Along with breaking, these past two weeks have been a whirlwind of small-world connections and networking with old friends and Seattle University Alums. Within one week, I had heard from six SU alums and had made plans to meet up with four of them!! Here's a clip from the past two weeks:
Sat: The StormoGipsons treated me to my first Broadway show…SPAMALOT!! The play was incredibe! The StormoGipson's are from my hometown and were in NYC to visit their son Luke who is a freshman at NYU. They adopted me as their daughter for the day. It was great to see familiar faces in NYC. Thank you Maj, Justin and Luke!!
Sun: Mass and Thai food with Meg Beade, SU Alum. While Megs and I met at Seattle U, I believe that Sunday was our first time ever hanging out one-on-one! Megs is working with a publishing company for children's books here in NYC! She recommended a communications temp agency for me to contact in my search for work. (Yes, after 3 weeks of relaxation and bumming around all day in my PJs, I am finally ready to look for work.)
Mon: Got in touch with Ben Murane, SU Alum. He's living in Brooklyn and connected me with his friend Dvora, who is involved in the NYC break dance community. Ben and Dvora rent a studio on Sundays to practice their respective arts: martial arts and break dancing. They've invited me to join them and practice my breaking skills! :)
Tues: Dinner in the South Bronx with Ruben Velasco, SU Alum. We lived on the same floor freshman year and now live in the same 'hood. Great to catch up after 3 years!
Wed: My roommate Kinsy is interested in doing an internship this summer in Bolivia with Maryknoll. I happen to have a friend who is living in Bolivia and worked for Maryknoll. So I emailed Dan Moriarty to see if he had any words of wisdom for Kinsy. I immediately got a response back from Dan, saying "First off: I'm in NYC. Secondly, I'll be on Fordham's campus Thursday to speak to Kinsy's grad program." WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!? I was in SHOCK. I couldn't believe it!
Thurs: Met up with Dan Moriarty (former SU staff) @ Fordham. We just looked at each and shook our head laughing. It was so bizarre to meet up on a college campus across the nation from where we first met. Dan and I worked together in Campus Ministry at SU. He was the Campus Minister for Social Justice and led the Prison Visitation program I participated in my freshman and sophomore years in college. He is married to Rocio, a beautiful woman from Bolivia and they have an adorable little boy named Santiago. After I graduated, Dan and Rocio moved their family back to Bolivia where they currently reside. It turns out Dan is the program director for the Maryknoll Bolivia Mission Immersion Program that Kinsy is interested in doing. So I introduced them and got to hear Dan speak to Kinsy's grad program. Very fascinating to hear what is going on in Bolivia! And what a SMALL, SMALL WORLD!
Fri: First time to Brooklyn to see SU Alum, Bryan Miller. We ran through Prospect Park, a taste of nature, and then caught the subway ten minutes to Brighton Beach and the ATLANTIC COAST!!! Wow. Hard to believe this beautiful expanse of beach with a huge boardwalk runnning the length of the beach is only ten minutes from Bryan's apt. We walked about a mile down the boardwalk to Coney Island, home of the original Nathan's Famous Franks! (which we serve at the CDA Resort Golf Course where I work in the summers!) So it was neat for me to experience them in their original habitat :). Bryan and I ordered a couple of franks and beers. My 'medium' beer turned out to be a BUCKET full!! And so Bryan's 'large' beer turned out to be EVEN MORE. It was ridiculous! But delicious. As with Megs earlier in the week, this was the first time that Bryan and I actually hung out one-on-one. We met my freshman year of college while playing Ultimate frisbee. He was a wealth of knowledge about the life of a free-lance writer in NYC...a profession I've been considering pursuing.
Fri Night: Kinsy and I spotted our first famous person!! We were attending a play at Fordham University. Sitting in the row behind us was Connor Poalo, who plays "Eric" in the NYC based hit TV series "Gossip Girl". I had never seen the show or even heard of it, so I discreetly stared at him to commit his face to memory. I hate to admit it, but in the course of the past two days, I have watched the entire first season of Gossip Girl and am kind of hooked. The show is fun to watch because it's set in New York City, so I'm able to identify places I've been!
Sat: Bought my BREAKING SHOES!! And they were on SALE! And they are rasta colors!
Sun: Poland Spring 5mi Race through Central Park! Kinsy and I joined 6,400 others for a nice Sunday morning run through Central Park. It was my first time in the park and Kinsy's first time doing a race!!! She did GREAT! Earlier that morning, while catching the subway to Manhattan, we met a man at our stop wearing a race number. He introduced himself as Luis, a 57yr old man from the Dominican Republic. He has four grown children and five grandchildren. He has lived in NYC since before we were born, and it turns out he lives only a block from us! He is a very sweet man and has adopted Kinsy and me. Both his appearance and sense of humor remind me of my host dad, Beto, when I lived in Belize! Luis ran most of the race with us, pointing out landmarks in the park and helping us with our spanish. After the race, we all caught a subway back to our 'hood and Luis showed us around. There is a little Dominican restaurant called PapaGallo not even a block from our apt that we never even knew was there!
Mon: Monday night Football at Howl's with Kinsy and the students in her grad program. Met one of them named Josh, who is from BELIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I've never met anyone from Belize since I've lived there. So it was fun to reminisce on the country that I consider my second home.
Tues: Heard from Ryan Rallanka, SU Alum. He is a Jesuit novice, currently living and studying at Fordham. Made plans to hang out this weekend so he can show me the Botanical Gardens by campus, a glimpse of nature in the Bronx. :)
Wed: Luis took Kinsy and I out to lunch at PapaGallo's for Dominican Rep food. Luis is a regular there, and has been for twenty years, so he was helping to set tables and introducing us to everyone who walked in. EVERYONE had a nickname! Our waitress Bianca is called "Princesa" or princess. The taxi-cab driver is called "Tres-dos" or three-two, the number of his cab. The old man with the toothy smile is called "Chi-chi" or baby. It was an afternoon of laughter and community and great food. Afterwards, Luis introduced us to his wife Liz and to the tailor lady Alba, who has a shop next door to our apartment. We are the new Gringas in town and we were warmly welcomed by most. Later in the afternoon, Luis and Liz picked me up in their car (my first time in a car here!) and took me to their gym in North Bronx. They got me a free week pass. I hopped on a treadmill behind the stationary bike that Luis was on. Over the course of an hour, Luis knew every single person that came to work out beside him. He was chatting away the whole time! He has been a member of the gym since 1986!!! It was great to work out again!
And that leads me to today...I'll be heading back to the gym with Luis and Liz this afternoon to hit up a spinning class! :) It is nice to be meeting our neighbors and beginning to feel at home in our 'hood. Thanks to Luis and all my other small-world connections throughout NYC that I've met up with these past two weeks. Though I was not close friends with any of the Seattle U Alums prior, it is amazing how the connections and networking remain for those who seek them out. It says a lot about the character of these amazing people, to extend such generous hospitality to the newcomers in town. Did I mention that I also have an absolutely amazing roomate?? Kinsy, I couldn't be blessed with anyone better!
Muchas Gracias, much thanks!
Hana T.
"Extend your arms in welcome to the future,
The best is yet to come!"
-Anthony de Mello, S.J.
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