I moved here a little under a month ago. How time flies.
On the morning of the 1st of April, April Fool's day, I was all worried about the movers not showing up, or showing up late. They did the latter. And then it took twice as long to load the stuff.
I took the G train, arriving a little later than they did. I took the G train from Queens, perhaps for the last time. The connection from the 7 train was still broken and so I had to take a bus.
That evening seemed so long ago.
That evening Evi's sister along with her fiance also came. They came to the City to pay a visit to the Swiss consulate, and wanted to see my new place, which would soon be Evi's new place too.
That seemed so long ago. That night was raining a lot. I was sitting in the van while the movers moved. I remember feeling anxious in the rain, wondering when the move would be over.
Now I am sitting here, with that move, that evening, seem so distant.
And since then I haven't really enjoyed the neighborhood much. What's the hurry? I don't know. My life has been, since then, mostly dominated by work and cultural events.
This new job is quite interesting. I am learning a lot. There's even pressure for deadline, which I haven't felt in a while. In many years. And yet, I am not working as much as I thought it would be required of me. On the first day I didn't have to arrive too early because my future boss had a morning meeting. But then he gave me the impression that I had to come to work by 8AM. I did the next day and the whole place was empty. Eventually I learned that people didn't come in before 8:45. And little by little I have been coming closer and closer to 9AM. These two days even a little after.
And I don't actually have to leave late. Same time as when I was working in Connecticut. But by the end of the day I am exhausted, so much thinking involved, so much staring at the computer screen.
The best part of the work is the learning, of course. But a good runner-up is the view. The location. I don't sit next to a window, but I can go to the windows and see the Statue of Liberty, the sea, the sunshine. And when it's not too terribly cold, I go outside, sit, stroll, even stretch. To feel the sun. To bathe in it.
After work I am rarely home like today. I have been going to a lot of theater, a lot of classical music events. And when I am not, I have been out of town for one reason or another, interestingly so far all in Connecticut.
It's good to actually spend some time in this new neighborhood, the highlight of my non-work life. It has almost everything I like, including theater (just 15-minute walk from the Brooklyn Academy of Music). Restaurants are everywhere. And there are many cute little places waiting for me to discover and get to know, like a pottery workshop.
The neighborhood is very mixed in a way I didn't expect but don't find it too unfamiliar. There is the hip neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Brooklyn Heights, full of young professionals and their strollers (also known as Yuppies). Then just the next block from me is Downtown Brooklyn, mostly cheap shops frequented by African Americans. Each morning I see people standing in line outside what appears to be the welfare office. There isn't a line outside the Department of Labor across the street. But on my street it's the start of Yuppy-land, where the streets are made into a green tunnel by tall trees and the as far as the eye can see the roads are lined with brownstones. There is organic everything, including two organic cosmetics stores; I didn't even know it is important to use organic cosmetics but come to think of it, if you really hate chemicals, you would not want to put that stuff on your face.
One of the best meat market is within 10 minutes by walking from me. That is where I got my 7-pound leg of lamb that I roasted for the Easter Brunch.
And yet, there is still a lot for me to get to know. Not just to get to know by location, by its existence, but also to get to know so it becomes part of my life. To see what I like, try things out and decide. To discover places beyond the realm of restaurants and shops, which is the realm of tourists. This weekend I have more time here alone. I have actually two tango acquaintances who live just a block from me. It was pure coincidence that I found a place so close to tango people. I am hoping if we click we can be actual friends.
I didn't actually find this apartment. Evi found it by cleverly joining a neighborhood discussion group and the landlord just happened to be looking for someone to fill the vacancy.
She's the third big event in my recent life, of course. Just a little before the move and before the job, she and I started a life together, very quickly, almost hurriedly, with not a few stumbles and scary falls. Everything is happening fast in all these new ways; it is sometimes nice to just stop and breathe.