jungle with people walking briskly with their ears plugged out of the rest of the world by iPods and other gadgets.
When I packed a couple of sweaters thinking they would be sufficient for the cold New York weather I was clearly delirious because it was freezing cold, so one of my first purchases was one of those huge warm winter jackets.
Next I did the tourist thing and got onto one of those double deck sightseeing buses which was conducted by an old woman who wore big glasses and was so cheerful she made it seem like a summer day in Durban- okay, but that still didn’t help because I was still freezing my ass off. What did help though, was the nips that me and a guy who was sitting next to me managed to get our hands on, one Hennessy, for me and a Jim Bean for him, let’s just say I felt…warmer! (Funny thing though, is how Hennessy is made to be such a big deal, but it comes in nip bottles!)
Next was Harlem, the ghetto! We drove into Malcolm X Boulevard which has cultural and historical sites along the length of the Boulevard. I suddenly felt aware of where I was and a feeling of pride just overcame me at that very moment. We drove passed Central Park and many buildings names after the great man.Back in Times Square as I watched the buildings and billboards whiz by I realised that there seem to be a few people that run the streets of New York, branding wise: P Diddy, Jay Z, The Trumpster (Donald Trump) and the young NBA player LeBron James, their larger than life billboards are all over the city.
James Brown
From LeBron James to James Brown, (who died shortly after I left Johannesburg), I found myself at the street memorial where I got to say my little piece on a big cardboard that had a picture of the late Godfather of Soul. The board was already filled with dedications and people milling around some of them dancing to his music.
There was this one guy who just kept at it- he danced non- stop for close to ten minutes, I figured that he must have been a real die hard fan.
It was really fun to watch how free people were to dance around the streets and do their thing, but that was just about the warmest part of my general interaction with New Yorkers. As an African, I am accustomed to greeting and smiling at the next person I meet- somehow after a couple of days of trying the African thing, I just couldn’t take it anymore I stopped greeting and smiling especially at fast food stores and I just placed my order and moved right along.
Shopping
Because I got about a thousand requests from my friends for “I Love N.Y” t- shirts that was one of my first stops- the “I Love N.Y” store. After picking up the t- shirts I had to face the rest of the hustling and bustling streets and I must say, even for a guy shopping was really frustrating because there is so much to choose from.
I found myself moving from one store to another not able to settle on any specific items, I think people should consider having bucket loads of money when shopping because budget shopping is just a hectic job.I concentrated on music though, so I got myself a whole lot of mixed tapes, most of them were readily available on the streets, I found that to be quite interesting.
The mixed tapes culture is big in New York and I recon that it is all the stuff that the artists really want to do but can’t commercially.
Subway vs. Highway
I spent a lot of time on the subway as I moved from Manhattan to Stanford Kentucky; where I was staying. New York’s transport system is as smooth as ever because you are able to move around really quickly. It’s strange that in South Africa trying to get to appointments in a taxi is just a silly thought, and in New York driving around is just a silly thought!
I met up with a couple of Malawian people and also some South African’s that are staying in New York, so we decided to have a bit of a cookout and I cooked pap for them, some of them hadn’t had pap in three years!I was so tired of the fried two minute food that I ended up going to a Jamaican joint called Caribbean and it was just what I needed to feel at home, some real soul food!
Good bye Big Apple
It’s difficult to wrap up New York because it is like a huge pot filled with different types of food, one thing for sure it that it is extremely busy and buzzing and you need a lot of time to navigate the different places. Overall I enjoyed the trip and would go back, probably never to settle down, but another visit is definitely on the cards.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THAPELO’S NEW YORK PICS
Thapelo Mokoena
