A New York Minute (April 6)

A few hours of driving north on I-95 took me past Philadelphia to Princeton, NJ. Another Peace Corps friend, Dan Wright, has been at Princeton for the last few years in school. He had a class in New York City that day and had already left when I got there. I dropped my car at his place, assembled my bike, and rode to the Princeton Train Station. I quickly bought a ticket and made it just as the connection train was pulling out of the station, and then just made the transfer onto the next train to New York as it passed through the next station. I felt kind of important for things to work out like that for me, like the world revolved around me for those brief moments. The plan for the evening was for a bunch of Peace Corps folks to rendezvous and get some dinner. I met Dan at the apartment of our friends Katie and Noah, who live in the city. Katie, Noah, Dan and I all arrived in Bolivia together almost 6 years ago, which seems like a long time but we caught up as if no time had passed. Again, the kindred spirit of the Peace Corps volunteers. Here's a shot from the good 'ol days with the four of us on a hike in Bolivia (plus a couple of others)

Our other friend Lauren came briefly into town to say hello and introduce us to her new baby, Monica, who I found out was actually born on my birthday this year! Lauren and her partner Sean had come to Cincinnati back in 2009 to run the Flying Pig Marathon, and it was great to see them again briefly and catch up. We then headed out to dinner for Serbian food at a place called Kafana...I wasn't sure what to expect as far as Serbian food goes, and I can't tell you exactly what it was I ate but I do know that it was delicious. Another one of our friends, Ross, met us at the restaurant. Liz, a friend of mine from Honduras, who is also in NYC joined us as well. It was like my worlds colliding for a moment, which I actually always really enjoy. It had been almost a year since seeing Liz, who was one of my housemates in Santa Lucía and fellow coffee junkie. The meal and compartiendo were both excellent, for a moment it felt like being back in Bolivia again...like all of us were just in from our sites and enjoying a delicious dinner...the few differences being we didn't smell as much and the food was not nearly as cheap as Bolivian cusine! We headed out to a bar afterwards for drinks and met up with Brandon and Lex, two more volunteers currently living in the city. Turns out NYC is a haven for Bolivia RPCVs. Here's a shot of Dan and me at the bar, and I am of course wearing the sweet denim shirt Dan gave me as a gift last year.

Anyone bored and in the area should hit up Dan's Cinco de Mayo 30th birthday party in Princeton. There is talk of roasting an entire pig! (Although unlike Bolivia, they won't have to kill this one themselves). I was pretty worn out at this point from hopping from spot to spot, so Dan and I returned back to Katie and Noah's place to crash for the evening. After a light breakfast we were back on the train to Princeton the next morning. It was a quick trip but I knew I would be back to the city soon... Dan made me a delicious sandwich before sending me on my way to State College, PA.