Happy Year of the Rat!

Wow. I’ve been busy. It started yesterday when my friend Shannon came over for dinner. We kept it simple with Spaghetti. But she’s going to be coming over regularly and we are dreaming about all sorts of interesting recipes.

I then went with her to her choir. They have their rehearsals at the home of the S. family across the street from me. I really like all the people in the choir (and it’s not exactly a tough commute) but I don’t want to commit because I’m worried about overextending myself. I am going to take Hebrew Class Tuesdays. Bible Study Thursdays. Possibly another Bible study. And of course I want to get involved in local politics. I’ve decided I want to be Brooklyn Borough President before I turn 40.

After choir I hung out with some of the people from 9pm till midnight. We had such a good time sitting around the kitchen table talking and laughing. It was so ‘gezelig.’ I wish every evening could be like that.

Today was a very long day for me. In the morning Mrs S. and I went to the funeral mass for the husband of my landlady. It was held in the massive basilica nearby. The whole affair was very impressive. During communion the organ played Mozart’s “Ave Verum.” I love that hymn.

I then went home for about 1.5 hours. I sent off a few business emails to try to convince my employers that I do occasionally, you know, work.

Did you know that today is the Chinese New Years? (neither did I) apparently it’s the year of the rat. Mrs S. and her 12 year old son and I went to Chinatown in Manhattan to see the celebrations . Different groups of performers were going around the streets wearing these huge Chinese dragon costumes (there were usually 3 dragons, a red one, a pink one, and a blue one) Drummers played traditional Chinese tunes as the dragons danced around. They made their way along the street very slowly stopping in at every store. I think that must be a Buddhist tradition for warding off evil spirits.

As we walked along, we were up to our ankles in confetti. People were shooting it off constantly. Sometimes, they would shoot up these little pink parachutes with Chinese characters. Apparently if you catch the parachute before it touches the ground, you will have good luck in the New Year. Everyone was running trying to catch them. It was very fun.

The S.'s and I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant called “the House of Vegetarian.” The food was excellent.

Later that evening I had my church bible study on the Upper East Side. I had about 3 hours to kill before it started. I chilled out at a coffee shop and worked for a bit. The bible study was great. The church member who hosts it has a beautiful apartment full of interesting books. He also has very nice paintings on his walls. I asked him about them and he said his stepbrother is an artist. I think his work is quite good.

So after bible study, we all had coffee (decaf, blech) I talked with a church member who is a security guard for a major fashion house and he was telling me all about how annoying PETA protestors are. Then I drove home with some fellow church members and now I’m drinking tea and writing you a blog post.

So: some very long days full of interesting experiences. If this is what life in New York will be like, I can’t imagine I’ll ever get bored with it.