First of all, I want to appreciate you if you bothered to click on the link and read my blog. I struggle with having a blog because there seems to be a bit of hubris in having a blog. (Wondering, do people even care what I write and what goes on in my life???) Well, if you have gotten to this page, then I guess the answer is yes. Okay, that out of the way, let’s move on.
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Okay, I had the most amazing morning. Woke up at 9:30 am with Chewy (my brother Chung's chocolate brown cocker spaniel puppy) licking my face and jumping all over me. Oh. Heaven. If I hadn’t gotten 10½ hours of sleep, well, that might have been a different story….but given that I FINALLY slept after weirdly not being able to nap AT ALL after landing the day before yesterday, it was so nice. Landing on the 7th, I got a ride from my new friend Rafaat, who I met on the plane and was the nicest guy ever. He gave me a ride to my brother’s going WAY out of his way to help me. I am telling you, God is good, because he always sends angels to help me! LITERALLY (his last name is ANGEL!!!)! HAHHAHAHAHAHA. Anyway, I couldn’t sleep, nap, at all. Finally, I got to sleep around 11 pm (6 am Cairo time) but I got woken up by my brother coming home. Then it was cold so I couldn’t go back to sleep. Then I tried to sleep all day, but I got distracted by Ugly Betty episodes and endless gmail and facebooking and phone calls…yeah. Welcome back to America. Land of internet and plenty.
Then Chung came home from work and we had kalbi (Korean steak) bbq YUM and hot rice YUM and kimchee YUM and salad YUM and a nice glass of red wine and good company. Then I crashed. Yes, delicious delicious lovely delicious sleep. I woke up once, but immediately fell back asleep. So, I woke up, and was wondering what to eat, getting hungrier, forgetting that I was totally jonesing for a hot New York Jewish bagel the night before. Then I spotted the whitest cream cheese in the fridge, and suddenly, it all came flooding back to me. I ran out to get one from a local deli. NO DEBIT CARDS! So, then, I spent the next hour running around trying to find an ATM, and not just any ATM, only my bank wouldn’t charge $2 or $3 to take out money. After running around 3 or 4 blocks in Chelsea, feeling a nice heartrate boost, I victoriously emerged, $20 richer. The toasted bagel was only $1.03. I ran home quickly, but not before stopping by the Museum of Jewish History and St. Xavier’s Catholic church on West 16th. That is one thing that really struck me as soon as I landed in New York City. The immense cultural, racial, religious diversity. This is PROBABLY THE MOST diverse city in the ENTIRE WORLD. Yes, we know Boston in clearly a better city when it comes to many things, like universities and education, hospitals and lower crime rates and more trees, but when it comes to diversity, I mean, you HAVE to hand it to New York City. Okay, back to my brunch.
It was like a work of art. And it kept getting better and better. It started with a 7 grain bagel, deliciously toasted by the nice Central American gentleman at the deli probably owned by Koreans (I only say that because they were selling Korean noodles on the counter and the lady behind the counter was Asian). I slathered the aforementioned cream cheese on (oh, and I forgot to mention the Wild Alaskan Coho Salmon I purchased at THE most well-stocked store in Manhattan) and threw on some slices of rich, pink salmon). I scrambled an egg with a hint of black pepper and kosher salt and threw that on the plate. Then, to top it all off, a gorgeous salad of romaine lettuce, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and the royal crown that was like the Queen’s Jewel… AVOCADO. Yes, avocado. The delicious fruit (or is it a vegetable???) that brings an entire meal to a whole other level. And with it all, I drank some deliciously chilled peppermint iced tea with a slice of lemon. Yes, I should be a food writer. Just kidding. Anyway, given that I just spend ten months in India and Nepal and 2 weeks in Egypt, it was a meal that felt like pure decadence. It was delish.
Okay, I am off!
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