neurotic Iraqi wife
July 16, 2007
NY NY, The city that never sleeps...
We returned the dish back and all of a sudden miss Headwaitress charges along and says "what eeeez wrooooooong wiz zis dish madame?" S said, it tastes funny and I would like to order something else. HW said "But zees iz zeee signature of zee house, it iz zeee best dish and I tasted it, zeee chef made an excellent job" I couldnt take it any longer who cares about what her own taste buds likes or dislikes, and said well, the lamb tasted dirty, its not the way we cook it, we clean it well" and as I was about to discuss with her the "Iraqi" way of cooking lamb, my friend just cut me off and said its ok, I just want a salad please. Needless to say, they charged us for the dish.
In New York it was a different case. I couldnt go to the bathroom for 3-4 days!!! It reached a painful stage, and so I decided that maybe if I eat more, there wont be any place for the food left except ummm the bathroom. Sorry I know Im disgusting you, for Im disgusting myself. Anyways, the junk food marathon began, from the yummy Pizzas to the icecream, to whatever else I can eat. By day 4, no No2 and I thought I was gonna explode. Miraculously, my bowel movement finally decided to MOVE, yaaaaaay...
My New York trip was just amazing. I wasnt looking forward to the interrogation that I thought was awaiting me at JFK especially after the last experience I had when travelling to the States. But this time, even though I did end up in that small waiting room, it took them 30 mins to process me. I didnt believe it, and kept asking the lady if Im really done and that she is sure I can leave, lol. I couldnt wait to throw away that horrible nicorrette gum I was chewing the whole flight (I bought from Boots in London)to stop me craving for a cigarrette. Minute I went outside, I reached for my cigarrettes, and OMG, it was almost orgasmic. I took a NY cabbie, and off we went into Manhattan. On the way and to my surprise, I noticed a blue Mosque and the Al Khoie Foundation. As we reached the hotel, Times Sq was already in full swing, and my excitement grew.
NY was, WOW, and double WOW. I loved it. I absolutely loved everything about it. Last time I was there was in 1995, and I can barely remember a thing because at the time my dad got sick and we wanted to stay with him, hence we didnt really get to see much. But this time, it was just utterly amazing. I felt like a school girl again, experiencing everything for the first time. I would walk really slow just so I can saviour the moment. I would stand and just stare at the buildings. I would go to Central park or the park next to the financial center and just lie down or sit up and watch lovers cuddling and kissing, or families playing frizbee. There was a sense of freedom about the whole experience.
I chose NY mainly cuz I wanted to check out NYU incase I decided to go for my dream. I really wanted to go back to studying, studying journalism. Something I have been wanting to do for a long long time now. I also have always asked HUBBY to take me there, but he kept saying not now not now, when we settle in the States then we will go there. So this time, as part of finding my inner peace and tranquility, NY was my choice. So much for tranquility though, NYC was buzzing. Although Im not a big fan of busy crowded places, I found myself enjoying the crowds. Maybe the fact that I needed a change from the depressing environment of the GZ changed my views. Or maybe just because it was NY and thats what makes NY so special made me enjoy it.
A must see on my list was Ground Zero. As the sweat trickled down my face on that scorchingly hot day, an airy feeling filled me up as I stood there staring at the sight before me. I cant really put what I felt in words. A sense of sadness??? A sense of disbelief???A sense of remorse??? I dunno, but it definitely was something I havent felt before. I walked abit and then stood under the plaque of the names of victims. Husbands, wives, children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends. Everyone that lost their life that day had a story. My mind immediately switched to the daily victims in Iraq. Atleast in NY, the names are on a plaque, in Iraq, many of the dead are nameless. Charred, unidentifiable bodies with no names, unknown identities.
The trip wouldnt be complete without visiting King Kong's home. The Empire State Bldg. Although I didnt like the attitude of the security personnel, their harsh faces and rude attitude didnt make me feel comfortable at all. But nevertheless, the view was stunning. I opted for the 102nd floor, and waited abit longer inorder to see NY at night. As the lights came on slowly, I couldnt help but compare the darkness of the haunted Baghdad streets. The best thing about the Baghdad nights are not the long forgotten lights that dont exist anymore because of the lack of electriciy, but the beautiful stars that light the whole sky up. I have travelled to many places, yet till this day I never saw any sky as beautiful as the Baghdad sky. No NY lights can ever compare to the dazzling Baghdadi Sky no matter how breathtaking the view was.
Despite all the fun I had, I realised that I truly missed HUBBY. He would have loved NY, and enjoyed it as much as I did. But I needed this trip. I needed to have some me time without the stress of work. All in all, it was a good trip. I definitely will visit NY again. I fell in love with it. And just like Frank Sinatra sang : I wanna wake up in a city, that doesnt sleep And find Im king of the hill - top of the heap. New York New York, the city that never sleeps...
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14 Comments:
What a great post! I really enjoyed reading it... even the first part :)
Great pictures you got, too! You'll make a great journalist, Neurotica. You have a talent for making things interesting.
Glad you had the opportunity to enjoy this time out! I would love to visit NY too...maybe one day. I hope the dream of being a journalist materialises for you....meantime we appreciate your way with words and your insight into situations we cannot go. Many blessings to you.
Neurotic: Please more bowel movement posts. Fascinating stuff.
One of the great things about New York is its - I hate to use this word, really really hate it - diversity. Ugh. I'll try not to use it again. But the truth of the matter is, just about every possible nationality is represented in New York and you can see them all when you walk down just about any street.
America is a proud race of mongrels. When you're in America and you ask Americans their nationality, the kind answer you'll get is something like, "part Irish, part Italian, and part Polish." Or Lithuanian, or French, or Jamaican, or lord knows what. It's not until Americans get out of the country that it occurs to them to answer that they're Americans.
But it's understood that they're Americans first, and the different flavors of heritage are just the accident of birth - kind of cool, but not all that important.
For Baghdad to be like New York, Iraqis have to be Iraqi first and everything else second. It can be.
Neurotica,
A truly fascinating post, especially from a nursing student's point of view, lol! I'm glad to hear that everything came out ok in the end...I couldn't resist myself!!!
Melanie
BTW, I love this song by Frank Sinatra...
Are you still in New York?
Just a friendly hello from cyberray
Glad to hear you are getting out more these days.
Miami is more my kind of town, all those skyscrapers make me dizzy.
Glad you are enjoing yourself.
Cheers
Are you returning to Iraq? Please say no.
Working for contactors of war is a dirty business. Bad for the soul. Bad for Karma.
WWGD? (What Would Gandhi Do?)
Quite Iraq (Halliburton!)
WWGD? (What Would Gandhi Do?)
Gandhi would have had his head chopped off back in 2004, on videotape. But since he was South Asian, nobody would have cared.
Working for contactors of war is a dirty business. Bad for the soul. Bad for Karma.
Yeah. And everyone in Iraq is working so hard on their soul and their karma, aren't they? :O
LOL! NIW sometimes you really suprise me! With your...um...intestinal fortitude, you might consider a journalistic career with some well known "food digest" publication. : )
In terms of a career move
It would be a good Idea to get
started on the journalism degree
soon ... Iraq journalists will be in demand for a couple of years ...
Then the market will saturate ...
and dear neurotica ... you know what ??? ... Once Americans leave Iraq .... Iraq will be out of the news ... and your marketability will go down ... probably will be a demand for journalists from Darfur!!
Or whatever region the media feels
will "sell" right now obviously
Iraqi news and analysis id fairly hot ... but you will be amazed
at how quick the "anti-Bush"
crush of news will end once Bush
is gone ... especially if Americans are out of Iraq ....
If Hillary Clinton wins and winds down American forces rapidly ...
even if there is a bloodbath in Iraq its simply NOT going to be a big deal in USA ... there will be residual anti-Bush ... its Bush's fault coverage and stories for a few months ... But you will NOT
see anywhere near the coverage and anywhere near the attacks on Hillary Clinton if Iraq disintegrates ... it will be
as we say in America
"out of sight ... out of mind"
"
Are you returning to Iraq? Please say no.
Working for contactors of war is a dirty business. Bad for the soul. Bad for Karma.
WWGD? (What Would Gandhi Do?)
"
Thats right the contractors working
on the electricity/water/sewage
systems are evil !!! Well
800 of these evil people lost their lives ...
I mean really ... are the CNN
reporters from Iraq good people ???
They are news whores ...
They are probably better paid then
many of the contractors and they are not doing a damn thing for
Iraqi people ... what do Iraqis want ??
1) Security
2) Electricity
3) Plentiful clean water in every home
4) Modern Hospitals and clinics
5) Modern housing constructed
6) Schools modernized and expanded
etc ...
How many litres of clean water
have the foreign journalists
supplied to the people of Iraq ??
How many watts of electricity ???
I mean what a stupid comment !!!
You think re-building Iraq
is easy in this environment ???
All jobs involving large sums of money and high risk have an element
greed and corruptiuon ...
but the work needs to be done
anyway.
Hey PC, thanx. Umm I doubt it very much if I make a good journalist. But hey its a dream and theres nothing wrong with dreaming, right???
Thanx Beams, I too hope so.
Lol Jason, are you being sarcastic???
Oh Cmon Tom, dievrsity is beautiful. Just like London and the UAE. Everywhere you go I think should be diverse, it teaches you abt different cultures, not only that but also teaches you how to live with different people. Iraq was diverse in the good old days, but umm now, the diversity stems from terrorists that are fighting a so called "Holy" war...What BS.
Lol Melanie, Im glad you enjoyed it. I guess IM fed up of writing abt war and death and politics. Every time I write abt it, I get more angry, so decided to write abt different stuff. I guess I miss my old self.
Hi MM,no I left a week back. Im now in the UAE. Will be going back to Baghdad soon inshallah.
Hey Ray, I love Miami too. But you cant compare these 2 different places. Each one is unique. If you want relaxing and a beach go to miami, if you want a fast lane life go to NY....
Anon, yup, I am going back. I know its unfortunate, but I need to go back for various reasons.
Lol Solo, I dont think they wanna know abt my intestinal problems do they know???
Anon, I agree with what you said, not 100% but still. Journalists are risking their lives thou. WE contractors arent. Well almost all of us arent. I mean there are some people who havent been outside the greenzone for almost all the time theyve been in Iraq. They manage the work from their computers, do u think theyre risking their lives??? Atleast journalists go out, talk to people, bring the truth out. Contractors, even though many believed in the noble cause, have now given up and are only in Iraq for the money...Its sad but true...
Yeh I think so.
Hello Neurotica ,Being an English chap through & through ofcourse my first LOVE IS LONDON but it is very easy to agree with you 99.9% specially about the lovely star-studied BAGHDAD Night sky that our own Sir T. E. Lawrence "THE 7PILLARS OF WISDOM"-The Anglo-Arabian-peninsula part of the BRITISH COMMON WEALTH -from Omman to AMMAN & MOROCCO TO BAGHDAD ,it needen`t take a crytal ball to envisage a positive cooperative -cultural environment that encompasses all & sundry in aspirit of good will, although you may feel some treppadation about returning to the G.Z. maybe just maybe if the will is there & common sense prevails through it all good will come out of it ! is it naive of me to think so??loads of the very best of British & kindest jolly merry regards. www.bfbs.com walter@sweden.com Olaff-Lars
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