I *Heart* NYC

There's nothing that makes you appreciate what you've got like leaving it for a month.

Every summer, I go somewhere for a month. This started in 1997, with a monthlong trip all around Switzerland. (And yes, there was enough to do in a month in Switzerland. It's enough time to get to know a place pretty well, but not too long that you're just dying to go home.

I know I live in the greatest city on earth, but I do have a xenophilia... I tend to love something just because it is different. Or I WANT to love something just because it's different.

Like moqueca de camarao, the traditional shrimp stew made from dende oil, coconut milk, and coriander. I wanted to LOVE it, but really, it was just OK.

I have been thinking for the last year of teaching abroad for a year, and I had this idea that I wanted to live in Brazil, or Buenos Aires. And although there are things about these places that I truly adore, I really don't know if I could be really happy there, even for a year. The older I get, the less time a year seems to me, but just after a few days in back in NYC, I really wonder if anywhere is as great as this place.

• I love that there is 24 hour transportation that is relatively safe, efficient, and cheap.
• I love that no one walks up to me and says things like "Can you believe how many black people there are here?" or "Man, these black people can really dance!" or pulls on the corner of their eyes to make the squinty-eye thing when talking about Asian people. People still think it, but at least they don't SAY it.
  
• I love that I can walk around the block, and I can find any kind of food I want. In general, the diversity of everything is incredible. You want to shop for shoes? There are 100 places with different styles and and prices for everybody.
  
• I love that there is a nightlife that starts at a reasonable hour. I just can't deal with adjusting my time clock to go out at 1 in the morning. Even if it is on the weekend.

There's so much more.

I was thinking about this, as I was biking home last night from my dance class. It was dusk, and I passed by one of those double-decker tour buses. Someone was starting at me from the top of the bus. I waved, and I was just happy to be part of the scenery.

I *heart* NYC.