I want to be a part of it, NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I arrived in NYC after a 2 hour delay refuelling in Dakar, airsick person sitting next to me on the plane and a 45 minute wait for my bag. Ruing my decision not to buy the Accessorise hat and gloves, I took the airtrain to Jamaica station where the climate couldn’t have been further from Jamaican.


New York is truly a mengelmoes of cultures and there is no better place to observe this than on the train where you have a complete cross-section of society. You hear more foreign languages spoken than you do English. If you are thinking of moving over and looking for a business opportunity I would recommend nail decorations. Every third women on the train had long manicured nails with all kinds of funky patterns adorning them.

Eventually I made my way to Stu’s very nicely situated east Manhattan apartment. After a quick freshen up we headed off for a visit to Ellis Island (sans hat and gloves), the famous first point of destination for immigrants between the early 19th to 20th centuries. I have lived in -20’C temperatures in Colorado for 2 months but I think I can unequivocally say that I have NEVER experienced such cold. I ventured onto the deck of ferry to take a few pics of Ms. Liberty and in the short few minutes that I was out there my lips completely froze so that I couldn’t talk properly. I arrived at Ellis Island resembling an immigrant myself with my scarf wrapped carefully about my head.

Ellis Island itself was very impressive. There's an enormous display of all the trunks and boxes that the immigrants brought their life's belongings across in in the entrance which reminded me of the boxes I saw in India. Recalling the scene in Hitch when Will Smith takes his date to Ellis Island to show her her great uncle’s entry in the registration book (who is actually a serial killer) I wandered around looking for the registration book. Eventually I asked one of the guides.

Me: “Excuse me, where is the registration book”
Guide with disdainful roll of eyes and despairing sigh: “There is NO registration book. Will Smith is a liar!”

Whooopsi. Something tells me that I am not the first person to ask him that.

Needless to say, straight after Ellis Island I went and bought a hat.

We also went for a stroll in Central Park and ended my New York experience with an obligatory play on Broadway - Beauty and the Beast.