East Village

[Jaffa Cafe in the East Village]

I went down to NYC with CA yesterday. I got up early and drove down to her house, then we took her car from there (ended up taking us four hours instead of three because of traffic - one the bridges was out). There were three of us - CA, her friend Sarah, and I - and we met up with Monicka, who designed the Sakki-Sakki tarot deck. We had brunch at Jaffa Café, which has great funky atmosphere and was a welcome place to rest and refuel after the long drive. It was fun meeting Monicka, who quickly elicited the cute young waiter's zodiac sign from him and then made her drink choice based on the waiter picking a number from one to three.

After brunch we went to a flea market on East 24th St., and I picked up a sparkly heart pin for $5 that added a little NYC bling to my J. Crew style. Then we walked around the East Village, popping into the second-hand clothing and antique shops. It was in the upper 60's and overcast, comfortable for wandering around. We did get a short sprinkling of rain, just after we'd ordered wine and the best French fries I've ever had at an outside table at Jules Bistro, so we grabbed our glasses and fries and moved inside to the bar. Monicka had just been awarded U.S. citizenship on Friday, so we toasted to her, though her real achievement was completing her tarot deck and her Master's degree. Hear hear! In a couple of days she's headed back to Israel, where she lives part time, but we hope to see her back here soon.

[East 24th St. Flea Market]

Monicka had to go to her mother's for dinner so CA, Sarah and I stayed at the bistro bar for lack of a better plan and because we were enjoying the excellent wine and the atmosphere. The bartender brought us olives and canapés and, after realizing that she and the host were speaking Spanish while he spoke French to everyone else (it's a French bistro), I found out she's from Buenos Aires and had lived in the Boston area before moving to New York. I'm afraid my Spanish failed me after a few sentences and I'm sorely missing my practice with mis amigas argentinas. (We're still not able to get together for at least a couple more weeks. Sigh.)

We decided to go try to get in to the "Fall for Dance" festival at the New York City Center, so we took the subway uptown and emerged in Times Square, the glittering antithesis of the East Village. Of course we should have called first, because the performance was sold out. And none of us felt like paying for one of the Broadway shows (the dance performance was $10, more our speed), so after wandering some more, we got back on the subway and went back to the East Village, where we had some Indian food (good mango lassi) before heading home around 10 or so.

I realized I haven't been to New York in probably 15 years. It was a fun trip, although I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so tired. I didn’t sleep well the night before, and long car rides exhaust me. Fortunately, I stayed at CA's last night, so I could drive the 40 minutes home from there this morning. But I started worrying about my trip to Mexico and what if I get stressed from the travel and then I'll be a bad travel companion and yadde yadda. Still, I hate to let my sensitive system get in the way of experiencing the world.

[Monicka at Atomic Passion]

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