Week 1: The Super Bowl, The Friedmans, The Subway, Coffee and the Eateries
I didn’t know much about American football or the National Football league (NFL) before this year, let alone the Super Bowl. My knowledge on the game was limited to Beyonce’s thrilling performance at the Super Bowl 50 in 2016. Until my first day out in New York on the 5th!
Football history being made
So the Atlanta Falcons dominated most of the game with a 28–3 lead against New England Patriots and they won the Super Bowl!..not! The Patriots went on to make a really impressive comeback (The biggest Super Bowl comeback in history) and won the game during Overtime (The first Overtime during a Super Bowl in History).
So here is what I learned from my first night in New York.
- The Super Bowl is not really just about the football, it is a lot more than that. It is about the beer, the ads, the half time show and everything else but the game.
- Most of the Falcons fans aren’t really Falcons fans, they are really just anti Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback and probably the hottest topic on twitter right now.
- I am probably going on and on about a game you do not care about.
Meet the Friedmans
Red wine. Cheese. Shrimp. Bacon. Biscuits. Well made dipping sauce. Cookies. Clementines (Tangerines that went to private school, I don’t make these things up). Worlds greatest cookies from the upper west side (You have got to try them, 167 West 74th Street). Good conversation. Perfect lighting. Mellow music from Alexa. No TV.
I’d probably try to paint you a picture of the night of 7th February but words just wouldn’t cut it.
You had to be there!
You had to be there for the stories about what the Electoral College means (still don’t get it) and why it would not last a day in any African country, for obvious reason.
For each of the stories behind every painting, picture or wall hanging. For how Muzzy, their dog, is friendly to people but growls and gets all agitated in the presence of other dogs, well some of them. I’d love to know his thought process.
For the story behind each of the pictures on the hallways of the building that is over one hundred years old now.
For the stroll to Central Park West, stopping by Dakota, the exact location that John Lennon was shot. For the short history about why the place is known as Dakota (Story for another day).
For the stories of the three or so animals you might bump into in Central Park.
For the stories about the history of our presidents and how they just don’t let go. For the background of our names and why we are Steve, Kariuki, Goodluck Jonathan, Blessing, Favor, Afuavare and not Human №. 5237194630.
So I will not tell you about that night. You had to be there!
The Subway. Sigh! The Subway!!
You know that feeling when you try out something for the first time, like a Math problem or running a test suite, and everything works just fine? Or when you have been writing code for 2 hours straight and when you test it out it works so well that you intentionally err the code to make sure you are still human?
Well the New York Subway is nothing close to that. It is just not!
It is like a damned two-line Math problem that looks easy on paper but requires you to find x, y and the blood of Jesus. It’s like fixing a stupid little bug and creating two more (Or as I like to call it, Friday evenings, 5PM).
One minute you think you have it all figured out, the next you are on 96 St. and everyone gets off and you are still waiting for Google maps to give you the next set of directions.
But it has its share of sites to behold.
The public transit system has been running for over a hundred years or so, 24 hours a day and it works well! Surprisingly! I say surprisingly because there is no hundred or so year old system that works well in Nairobi (well, my former high school does, but that is not the point). It’s a complex system of over 400 stations and the largest of its kind. I think.
Once you get the hang of how New York City is structured (Uptown, downtown, Avenues, streets, East, West and whatever else they did not tell me), it becomes much easier to move around. It is probably the most well planned out city I have been to (mostly because I have only been to none other than Nairobi and Mombasa).
You’ll probably bump into a group of guys with guitars and voices to die for if you are lucky. If you are not, you’ll just have to watch the train make a thousand stops before you get to yours. This week was exceptional! On my way to the Steve and Sallie Friedman’s place, I had to take the Q train on 86 St. 2nd avenue to Times Square — 42 St. Broadway and then take a 1, 2 or 3 to the Upper west side (Talking about it like I own the place, lol). I bumped into this group of guys making Opera performances (pardon the lingo, I am not exactly Van Gogh here. Cut me some slack).
Now, I have no standard of what a good Opera show is, but they were good! Or average. Or exceptional! Or okay? Stellar? D2 good? I am not sure the Metrics here.
There were this country music folks with some instruments they made on their own (apparently it is cheaper and you get to make it to your liking. I cannot even play the recorder).
Jipige coffee
In certain factions of Andela, there is a round of applause going on right now about the title of this section. Trust me. I am an Andela developer.
I have probably had more coffee in my lifetime in the one week I have been here than I have in my short stay in this here planet. I used to think Americans drink too much coffee until I got here (well they still do, but that’s besides the point). It may have something to do with the cold, the snow (The snowpocalypse, or so I have heard it being called) and the wind that comes with it! I am just hoping I can shake off the coffee thing once I am back in Nairobi.
There is so much to go around the coffee culture and the restaurants in New York I just might have to write up on this separately.
I had made a promise to myself I would not go to the same restaurant twice while in New York and that was going great until India Love took me out to Bonchon Chicken, a Korean restaurant with the best fried chicken!
They have the MLS and hip hop music projected on one side of the wall if you are into that kind of thing.
Pictures
Oh I also lost my right hand glove less than 24 hours after I bought it. Somewhere between Harold Square. and 86th St. 2nd avenue. If you happen to get it, let me know. It is cheap and you’d probably not want to keep it anyway.
