quick update

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while! I have been crazy busy. I was in New York for four days, then Boston for a week, then Rhode Island for two days, and now I'm in New York again. (With another two days in Massachusetts thrown in there.) I am leaving on Wednesday already... the three weeks really have flown.

I am currently at my friend Meredith's apartment in Brooklyn. She lives here with her boyfriend Michael, but he is in Israel right now for his work. Michael is a good guy, and I'm sad I don't get to see him more on this trip-- the three of us had dinner the day I got in, but that's it-- but I feel better about crashing on their futon for a week when there are only two people here, not three. I would be worried about being in their way too much if both of them were here, but since it's just me and Meredith I don't feel like I'm taking up too much space.

So I have one more full day at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and then about fourish hours on Wednesday, if I need them. We'll see. This trip has been wonderful; the work has been hard, but quite rewarding, and it was been simply lovely to see new places and good friends.


Eventually I'll make a proper update, with comprehensive impressions and pictures and all. But I'll leave you with this, for now, oh reader: yesterday afternoon found me eating Salvadoran street food while sitting under the Brooklyn Bridge on a beautiful summer day. Which I think is one of those "to do before I die" items.

Ayla Abroad... in Manhattan!

Yes, this post comes from Hostel 99, in Manhattan's Upper East Side. I arrived in New York City yesterday afternoon! I am staying here until Sunday, when I will be traveling to Boston and staying there for a week. I might end up staying longer in Boston, depending on how much I get done in that week, or I might go back to New York after that. Oh, and one weekend in there I'm going to Rhode Island.

This is by no means a vacation, of course. I'm here for research: the big theatre collections for the period I'm studying are at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and at the Harvard Theatre Collection. (And the Museum of the City of New York archives, but that's closed for renovations.) Today-- in a couple hours-- I'm going to head down to the Library for the Performing Arts and start exploring. It's kind of intimidating, because I really don't know what I'm looking for, but still exciting!

Which shows how much of a dork I am, I guess. I'm intimidated by a library card catalogue, but actually getting to the library-- getting around in New York City, a place I have no previous knowledge of-- is no biggie. Well, it's easy to get around! It's definitely easier to follow directions and maps here than in, say, Dublin... here at least the streets are in grids and don't change their names every block. The subway is easy too, and there's a station not far from my hostel. And, if all else fails, I can always hail a cab, but I'm trying to do this on a budget. Hence the hostel.


Last night, I met up with my friend Meredith. Meredith and I were in the same MA, but when she finished she moved back to Brooklyn and now works at a publishing company. Toward the end of my trip-- when I come back from Boston-- I'm going to be staying with her, which will be fun. We went out for dinner last night in Chinatown, at a restaurant called Yeah Shanghai Deluxe. It was delicious, and she insisted I keep the leftovers, so I have dinner taken care of for the next couple days!

Speaking of food, the hostel breakfast is starting...