Goodbye California, Hello New York

Well, we moved out of our place. It was quite an undertaking. Sevak and I rented one of those pod things--we basically packed all of our stuff in it and it will be waiting for us in Utah when we arrive. As for our family, we decided to take a little "detour" and visit the east coast. Think of it as a final fling before we resume our lives as starving students.

Before I say more about New York, let me just make a couple of comments about our move. I feel kind of sad to have said goodbye to California. We really grew to love our friends, our home, our jobs, our church, everything. We never got a chance to really get to know our neighbors during our actual stay, but interestingly, I grew really attached to them during our preparations for departure. They would come out and ask us about our pod, where we were moving, etc. I even found out that our next-door-neighbor speaks French (well, un peu)! So anyway, in one day, I got to know our neighbors better than I did in one year. I wish I would have taken photos of our home and the craziness of our move. On second thought, maybe it's good I didn't--by the end of the day, Sevak and I looked as if we had been to you-know-where and back.

On to New York...

Our flight this morning was interesting. We took one of those really little planes from Palm Springs Airport. Here's a pic:



We flew to Denver before heading to our final destination, so the flight wasn't that long. I kind of enjoyed it--I actually got a kick out of the conversation that was taking place behind me. There were two well-traveled businessmen, and it was like they were constantly trying to one-up each other. One of them was a real braggart. Somehow during the course of the conversation, he managed to mention that he was on Jeopardy, had been to China a billion times, had a scholarship to Lafayette, was flying first class during the next portion of the journey, had a reputation as being a gourmet chef and wine aficionado, and sat next to representative Mary Bono--who was absolutely "gorgeous"--on a previous flight. Oh, and did he mention that the women in Amsterdam are also gorgeous? He has been there and he knows. You can imagine how fun it was for me to eavesdrop on these guys.

I wish I could say our second flight was as fun. First of all, it was longer, and second of all, Rose was not in a good mood. I felt sorry for all of the people around us. She finally fell asleep during the last half hour or so, but aye carumba, those first couple of hours were a real challenge. When we finally arrived in NY, we had to wait a long time for our shuttle to get to the airport, and thankfully, Rose was just happy as a clam soaking in the humid air!



A major poopy diaper is the reason for her shirtlessness.

Our shuttle ended up being extremely late and a huge fiasco ensued. We ended up taking a taxi, much to my dismay (my frugal self kicked in). However, we did get to watch TV whilst driving. Here is a pic, followed by a candid shot of Sevak:




A little while after we got to our hotel, we sampled some of the local cuisine at an Irish pub (which also happened to have a little bit of Chinese, Indian, and Italian cuisine). It was an interesting experience, because the waitress also happened to be the bartender, busboy, and possibly chef. It was also very crowded. Poor girl--and poor us. Overall the food was good, though. Here is a pic of Rose and me. Oh, by the way, the people sitting next to us were from France and I got to tell them in French what was on the menu. You never know when chapter five from the textbook will come in handy!



Now it's almost eleven and Rose thinks it's only seven; plus, her attitude is like how it was on the plane. Thus, I am dictating this post to Sevak while I try to quiet her down. Isn't he nice?